# LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V3)



## Sean McCormack

To aid users in selecting the right look for their landscape images, I've created a set of over 7' Graduated filter presets to get you started with making creative choices for your images. Covering both landscape and portrait orienations, as well as hard and soft line filters, these filters come in 3 standard colours: ND (Grey), Blue and Tobacco. As is also standard, they come in strengths of 1 stop ('.3), 2 stops ('.6) and 3 stops ('.9). It was a bit of work to create this, but I'm not charging a whole lot for them, just €5.''. Obviously you can tweak the settings once applied. In fact I positively encourage it!

Why should you pay for these, when you could create them yourself? Well the fact that it takes a bunch of time to put them together is the best reason. Probably more than €5 of your time. Also by running down through the Presets panel on the left of Develop, you can preview them quickly to see how they look with your image. Much quicker than mucking around with sliders. 

You can see some of the presets in sample form here: Download Sample Grads

To install these presets, drop the Sample Grads folder into:

User/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/Develop Presets on OS X, 
Cocuments and SettingsUserApplication DataAdobeLightroomDevelop Presets on XP-Note that Application Data is a hidden folder, 
C:UsersUserAppDataRoamingAdobeLightroomDevelop Presets on Vista, 
where User is your login name.

Or you can click on Preferences&gt;Presets&gt;Show Lightroom Presets Folders to open the Presets folder in Finder/Explorer. Then open the Develop Presets folder from there.


The full version folder contains 6 Sub folders, place these folders in the Develop Preset location mentioned above. 
You can also Right click on a preset or folder and import them from within Develop, which is fine for a small amount of presets, but for folders, manually placing them and restarting Lightroom is quicker.

The 4 folders are: 
Grads: Hard-Landscape
Grads: Hard-Portrait
Grads: Hard-Portrait2
Grads: Soft-Landscape
Grads: Soft-Portrait
Grads: Soft-Portrait2
ard Grads have a tight transition, while the Soft Grads use a wider transition. Landscape and Portrait Grads need to be separate as they don't rotate. The 3 colours (ND, Blue and Tobacco) come in 1, 2, and 3 stops varieties, equivalent to '.3, '.6 and '.9 in standard filter terminology. Also as most Landscape photographers use the Rule of Thirds to compose, each type is set on the bottom and top third, allowing you to choose the nearest one quickly. To change the filter, click on the pin to select it (Press M to activate Grad Filter in Develop, if it's not open). Drag the pin to move the centre of the grad, and the outside lines to make it softer or harder. Finally click the colour chip to change the tint. The Blue and Tobacco colours I've chosen are simply ones I like. You may prefer a redder Tobacco, or different blue. Actually then ones I have look similar to the Cokin set I own, so I was trying to get close to them. The Tint adds to the current colour, but you can alternate this by reducing or increasing the saturation slider value on the Pin.

Due to the way Lightroom handles rotation, you need a different set of filters if you shoot shutter button down, rather than up. For those users, I've added a further set of soft and hard grads to the download. 






To Download, add them to the cart. Payment is Paypal via E-junkie, but can also take Credit Card. Once Paypal sends notification, an email will be sent with a download code. 
The download is a Zip file, from an email link. It's zipped with BetterZip to remove Mac hidden files and be more PC compatible. 


To make a purchase go to my product page or my Lightroom Blog post. For support, use this post or the blog post.
Please note that this uses feature available in Lightroom 2 only.



_Update_: Version 2 Update: Version 2 of the LRB Grads contains an extra folder of Sunset filters, along with a middle filter for each of the types and strengths.
There are 2 zips in the archive: One with the original Colour Strength Position naming, and one with the new form Position Colour Strength.
The new version makes for quicker previewing in the Navigator.
To install the new filters right click on a preset and click Show in Finder/Explorer. If you are updating and want to use the new names, delete the older presets first. Delete the LRB Grads folders (there are 6 in V1). 
Unzip the file gradsV2newnames.zip file in this folder for the new names, or gradsV2original.zip for the original naming scheme. Restart Lightroom.

Update: Version 3 adds some Tilt Shift filters.


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## Ian Farlow

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Very nicely done. Looks good.


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## kiwibiologist

*problems unzipping these presets*

Hi 

I paid and downloaded the zipfile but have had had no luck unzipping it on my Windows XP Laptop. Firstly, the zipfile is blocked and won't unzip at all until I unblock it by going to folder properties, but even after that is done, the files are blocked again once I start to extract the contents of the zip file. Help!

