As photographers, we all rely on different tools to make our lives easier. From tripods to grey cards to reflectors we all use devices that help improve our photography and make us feel more comfortable. So why shouldn’t this apply to the image post-production process as well? Lightroom presets are a core part of a modern photographer’s workflow. When used correctly they can be a fantastic aide offering you speed and consistency along with the ability to create a post-production pipeline that’s uniquely your own. Lightroom Presets can even provide you with new ideas, potentially producing effects you weren’t expecting and sparking your creativity.
In this Lightroom preset guide we’ll help break down everything you need to know about Lightroom Presets, how they can benefit you and which of best free and paid presets are available on the market right now.
The best Adobe Lightroom presets
Choosing the Preset package that’s right for you can be a daunting task. There are so many out there all promising a myriad of advantages. It would take a lot of time and a lot of money for you to properly go through every preset that’s available to download or purchase, which is why we’ve done the tough legwork for you.
Listed below you’ll find presets we have tested and believe are the best on the market. You can see that we’ve categorised them into subsections based on the ‘type’ of photographs the developers say they are intended for however this should not necessarily deter you. Most of the packages are flexible and can be combined with a range of photography.
The Best Free Lightroom Presets
Free presets can be both a blessing and a curse. In theory, you’re able to get customised looks for nothing, allowing you to get familiar with using Lightroom presets without having to part with any of your cash. However, there’s certainly a sense with many of the bundles available that they supply quantity over quality. Sure you’ll get a big assortment of files but often this brings with it a distinct drop in standards. Many of the presets just seem like slight variations of each other or worse, pointlessly over-stylized. Taking up time and space for something that you’ll never end up using.
However, this is not always the case. There is hope in a sea of mediocrity. Some free Lightroom presets are actually well worth having and are useful tools for any photographer’s arsenal. Below you can find the best free Lightroom presets available to download right now. Do you have any other suggestions? Please send us a message and we can add any free Lightroom preset pack to this list.
Name | Style | Type | Lightroom version | Amount | Website |
Landscape Vibrations | Mix | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 16 | More info |
Winter Wonderland | Mix | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 5 | More info |
Grain and Film | Mix | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 5 | More info |
Sleeklens Starter Pack | Mix | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 30 | More info |
121 Preset pack | Mix | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 121 | More info |
Trey's Starter Pack | Mix | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 7 | More info |
Kids Matte | Mix | Portrait | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 8 | More info |
Nicolesy's Matte | Black & White | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 8 | More info |
Spotlight | Color | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 7 | More info |
Blood Brothers | Color | Portrait | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
3rd Dimension | Color | Urban | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Sincerely Yours | Color | Portrait | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Silver Surfer | Black & White | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Rizzle Dizzle | Color | Urban | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Black Mamba | Black & White | Portrait | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Lips of Wine | Color | Portrait | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Luc Besson | Color | Portrait | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Stuck on You | Black & White | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Guava Jelly | Color | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
High Tide | Color | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Wood Neck | Black & White | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Let's Get Lost | Color | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Mantova | Color | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Royal Enfield | Color | Portrait | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Avocado Heights | Color | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
La Tuna | Color | Urban | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Into The Wild | Color | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Prospect Park | Black & White | Portrait | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Garden Grove | Color | Urban | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Thousand Oaks | Color | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Voodoo Lounge | Color | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Montauk Bay | Color | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
The Wall | Color | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Captain America | Color | Wildlife | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Cold Fact | Color | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Night Vision | Black & White | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Mensch Maschine | Color | Food | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Sucker Punch | Color | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Morrison Hotel | Color | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Downtown Alley | Color | Urban | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Catch a Fire | Black & White | Portrait | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 1 | More info |
Signature Collection Vol. 1 | Mix | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 60 | More info |
Signature Collection Vol. 2 | Mix | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 29 | More info |
Ultimate Fighter Look | Mix | Sport | 5 & 4 | 3 | More info |
Wedding Glow | Mix | Wedding | 5 & 4 | 2 | More info |
Regular Tonal Contrast | Color | Universal | 5 & 4 | 3 | More info |
Black & White Tonal Contrast | Black & White | Universal | 5 & 4 | 3 | More info |
Big Sky Landscapes | Color | Landscape | 4 | 4 | More info |
Black & White Landscapes | Black & White | Landscape | 4 | 4 | More info |
Black & White Portraits | Black & White | Portrait | 4 | 4 | More info |
Dark City Night | Color | Urban | 4 | 3 | More info |
Black & White Infrared | Black & White | Universal | 1 & 2 | 1 | More info |
The Best Paid Lightroom Presets
If you are parting with your hard cash for Lightroom presets you need to know that they are offering you something you couldn’t create on your own. When you pay for a service you expect a certain standard and buying presets is no different. For the most part, they deliver, but the price of a package can veer wildly between products. So naturally, you want to make sure that what you are getting is worth the money you’re handing
over. You want to know that these paid for presets come with a seal of quality.
