How To Edit Photos Using Presets!
Alright, you guys asked, so here it is! I get asked constantly how I make my photos look “so good”. (And I’ll say again- I NEVER edit a photo of our products, as it’s really important to keep stain colors true to life! But, it sure is fun to edit photos of the kids, everyday life, etc!)
Did you ever notice all the Instagrammers have a certain “look” when it comes to their IG feed? All the pictures have the same type of vibe? It took me forever to figure it out, too… but I finally did and now I’m obsessed! Welcome to the industry secret world of presets!
What is a preset? It’s sort of like a filter. But they’re created by photographers and editors. It’s a set of pre-determined. configuration of settings, designed to achieve a certain look or style of your photo. Rather than going in and adjusting the brightness, contrast, exposure, color, and everything else yourself- you can just give one click to apply a preset and you’re done! One of the reasons I love using presets is because it gives all your photos the same vibe; a feeling of cohesiveness. Anyways.. to the point.. how to do you do it?
This is a quick tutorial on how to use presets on your PHONE/MOBILE. First step- download the Lightroom app (it’s FREE) from the app store (“Adobe Lightroom Photo Editor” is the full name. The little icon is a black background with a teal “Lr”).
Once you have that on your phone comes the fun part… choosing your preset! I personally love to support designers on Etsy. Head over and start browsing by searching for “mobile presets”. Get a little more specific with terms like “presets for family”, “light and airy presents”, “home decor presets”, “summer presets”, etc.
Typically, presets on Etsy are super affordable. They’re often around $3, and many run BOGO deals all the time! Once you find one you like- you’ll purchase it. Once purchased, you can immediately download it. Etsy makes it pretty easy to download into Lightroom. You’ll simply click on the link, choose “open in Lightroom”, and you’re done!
From there- the preset is saved into your Lightroom. Anytime you want to use it- simply:
1. Add the photo you want to edit to Lightroom.
2. Go to your desired preset, click the three little dots in the upper right hand corner, and select “copy settings”.
3. Go back to your photo. Click the three little dots again, and select paste settings.
4. Simply “export to camera roll” and you’re good to go!
It might sound a little confusing, but it’s SO SIMPLE! And your photos will go from regular, to photographer status in 10 seconds! The hardest part is choosing from the thousands of presets on Etsy… so, to get you started, here are my two current personal recent favorites!
- Blue Island by Alice Photo Studio (this was used in the overalls photo with Emme!)
- Wild Bohemian 01 by Editing Studio (update: this one may not be available any longer, but she has a lot of other great ones, too!)
I personally like to change my preset each season. A brighter, colorful preset for summer; a more moody autumn preset for fall, etc.
Hope this helps! If you have any questions at all, I am happy to take a quick video tutorial on how to apply the settings, or answer any of your questions! Just comment below, or shoot me a quick message on Facebook here!
xoxo,
Lindsay