Create and apply Develop presets

Presets provide a way to save a group of settings and apply them to other photos. Once you create and add a preset to the Presets panel in the Develop module, it remains there until you delete it. It also appears in the list of Develop settings that you can select it when you import photos.

To download a variety of third-party Develop presets, visit www.adobe.com/go/exchange.

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Preview and apply a Develop preset

A set of default presets is listed in the Presets panel of the Develop module. Click the Lightroom Presets folder to display the default presets.

  • To preview the effects of a preset on your photo, move the pointer over it in the Presets panel and view the effects in the Navigator panel.
  • To apply a preset to the photo, click it in the Presets panel.

Create and organize Develop preset folders

  1. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the area where you want the folder to appear and choose New Folder.
  2. Type the name of the folder and click OK.
  3. Drag a template to a folder name to move the template to that folder.

If you drag a Lightroom preset template to a different folder, the template is copied to that folder.

Create a Develop preset

Presets you create are based on the current settings of the selected photo.

  1. In the Develop module, click the Create New Preset (+) button at the top of the Presets panel or choose Develop > New Preset.
  2. Click Check All to select everything or click Check None to deselect everything, and then click to select each of the settings to include in the preset.
  3. Type a name in the Preset Name box, specify which folder the preset should appear in, and click Create.

    The preset is added to the list in the Presets panel in the specified folder.

Update a Develop preset

  1. Select a user preset and modify settings as needed.
  2. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a preset in the Presets panel and choose Update With Current Settings.
  3. Specify the settings you want to include in the preset and click Update.

Delete a custom preset

You cannot delete built-in Lightroom presets. You can delete only custom presets.

 In the Develop module, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a preset in the Presets panel and choose Delete.
Note: Do not press the Delete key on your keyboard; this deletes the currently selected photo.

Determine where custom presets are stored

By default, custom (user) presets are stored in a folder in the Lightroom folder. For the specific locations on Mac OS and Windows, see the Adobe Support article Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 preferences and other file locations (cpsid_84313).

  • To store user presets in a folder with the catalog, in the Presets panel of the Preferences dialog box, select Store Presets With Catalog.
  • To see where a user preset is located, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) it in the Presets panel of the Develop module and choose Show In Explorer (Windows) or Show In Finder (Mac OS).

Import and export a Develop preset

You can export presets you’ve created to share with colleagues or to use on a different computer. Preset templates are saved with an .lrtemplate extension.

  • To export a preset, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) a preset and choose Export. Type the name of the preset template file and click Save.
  • To import a preset, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the area where you want the preset to appear and choose Import. Double-click the preset template file.