Alastair


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## Brad Snyder

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

I think I saw somewhere else that Sean was recreating a zip file for Windows users, apparently there was a cross-platform glitch in his Zip'ing software. (I believe he works on Mac)

I'm sure he'll stop by here, but also, maybe recheck the download site for an update?


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## Sean McCormack

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*



Brad Snyder said:


> I'm sure he'll stop by here, but also, maybe recheck the download site for an update?



That's why I set up this post 

Alastair, 
I've sent you an email.
The blocking is a security 'feature' to prevent users accessing virus ridden downloads. A third party zipper like 7-Zip will bypass this. http://www.7-zip.org/

Sean.


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## Victoria Bampton

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Do you really have to download another program to unzip them Sean?  That'd put me off, personally.


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## Sean McCormack

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

I've done a copy and paste of the email link into firefox under XP and it downloads and extracts fine using the OS compressor.


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## Victoria Bampton

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Oh that's good Sean, you had me worried for a minute!


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## sfrench

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Great presets Sean. Loaded just fine on my Vista laptop.


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## thusband

*Correct Folders?*

First, I like the effects in LR2 a lot.  

I purchased and downloaded the four folders.  Installation was easy but am I missing a folder or two?  I folders I have are called:

Soft-Portrait2
Soft-Portrait
Soft-Landscape
Hard-Portrait2

Shouldn't there be a Hard-Landscape?  Your post shows the folders to be:

Grads: Hard-Landscape
Grads: Hard-Portrait
Grads: Soft-Landscape
Grads: Soft-Portrait

Sorry, I must have missed something.

Thanks,

Tom


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## Sean McCormack

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

There should be 6 folders Tom, I'll recheck the file.


The file here definitely has 6, so I'll do a trial download.

Download also has the 6 folders of Presets

I'll reset your download total, so maybe try downloading again.


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## thusband

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Thanks Sean, you're right.  I extracted to my desktop and missed two that are there.  Sorry for the false alarm.  Too much of hurry to try them out I guess.

Thanks again,

Tom


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## Victoria Bampton

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Hi Christina, welcome to the forum.

Which version of Lightroom are you running?  You must be running the 2.' final release for Sean's gradients to work.


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## Sean McCormack

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Yes, it's for Lightroom 2, which is mentioned in the Main post on the Blog and on the Shop page, where the download links are. 
The Preset uses a tool only available in LR2.


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## srphoto

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

These don't seem to be working for me. Am I doing something wrong? I got them installed fine, but when I click on one, nothing happens to my photo. Do I need to do something different with these compared to other presets?


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## jeanthemean

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Just purchased the filter kit.  Isnt the filters suppose to cover the whole picture ? With me it only covers parts of it.


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## Brad Snyder

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Srphoto, are you selecting the grad tool, and then 'Click-dragging' it onto the image?

Jean, you should be able to click and drag various portions of the 'gradient' lines to adjust the strength, size and rotation of the effect.


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## Sean McCormack

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Graduated means it's partial. They emulate the use of resin filters that you mount on your camera.


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## WorkingClassHero

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*



srphoto said:


> These don't seem to be working for me. Am I doing something wrong? I got them installed fine, but when I click on one, nothing happens to my photo. Do I need to do something different with these compared to other presets?



Are you running LR 2.'? They won't work on 1.x


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## R8JimBob88

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Just downloaded my set, thanks


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## Sean McCormack

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Enjoy!


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## mbmark

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

I'm not sure whether I said thank you !This is a really excellent set that I use regularly even if in practice I do use real gradual filters


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## Sean McCormack

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Hey Maciej, 
Glad you're liking them!


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## Sean McCormack

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

I'll be updating these filters shortly (actually I've completed the work). BUT I'm seeking a consensus on a naming system: 

http://lightroom-blog.com/2''8/1'/so-how-do-you-want-grad-filter-presets.html


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## Ellis Vener

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Sean,
great work , as always.

Thanks,

Ellis


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## Sean McCormack

To aid users in selecting the right look for their landscape images, I've created a set of over 7' Graduated filter presets to get you started with making creative choices for your images. Covering both landscape and portrait orienations, as well as hard and soft line filters, these filters come in 3 standard colours: ND (Grey), Blue and Tobacco. As is also standard, they come in strengths of 1 stop ('.3), 2 stops ('.6) and 3 stops ('.9). It was a bit of work to create this, but I'm not charging a whole lot for them, just €5.''. Obviously you can tweak the settings once applied. In fact I positively encourage it!

