Presets feel like a cheat code for photo editing, so I decided to ditch them and go manual for a week. I thought editing without presets would make me a better photographer. Instead, it made me appreciate them even more.
5Presets Are a Good Base for Editing
Having edited photos regularly for years, I have a good understanding of how presets will affect a photo. I’vecreated specific ones for different photography styles, such as sunny and overcast days. As a result, I can intuitively tell what kinds of edits I’ll need to achieve my desired look.
Presets offer a strong base and significantly cut my editing time. In many cases, I only need to make slight adjustments based on lighting, colors, and style. Occasionally, I also have to make some cosmetic adjustments.
Many apps, such as Lightroom, also categorize presets based on genre (e.g., lifestyle and travel). So, I can easily filter through these and find one that fits my mood.
4I Like Using Presets as Inspiration
Sometimes, I like the composition of a picture I’m editing but do not know what I want the final result to look like. Though I can tweak numerous sliders, this is time-consuming.
Presets give me editing inspiration. Since I’ve saved over 100, I sometimes hover my cursor over each one to see what would and wouldn’t work with my current edit. While I don’t always find something that works, this strategy is effective for me more often than not.
3Presets Are Sometimes the Only Necessary Edits
I used to have a lot of resistance to using presets in my photos and not editing anything else. In my eyes, I felt like I was cheating. Over time, though, I’ve realized that the result is more important than how long it took to edit an image.
In my week away from not using presets, I realized how much longer I took to edit photos. In some ways, this was good; I often got to refine details that I otherwise would’ve skipped. But once I could incorporate those into my workflow, I didn’t see any reason not to use presets.
Presets are acreative way to transform photos in Lightroomand other apps. I might as well use this tool if it gets me the result I want in less time (and at just as good of a level).
2I Can Save Time Editing Multiple Pictures
I like all images from the same photoshoot to havesomeconsistency. If I’ve taken lots of pictures in the same lighting conditions, using a preset across all of them is probably the only edit I need. Maybe I’ll slightly tweak the exposure and saturation filters, but starting from scratch each time is illogical.
Once I’ve edited one picture, I don’t need to manually apply the preset to all the others. TheSynctool in Lightroom automatically does it for me.
1Presets Help Me Make My Photos More Consistent
While I don’t have one singular editing “style,” my pictures often share similar characteristics. For example, I usually add a lot of contrast and like to adjust the hue. I’m always open to new types of editing, but if I’m tweaking an image like I normally do, presets are my go-to.
Presets help me keep pictures more consistent on my social media profiles and travel blog. I often use the same few presets for around three months; for example, I visited the Faroe Islands and made a film-style one. I then applied this to many of my pictures from the trip, even if they were landscapes.
Some bloggers and influencers go even further and use the same presets on all of their pictures. If I want a more unified look, I’ll probably do the same in the future.
