# What is the purpose of the "Store Presets with Catalog" option?



## Jim Wilde

There is an option available in the Lightroom Preferences (Edit  Menu>Preferences on  Windows, Lightroom Menu>Preferences on a  Mac), where you will see on the  Presets Tab an option to "Store presets  with catalog" - see screenshot  below:



This particular setting has very limited useful applications, and when  used unwisely or without proper knowledge of its implications it can  (and often does) cause a certain amount of chaos. So, unless you have a  specific requirement to use it, *you are strongly advised to leave the setting in the default unchecked position.* 

The following explanation is aimed at those few users who think that the setting would be useful to them:


1. *What does this setting do?*

    With the option in its default *unchecked* state, Lightroom  will store and look for any user-created presets,  such as Develop  Presets, Export Presets, Metadata Presets, etc., in the default location   for *all *the Lightroom settings. Clicking on the adjacent "Show   Lightroom Presets Folder" button will open a (Windows) Explorer or  (Mac)  Finder window to show where the folder resides.....note that this   default location is within the 'Current User' application data area,  usually on the 'system' hard drive, and  cannot be easily changed. 

Lightroom  will always look for (and find) them there, so that even if  the user  uses multiple catalogs the one set of user presets will be  available at  all times.

  However, when the option is *checked*, Lightroom instantly does two things:

  a) It creates a Folder called 'Lightroom Settings' which is stored in   the same folder as the catalog that is currently open, and will  populate  it with a *subset* of the various sub-folders that exist in the  default  location. Note my use of the word *subset*: it is important to note that not all of the sub-folders in the default location are replicated in the new 'Lightroom settings' folder, see later under 'Implications'.
It logically follows that if you are a multi-catalog  user a  new Lightroom Settings folder will be created when you first  open each  catalog instance if it is (as is usual) in its own discrete  folder. Furthermore, a multi-language user will find additional specific  language versions of each Lightroom Settings folder are also created,  further complicating an already complicated setup.

b) From that same instant, Lightroom will write any new user  presets  that the user subsequently creates into the appropriate  sub-folder  within the Lightroom Settings folder (e.g. a new develop  preset will   be stored in *[Catalog Folder]*>Lightroom Settings>Develop  Presets>User  Presets). Furthermore, Lightroom will then show the  user presets from  this Lightroom Settings folder, and it will no longer  show user presets  from the original default locations.

  Note that the option *does not* mean that your presets are stored *in *the   catalog! This incorrect assumption, or the belief that storing presets   with the catalog "sounds like a good idea" has led many people to  check  the option when they really shouldn't have, with unforeseen  consequences  - see later.

  So, having established what happens when that option is *checked*, the next question is:

*2. When/Why should the option be used?*

  There are several situations where this option could be useful:

  a) The most obvious use is in a single-catalog, multi-computer   scenario. Typically this will involve having catalog and associated   picture files on a single external hard drive which can then be   individually connected to two or more computers (e.g. at the office, and   at home), all of which have Lightroom installed. This avoids the need   for regular Export/Import Catalog routines, and it allows the single   current catalog to be available to whichever system has the external   drive connected. 
  In this situation, therefore, it makes perfect sense for all the user   presets to be stored alongside the catalog, thus being always available   no matter which computer is the active Lightroom system. Create a  preset  on one computer, and it'll be available when Lightroom is  started up on  any other. All that is needed is for the "Store Presets  with Catalog"  option to be *checked* in the Lightroom Preferences on all Lightroom computers.

  b) The second possible use is in a single-catalog, single-computer,  but  multi-user environment. For example, husband and wife each having  their  own user account (for email, personal documents, etc.) but who  wish to  use the same Lightroom Catalog. Provided that the catalog and  picture  files in a shared area on the shared computer (i.e. *not*  in either  user's personal libraries), checking the "Store Presets with  Catalog"  option again makes perfect sense as it would allow presets  created by  one user to be seamlessly available to the other.

   c) Another very limited application for this setting is where a user  wishes to include a backup of the settings sub-folders within their  normal backup routine, and finds it easier to accomplish this if the  settings sub-folders are in the same folder as the catalog. However, see in the implications section below that this would result in an incomplete backup of the settings.
*
3. Implications of using this option.*


First and foremost it is imperative to understand   that - when you first select the option - the new Lightroom Settings   folder initially contains only *empty* sub-folders. *All of your   carefully created user presets are NOT automatically copied from the   default locations to the equivalent sub-folder in Lightroom Settings.*   This creates the rather startling situation that the instant you check   that option all of your existing users presets "disappear", simply   because Lightroom has stopped looking in the default folders (where they   still are) and now looks in the new Lightroom Settings sub-folders   (which are initially empty).


The trick, therefore, is to *copy* all your   existing presets into the equivalent sub-folder in the new Lightroom   Settings folder (or folders if you have multiple catalogs). I suggest   that before checking the option, make a list of all the sub-folders that   contain presets that you have developed or imported, and also make  sure  you know the location of these default folders *and* the  location  of your catalog so that you can determine the source and  destination  preset sub-folders for the copy. Using the "Show Lightroom  Presets  Folder" button as mentioned earlier will show the *default* location when the "Store presets with catalog" option is unchecked, and will show the *new* location *after* the option has been checked.


However, as I intimated earlier, irrespective of the 'Store presets with catalog' option Lightroom will *only* refer to the default settings location for certain of the settings sub-folders. Manually copying these folders to the new Lightroom Settings folder will make no difference. I have been unable to determine the definitive list, though the following are known to be to be always sourced from the default settings location:
Lightroom Preferences
Modules
Export Actions
Scripts
Email Accounts
Email Address Book
Some third-party plug-ins (e.g. Nik)



Ensure when copying your presets that you copy into   the correct sub-folders....several of the preset types (such as Develop,   Export, Import, etc) have two different sub-folders - Lightroom  Presets  for packaged presets, and User Presets where Lightroom saves  the  user-created presets. But not all preset types have these distinct   sub-folder types, for example the External Editor Presets, so be very   careful that you copy correctly.
 

Lastly, we have recently come across a slight 'quirk'....Local Adjustment Presets (such as Dodge and Burn) are *sometimes, but not always*   copied to the Local Adjustments Presets sub-folder in the new  Lightroom  Settings folder. If, after checking the 'Store presets with  catalog'  option, these presets 'disappear' they can easily be restored  by going  to Preferences>Presets Tab and clicking on "Restore Local  Adjustment  Presets".


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