Why should you pay for these, when you could create them yourself? Well the fact that it takes a bunch of time to put them together is the best reason. Probably more than €5 of your time. Also by running down through the Presets panel on the left of Develop, you can preview them quickly to see how they look with your image. Much quicker than mucking around with sliders. 

You can see some of the presets in sample form here: Download Sample Grads

To install these presets, drop the Sample Grads folder into:

User/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/Develop Presets on OS X, 
Cocuments and SettingsUserApplication DataAdobeLightroomDevelop Presets on XP-Note that Application Data is a hidden folder, 
C:UsersUserAppDataRoamingAdobeLightroomDevelop Presets on Vista, 
where User is your login name.

Or you can click on Preferences&gt;Presets&gt;Show Lightroom Presets Folders to open the Presets folder in Finder/Explorer. Then open the Develop Presets folder from there.


The full version folder contains 6 Sub folders, place these folders in the Develop Preset location mentioned above. 
You can also Right click on a preset or folder and import them from within Develop, which is fine for a small amount of presets, but for folders, manually placing them and restarting Lightroom is quicker.

The 4 folders are: 
Grads: Hard-Landscape
Grads: Hard-Portrait
Grads: Hard-Portrait2
Grads: Soft-Landscape
Grads: Soft-Portrait
Grads: Soft-Portrait2
ard Grads have a tight transition, while the Soft Grads use a wider transition. Landscape and Portrait Grads need to be separate as they don't rotate. The 3 colours (ND, Blue and Tobacco) come in 1, 2, and 3 stops varieties, equivalent to '.3, '.6 and '.9 in standard filter terminology. Also as most Landscape photographers use the Rule of Thirds to compose, each type is set on the bottom and top third, allowing you to choose the nearest one quickly. To change the filter, click on the pin to select it (Press M to activate Grad Filter in Develop, if it's not open). Drag the pin to move the centre of the grad, and the outside lines to make it softer or harder. Finally click the colour chip to change the tint. The Blue and Tobacco colours I've chosen are simply ones I like. You may prefer a redder Tobacco, or different blue. Actually then ones I have look similar to the Cokin set I own, so I was trying to get close to them. The Tint adds to the current colour, but you can alternate this by reducing or increasing the saturation slider value on the Pin.

Due to the way Lightroom handles rotation, you need a different set of filters if you shoot shutter button down, rather than up. For those users, I've added a further set of soft and hard grads to the download. 






To Download, add them to the cart. Payment is Paypal via E-junkie, but can also take Credit Card. Once Paypal sends notification, an email will be sent with a download code. 
The download is a Zip file, from an email link. It's zipped with BetterZip to remove Mac hidden files and be more PC compatible. 


To make a purchase go to my product page or my Lightroom Blog post. For support, use this post or the blog post.
Please note that this uses feature available in Lightroom 2 only.



_Update_: Version 2 Update: Version 2 of the LRB Grads contains an extra folder of Sunset filters, along with a middle filter for each of the types and strengths.
There are 2 zips in the archive: One with the original Colour Strength Position naming, and one with the new form Position Colour Strength.
The new version makes for quicker previewing in the Navigator.
To install the new filters right click on a preset and click Show in Finder/Explorer. If you are updating and want to use the new names, delete the older presets first. Delete the LRB Grads folders (there are 6 in V1). 
Unzip the file gradsV2newnames.zip file in this folder for the new names, or gradsV2original.zip for the original naming scheme. Restart Lightroom.

Update: Version 3 adds some Tilt Shift filters.


----------



## Sean McCormack

*LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Version 2 Update: Version 2 of the LRB Grads contains an extra folder of Sunset filters, along with a middle filter for each of the types and strengths.
There are 2 zips in the archive: One with the original Colour Strength Position naming, and one with the new form Position Colour Strength.
The new version makes for quicker previewing in the Navigator.
To install the new filters right click on a preset and click Show in Finder/Explorer. If you are updating and want to use the new names, delete the older presets first. Delete the LRB Grads folders (there are 6 in V1). 
Unzip the file gradsV2newnames.zip file in this folder for the new names, or gradsV2original.zip for the original naming scheme. Restart Lightroom.


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## ccsnet

*Re: LRB Graduated Filter Kit (now at V2)*

Hi - first time post.... had a quick look around and decided to go for your grad filters..... look brill.

Hopefully I'll be around a bit more on here too.

Terran


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## dennis52

I just downloaded lrbgrads.zip using my download link from way back when you first released the presets. The download doesn’t contain anything new vs. the v2 version of the presets. Am I missing something?


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## Sean McCormack

3 new filters in the Extras folder.


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