In the table below these are, in our opinion, the best paid Lightroom presets. Each package gives you a distinct quality worthy of any photographer’s money.
Name | Style | Type | Lightroom version | Amount | Website |
Wedding Pack | Mix | Wedding | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 15 | More info |
Landscape Photography Pack | Mix | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 15 | More info |
Film Pastel Colors Pack | Mix | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 25 | More info |
Black & White Pack | Black & White | Universal | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 12 | More info |
Essential Portrait Bundle | Mix | Portrait | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 252 | More info |
Essential Landscape Bundle | Mix | Landscape | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 195 | More info |
Newborn Delight | Mix | Newborn | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 57 | More info |
A Winter's Tale Bundle | Mix | Winter | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 68 | More info |
Above the Clouds Presets | Mix | Drone | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 70 | More info |
Superior Interior Presets | Mix | Interior | Classic CC, 6, 5 & 4 | 130 | More info |
What are Adobe Lightroom Presets
Basically, a Lightroom preset is just a predetermined adjustment of your sliders in the Lightroom Develop Module. They are Lightroom’s way of saving a set of edits so that you can easily re-apply the same adjustments to multiple photos. These adjustments include things like exposure, contrast, saturation, and anything else you can alter when developing photos using Lightroom.
Lightroom presets give you the ability to easily apply the same style to a group of photographs in one click, providing you with the power to add consistency and theme to your work. They can also drastically reduce your editing time and boost your productivity.
If you’re new to Lightroom, presets are a great way to introduce new ideas and learn more about image processing. They’re also a brilliant way to make short work of complex editing, especially when you’re first starting out. They can help get your photo on the right path to a desired look, allowing you to then make the final tweaks needed to perfect the image. Having a library of presets gives you plenty of options when choosing a direction you want to take when editing your photographs, often providing some much-needed variety to your processing.
Before you start using Lightroom Presets
Lightroom presets are often misunderstood and should come with a degree of caution before you start using them for the first time. Instead of useful tools to automate changes and corrections, some photographers think of them as lifesavers for bad photos. Before starting out you should look out for a few potential pitfalls that users often fall into.
For one thing, there are thousands of Lightroom presets available to you on the internet, many of which are overpriced and poorly designed. Choosing which one is right for you is very important. A preset should enhance your photograph making it look special and not the same as everyone else’s. Many presets on the market are quite extreme and produce overly processed images. The look this type of preset creates is often hard to reign back, especially if you’re new to Lightroom.
Your photograph is unique, taken under very particular circumstances with lighting that requires adjustments specific to that photograph. You need a preset that not only benefits your photograph, but can be later tweaked and adjusted to perfectly suit it. Another factor to think about is the type of preset. Different Lightroom presets work better on some photographs than others. For instance, you can find presets that are specific to wedding photography, portraits or even low light. This means its very important that you choose the best preset for you and your photography, and not going for what’s popular or being promoted by a famous photographer. However in a market so flooded with options how can you know which is right for you? Luckily we’ve done the hard work for you. We have created a comprehensive guide to demonstrate the best free and paid Lightroom presets currently available.
What’s the difference between .lrtemplate and .xmp file formats?
One thing to note before starting to import Lightroom presets is concerning a change in file extensions rolled out by Adobe. In previous versions, Lightroom used to save all preset adjustment settings using a format with the extension .lrtemplate. But now with the latest versions of Adobe Lightroom (Lightroom Classic CC 7.3 and later), Adobe has moved on from the .lrtemplate file format and favours using the .xmp format to help standardise preset settings across all its platforms.
A .xmp file is similar in many ways to .lrtemplate files except that it deals with important metadata differently. Essentially this means that the presets you create in Lightroom are now compatible with Adobe Camera Raw & Photoshop. .lrtemplate files will still work with old versions of Lightroom (4, 5, 6) and Classic CC. In the event, you do want to use .lrtemplate files with the latest version, the application will convert your presets to the .xmp format for you.
Xmp files won’t work with old versions of Lightroom so make sure you download the correct preset format for the version of Lightroom that you are using. Below we’ll cover how to properly import presets into Lightroom Classic CC as well as older versions of the software. Follow our easy step by step guides and you’ll be creating beautifully crafted photographs in no time.
Importing Presets into Lightroom
The way to import Lightroom presets has slightly changed of the years. We explain you how to import .xmp presets in Lightroom Classic CC 7.3 and later and how to import .lrtemplate presets in Lightroom 6 and older versions.
How to import XMP Presets into Lightroom Classic CC
Importing presets into Lightroom Classic CC is simple. This method works for version 7.3 of the Adobe Lightroom and all subsequent updates since. Open up Lightroom and navigate to the Develop page. On the left sidebar find the Presets tab. Once located click the + icon then select Import Preset. Use the new window that pops up to navigate to the preset file you want, and click Import.
This will automatically update and bring the file into your presets Library for you to start using straight away. This practice applies for .xmp file extensions and .lrtemplate. Your .lrtemplate files will be converted to .xmp and stored in a new folder on your hard disk.