# Question about Develop Presets??



## JasonB (Nov 1, 2013)

Greetings.   I have a very general question concerning User Develop Presets.   I guess I don't understand how one Develop Preset which perhaps has all the settings for the Basic Panel (i.e.  Exposure, shadows, blacks, whites, clarity, etc) plus all the color settings, which works for one particular photo, will work perfectly for other photos.

For example if I shoot 200 pictures during a visit to Bryce National Park (in Utah) how does a single User Develop Preset correctly "edit" all 200 pictures?    I can see how the Preset might improve each photo ...... but doesn't one still have to make adjustments after applying the Preset?  

Hopefully this post is clear ..... Thanks .....


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## Bill Guy (Nov 1, 2013)

Think of Presets like a recipe that cooks the image to one look. The adjustments of sliders and built in formulas are done with just one click or if a selection of a number of images will apply this preset to all selected. 

Now as to when and why, that can vary depending on camera settings and lighting of the subjects. Some presets works great for some images but not others which can make the whole process seem confusing.

Here are some guildlines.

If you are building presets make them more general than specific. Do adjustments for White Balance but not Exposure since that can vary. Do them for White and Black point but not shadows and highlights for the same reason. If you are into landscapes add some Charity and Vibrance and maybe +2 or 5 saturation if you like the Fuji look.  With just these adjustments you will be surprised how much improvements can be done. 

Bonus Tip...If you are shooting RAW then check out the special settings under Develope>Camera Calibration Profile you will find all the camera settings for how it processes the Jpegs. Setting like Standard / Faithful / Landscape and the like. These camera presets are a great starting point. In fact you can also make each one a Custom Preset by just opening up a Raw file and clicking on each one. Then set it as a Preset with it's name. Be sure to have just the Camera Calibration checked along with Version and nothing else. Now you can even use it on import for a fast color fix. Plus since you are shooting Raw you can always adjust or change it later or take it out all together.


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## JimHess43 (Nov 1, 2013)

Generally speaking, presets don't include "all" the basic settings.  One preset might be used to simply increase contrast by a certain amount, another preset might increase saturation.  Presets should normally be designed to take care of one specific thing, something that you find that you do consistently.  If you find that there is a certain look that you like to apply on a regular basis that involves multiple settings, it would be reasonable to create a preset that would apply that look.  But generally speaking, I think smaller, less all encompassing presets will be more useful.


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## JasonB (Nov 1, 2013)

Thanks Jim and Bill.  I appreciate your help.

Sounds like I'm including "too many settings" in each of my Presets.   Each of my Presets has WB, Basic Tone (all components), Clarity Color and a few other things.  If I understand you I should be using a more general Preset ..... say one that sets only WB... But if I create four "WB" Presets .... say WB1 WB2, WB3 and WB4 ... how do I know which one works best for a particular photo without actually testing each one to see the results?  Hope that makes sense.

Thanks again.......


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## Selwin (Nov 1, 2013)

Hi Jason, actually there are some tonal values you can edit in LR that are not convenient including in a preset. One of those is Exposure. Let's say you want to accomplish a certain look where the contrast is raised by +30 and the exposure is lowered to -0.50. Now you have 200 images from Bryce that are all perfectly exposed? Doesn't happen to me, I need to apply exposure correction to lots of my images. So let's say you have an image that you had to apply Exposure +0.75. Then you apply the preset (contrast +30, exposure -0.50). What will happen is that the exposure will be set cold to -0.50. That is 1.25 stops lower than your perfect setting for that image, not 0.50 lower. This is why I don't have home made presets containing exposure corrections. The same goes for White Balance basically.
Presets are very helpful in creating a certain "style" that will consistently show the same across multiple images. You can include tonal values that usually don't need to be changed for each image. Like contrast, blacks, clarity, saturation, B&W Mix, HSL, Detail and Post crop vignetting. And even these are disputable. Furthermore, you create presets for specific purposes. I mean that you won't apply a high key wedding preset to a landscape. So as you say, one Preset can be successfully applied to lots of images that share a certain origin or theme. You can apply your Bryce landscape preset to Zion, Canyonlands and similar series.

Hope this helps.


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## JasonB (Nov 1, 2013)

Once again Selwin ... thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.   I'm finding Lightroom to be both fascinating and fun ... as well as a bit of a challenge.  I look forward to learning more........  Cheers .......


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## clee01l (Nov 2, 2013)

JasonB said:


> ...For example if I shoot 200 pictures during a visit to Bryce National Park (in Utah) how does a single User Develop Preset correctly "edit" all 200 pictures?    I can see how the Preset might improve each photo ...... but doesn't one still have to make adjustments after applying the Preset?.


 Sorry if I am late to the party.  I've been away today shooting ~200 photos in Bryce Canyon N. P. 

I have a develop preset that I apply on import. It was developed by trial and error and manages to produce satisfactory results for 90% of the RAW images that come out of my Nikon D800 camera. Sometimes it is good enough that I only need to crop. Other times I'll need to tweak the develop adjustments. mostly the whites, highlights and shadows.  

For my Desktop studio with a black background, I have another develop preset that manages the unique characteristics of a mostly black image that needs to stay black. 

When you find your self making the same adjustments over and over image after image as I did, that is something that you can put into a preset.  One size fits most.  If you apply it and it is wrong you can reset and start fresh with manual adjustments.


