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7 Reasons Why a Lightroom Preset is Helpful for Beginners and Professionals

© by www.thecommonwanderer.com

All photographers know that taking the photo isn’t where the job ends, as every shot then goes through an extensive editing process, in order to make it look as good as possible, and give it that professional appearance that clients love. For this, there are many different photo editing tools and services, but one of the most popular, and arguably the best, is Lightroom. 

Lightroom is an easy-to-use photo-editing tool, incredibly popular amongst both beginners and professionals. And one of the reasons why it’s so popular is that it allows you to use presets when editing your photos. 

Presets, just to explain them quickly, are files that can be applied to a picture, through the use of Lightroom. The file then modifies the picture in question, applying specific development settings. So it will automatically change things such as the color, the shade, the contrast, and much more. One small click and the picture is edited in a specific way, according to that specific Preset file. Pretty handy right? 

But if that’s not enough to convince you of why Presets are great, here are 7 reasons why you should be using them!

1. They save A LOT of time:

Presets are applied with a single click, within the Lightroom website or app. Just one click and the whole editing process is completed within seconds. That saves you an insane amount of time, and it allows you to edit bigger batches of photographs in one go. Instead of going through all of the photo development settings, one by one, you apply them all by choosing the preset that you want your end result to look like, and the job is done! 

2. They are very easy to use:

Presets are incredibly easy to use, so much so that they are often advertised as a photo editing tool for beginners, as you don’t need to know anything about editing in order to apply them. In fact, you don’t even have to know that much about using Lightroom either! 

Nevertheless, they are also very useful for professionals, as they make the job a lot easier. Many professional photography editors will spend time perfecting their presets, and then the actual editing of individual photos is the easiest job ever! 

3. They can help you learn to edit better:

Using presets can actually help you learn how to edit better. This can sound a bit odd, as using presets removes the need for you to actually use the editing tools, but you can see what changes the preset applies, and slowly form an idea as to what works and what doesn’t. Plus, you can play around with the presets and begin to make your own changes! 

4. They allow you to create a consistent style:

A lot of social media influencers and professionals swear by the use of presets because it is what allows them to maintain a consistent style, theme, and color scheme within their feed and website. 

If you edit each photo individually, it can be hard to remember exactly what changes you applied to achieve that specific look, so having it all in a preset ensures that all photos are edited in the same way, for the same exact vibe! 

5. You can buy them pre-made from professionals and photographers you love:

There is a whole world of business surrounding Lightroom presets, because many professional photographers, influencers, and more, will create a line of presets and then sell them so that others can use them. So if you buy professional lightroom presets, you can essentially achieve the same end result as people you look up to on your own photography.

6. They reduce the number of skills needed:

Presets make the life of professionals a lot easier, as they save time and effort, and allow for consistency and ease in editing. However, they also make professional-looking results more accessible to beginners, as they don’t require any advanced skills or knowledge to be used! 

7. They can be customized:

If you think that presets are limiting, you’re completely wrong. Once you apply a preset to a photograph, you can then continue to edit it and apply further changes of your own choosing, to perfect or slightly alter the end result. So you can think of presets as the base edit, and then you can keep on working on the photograph! 

In conclusion, Lightroom presets are one of the most popular photo editing tools, used by beginners and professionals alike thanks to their ease of use, the amount of time they save, and the wide range of possibilities that they offer regarding your end results!