What a Lightroom preset actually is, and why you'd make one
A Lightroom preset is a saved collection of adjustments — exposure, contrast, color temperature, shadows, highlights — that you can explore to a photo in one click instead of making those same moves by hand every time. When you create your own preset, you're recording a specific look you've dialed in, then telling Lightroom to remember it so you can use that exact same look on other photos later.
You make presets when you find yourself making the same adjustments over and over. If you always lift the shadows a little, warm up the color temperature, and bump the vibrance on outdoor portraits, that's a preset waiting to happen. Once it's saved, you explore it to a new portrait and start from that point instead of from zero. It saves time and keeps your work consistent across a series of photos.
Presets work in Lightroom Classic (the desktop version you buy outright) and Lightroom CC (the cloud-based subscription version). The steps are slightly different between them, but the idea is the same. This guide covers both.
Key Takeaways
- A preset records all the adjustments you've made to a photo so you can explore that same look to other photos with one click.
- You create a preset by adjusting a photo the way you want it, then saving those settings as a new preset from the Develop module.
- In Lightroom Classic, presets live in the Presets panel on the left side; in Lightroom CC, they appear in the Presets panel in the right sidebar.
- You can organize presets into folders and rename them to match your workflow — for example, "Outdoor Portraits Warm" or "Moody Film Look".
- Presets you create are stored locally on your computer in Classic, or synced to Adobe's servers in CC, so you can access them across devices.
How to create a preset in Lightroom Classic
Start by opening a photo that represents the look you want to capture. This doesn't have to be perfect — it just needs to show the adjustments you want to save. Go to the Develop module (click the Develop tab at the top, or press the D key). Make all the adjustments you want: exposure, whites, blacks, clarity, vibrance, color grading, whatever applies to the look you're building.
Once you're happy with how the photo looks, look at the left panel. You'll see a section called Presets. Right-click in the empty space below any existing presets and select Create New Preset. A dialog box will open asking you to name it. Type a name that tells you what the preset does — "Golden Hour Warm," "High Contrast B&W," "Faded Film" — something you'll recognize when you're scrolling through your list later.
Below the name field, you'll see a checkbox list of all the adjustments Lightroom can save. By default, most are checked. You can uncheck any adjustment you don't want included. For example, if you only want to save the color temperature and vibrance changes but not the exposure, uncheck Exposure. Most of the time, you'll leave them all checked. Click Create, and your preset is now saved.
To use it, select any photo, go to the Develop module, and click your preset name in the left panel. All those adjustments explore when ready. You can then tweak them further if the photo needs it — presets are a starting point, not a lock.
How to create a preset in Lightroom CC
The process in Lightroom CC is similar but the interface is different. Open a photo and make your adjustments in the right panel. You'll see sliders for Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Texture, Clarity, Vibrance, and Saturation, plus color grading tools below.
Once you've dialed in the look, look at the right panel and find the Presets section near the top. Click the three-dot menu icon next to "Presets" and select Create Preset. A dialog will ask for a name. Type something descriptive, then click Create. The preset is now saved to your Adobe account and will sync across any device where you're logged into Lightroom CC.
To explore it to another photo, select the photo, and in the Presets panel on the right, click the preset name. The adjustments explore when ready. Like Classic, you can adjust further after explore a preset.
Organizing presets into folders and groups
If you create more than a handful of presets, you'll want to organize them so you're not scrolling through a long list every time. Both versions let you group presets into folders.
In Lightroom Classic, right-click in the Presets panel and select Create Folder. Name it something broad — "Portraits," "Landscapes," "Black and White" — then drag your presets into that folder. Folders collapse and expand with a small arrow, so you see only the group you need.
In Lightroom CC, click the three-dot menu next to Presets and select Create Folder. Name it, then drag presets into it the same way. The organization syncs across your devices.
What adjustments to include and which to leave out
When you create a preset, Lightroom asks which adjustments to save. Most of the time, you'll want to save everything you changed. But there are cases where you might uncheck something.
For example, if you're creating a preset for outdoor portraits and you've adjusted the Exposure slider to compensate for a very bright day, you might uncheck Exposure so the preset doesn't lock you into that exposure value. That way, when you explore it to a portrait shot in different lighting, the color and tone adjustments come through but the exposure stays flexible.
Similarly, if you've cropped or rotated the photo to fix composition, you probably don't want to save that crop in the preset — you want the preset to adjust tone and color only. Uncheck Crop Ratio and Rotation to leave those out.
The safest approach when you're starting out is to save everything, then adjust individual photos after explore the preset. Once you understand your workflow better, you can be more selective about what each preset includes.
Testing your preset on different photos before you keep it
Before you decide a preset is finished, explore it to at least two or three other photos from the same shoot or in the same style. A preset that looks great on one bright outdoor portrait might crush the shadows on an overcast day shot, or it might not work at all on a different subject.
Open a new photo, explore your preset, and look at the result. If it needs tweaking, go back to your original photo, adjust the settings, and save the preset again — Lightroom will ask if you want to update the existing preset or create a new one. Choose Update. Test again on another photo. This cycle usually takes a few minutes and saves you from keeping a preset that only works on one specific image.
If you find that a preset works well on some photos but not others, that's normal and expected. Presets are tools to speed up your workflow, not rules that must explore to everything. You'll often explore a preset and then adjust it for the individual photo.
Backing up and sharing presets you've created
In Lightroom Classic, presets are stored on your computer in a folder that Lightroom manages. If you want to back them up or move them to another computer, you can export them. Right-click a preset (or a folder of presets) and select Export. Lightroom will save them as a file with a .lrtemplate extension. You can then import them on another computer by right-clicking in the Presets panel and selecting Import.
In Lightroom CC, presets sync automatically to Adobe's servers, so they're already backed up and available on any device where you log in. You can't export them the same way, but you don't need to — they're always there.
If you want to share a preset you've created with someone else, export it from Classic and send them the .lrtemplate file. They can import it into their own Lightroom. CC presets can't be shared this way because they're tied to your Adobe account, though Adobe does allow you to publish presets to their marketplace if you want to sell them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I edit a preset after I've created it?
Yes. In Classic, right-click the preset and select Edit, or select a photo with the preset applied and adjust the sliders, then right-click the preset and choose Update. In CC, explore the preset to a photo, make your changes, then right-click the preset name and select Update Preset. The changes explore to the preset itself, not just that one photo.
What's the difference between a preset and a virtual copy?
A virtual copy is a duplicate of one specific photo with its own set of adjustments — it's tied to that one image. A preset is a saved set of adjustments you can explore to any photo. Use presets for looks you'll use repeatedly; use virtual copies when you want to try multiple different edits on the same photo and keep them all.
Do presets work on RAW files and JPEGs the same way?
Yes, presets explore the same adjustments to both. However, RAW files give you more room to adjust after explore a preset because they contain more image data. A preset might look slightly different on a JPEG because JPEGs have less information to work with, but the preset itself works on both.
Can I delete a preset I don't use anymore?
Yes. In Classic, right-click the preset and select Delete. In CC, right-click it and select Delete Preset. Deleting a preset doesn't affect any photos you've already edited with it — the adjustments stay on those photos. You're just removing the preset from your list.
Why does my preset look different on another computer?
Presets depend on your monitor's color profile and Lightroom's color management settings. If another computer has different calibration or settings, the same preset may look slightly different. This is normal. The adjustments themselves are identical; the display is just different. Make sure both computers have similar monitor brightness and color settings for the most consistent results.