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## JasonB (Nov 2, 2013)

clee01l said:


> Sorry if I am late to the party.  I've been away today shooting ~200 photos in Bryce Canyon N. P.
> 
> I have a develop preset that I apply on import. It was developed by trial and error and manages to produce satisfactory results for 90% of the RAW images that come out of my Nikon D800 camera. Sometimes it is good enough that I only need to crop. Other times I'll need to tweak the develop adjustments. mostly the whites, highlights and shadows.
> 
> ...



Thanks for your reply, Cletus.  We were at Bryce Canyon a few months ago.  Beautiful isn't it...

Interesting concept you have in applying develop preset on import. (I didn't know you could go that ... but I'm still learning).   I usually find that if I import a hundred or so .NEF files I end up deleting a substantial number before I convert to .DNG.  It's at this point I apply my preset.  

Couple of questions for you:
1.  Does applying the preset on Import substantially slow the import process down?

2.  What percentage of your photos require additional tweaking (or a complete redo) on average when your shoot is at a place like Bryce Canyon?  (Just curious about this.  ---- I just "discovered" develop presets .. so I have no idea what to expect)

Thanks again ...........


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## clee01l (Nov 2, 2013)

JasonB said:


> 1.  Does applying the preset on Import substantially slow the import process down?


Develop presets are assigned at import but don't actually show up until you view the image (not the JPEG thumbnail in Library or develop.  So the import time is the same.  A default develop setting is applied to all RAW images on import anyway.So, it might as well be the one that does the most good.  





> 2.  What percentage of your photos require additional tweaking (or a complete redo) on average when your shoot is at a place like Bryce Canyon?  (Just curious about this.  ---- I just "discovered" develop presets .. so I have no idea what to expect)


[My Develop Preset includes AutoTone  Which is almost right but never seems to handle the Whites correctly for my D800 NEFs.  If I want a quick Show and Tell, the results of my Develop Preset at import is satisfactory for producing JPEG exports.  If I have images that are of particular merit, I will tweak these adjusting the whites, clarity, sharpness and NR before I produce a finished copy.

Yesterday I was at Sunset Point for Sunrise.  Between the sun, the snow and the hoodoos, there was about a 5-6 stop range in exposure in a single frame.  For these images, my import Develop preset can only be a starting point.  No one exposure setting is correct and so not one develop preset is going to be correct either. Turning away from the sun and getting away from the strong shadows in the canyon, my import develop preset did quite nicely with distant mountains and pine trees.


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## JasonB (Nov 2, 2013)

clee01l said:


> Develop presets are assigned at import but don't actually show up until you view the image (not the JPEG thumbnail in Library or develop.  So the import time is the same.  A default develop setting is applied to all RAW images on import anyway.So, it might as well be the one that does the most good.  [My Develop Preset includes AutoTone  Which is almost right but never seems to handle the Whites correctly for my D800 NEFs.  If I want a quick Show and Tell, the results of my Develop Preset at import is satisfactory for producing JPEG exports.  If I have images that are of particular merit, I will tweak these adjusting the whites, clarity, sharpness and NR before I produce a finished copy.
> 
> Yesterday I was at Sunset Point for Sunrise.  Between the sun, the snow and the hoodoos, there was about a 5-6 stop range in exposure in a single frame.  For these images, my import Develop preset can only be a starting point.  No one exposure setting is correct and so not one develop preset is going to be correct either. Turning away from the sun and getting away from the strong shadows in the canyon, my import develop preset did quite nicely with distant mountains and pine trees.



Thanks so much Cletus.  I think I will try to set up a develop preset for Import.  I'm not sure exactly what to do, but I will experiment.  I'm not familiar (yet) with AutoTone but will check it out.  

Not sure how to ask this but when you apply a preset during Import do those preset parameters part of the "history" or do they just become an invisible part of the "original" master?  Hope you can decipher my question...  If not, let me know I will will try to tweak it a bit........

I assume you are still at Bryce ...... so have fun ........... And thanks again.


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## clee01l (Nov 2, 2013)

On the import dialog there is a dropdown for Develop Presets to be applied on Import.  In develop history the first entry reads "Import/{your selected develop preset}(date and time of import)"

Actually I have been at Zion all week except for yesterday morning.  Both are nice.


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## Selwin (Nov 2, 2013)

clee01l said:


> Sorry if I am late to the party.  I've been away today shooting ~200 photos in Bryce Canyon N. P.


At first, I thought you were joking


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## JasonB (Nov 2, 2013)

clee01l said:


> On the import dialog there is a dropdown for Develop Presets to be applied on Import.  In develop history the first entry reads "Import/{your selected develop preset}(date and time of import)"
> 
> Actually I have been at Zion all week except for yesterday morning.  Both are nice.



Thanks for the reply, Cletus.


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## clee01l (Nov 4, 2013)

*Bryce Canyon National Park*

Just because it was mentioned, Here is a sample of my recent  trip.





And incase you can't figure out what you are seeing:


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## Selwin (Nov 4, 2013)

Nice edge Cletus  I had it figured out before the second image loaded on my iPad. Great image!


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## Victoria Bampton (Nov 5, 2013)

WOW!  Incredible scenery, and great pic.


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