What Are Lightroom Presets and How Do They Work?
If you've ever wondered how photographers get a consistent, polished look across an entire gallery in minutes, the answer is usually Lightroom presets. Here's what they are, how they work, and how to start using them.
What is a Lightroom preset?
A preset is a saved set of editing adjustments — exposure, contrast, color, tone curves, sharpening and more — that you apply to any photo with one tap. Instead of moving 30 sliders on every image, you apply the preset and the whole look lands at once.
Think of it as a starting point, not a filter. A good preset does 80–90% of the color work; you make small adjustments for your specific camera and lighting.
How presets work
- Import the preset into Adobe Lightroom (the mobile app is free).
- Open a photo and tap the preset to apply it.
- Fine-tune exposure and white balance so it matches your shot.
- Copy those settings to the rest of the gallery for a consistent look.
Why photographers use them
Speed and consistency. If you shoot a full basketball game, a preset lets you edit 200 photos in the time it used to take to edit 20 — and every shot looks like it belongs together.
Do presets work on phone photos and RAW files?
Both. Presets work in Lightroom Mobile on JPEGs straight from your phone, and they work on RAW files in Lightroom desktop — RAW just gives you more room to fine-tune.
Getting started
Pick a preset built for the kind of photography you do. If you shoot sports, start with a pack designed for gym and stadium lighting rather than a generic moody pack. Browse our full preset collection, or read how to edit sports photos in Lightroom Mobile.
Install it once, apply it to a full shoot, and you'll never go back to editing from scratch.
