Lightroom is the software of choice for photographers, both amateur and pros. It offers valuable tools and can save you a lot of time in post-production editing. Two useful features of the software are Creative Profiles and Presets.

They are similar, but there is one distinct difference between the two. If you're new to the software, you might be trying to understand the difference. While they are similar, they are not the same thing. Let's take a closer look.

Presets

As preset experts and designers, we are all about using presets for Lightroom, because they offer so much for not a lot of energy or time. They are a critical part of the post-production edits. Presets allow you to easily apply predetermined styles or looks to an image or batch of images. They can save you an enormous amount of time if you're working on a batch of images and you want to apply a uniform style or look.

Lightroom stores presets in the Presets panel of the Develop module (check our full guide “How to install presets for Lightroom”). To apply a preset, simply click on it, and the sliders immediately adjust themselves to achieve the preset's style you've clicked on.

Something to know or understand about presets is that when you click on a preset, it moves the appropriate Lightroom sliders to achieve the preset's look. You can see the sliders that have been affected by looking in the Basic panel. Note that presets sometimes move sliders in other panels as well.

If you're not happy with the changes made by the preset, simply move any of the sliders the preset moved. This will change the look you just applied.

In sum, presets will move sliders to a preset or predetermined location to achieve that preset's style or look.

Creative Profiles

Creative Profiles are similar to Presets because they can change an image's look or style. The difference between them is that when changes are applied by Creative Profiles, they do not change any sliders.

If you use a Creative Profile and then check the sliders, they haven't moved. They are still set to zero. This is the big difference between Creative Profiles and Presets.

That means that if you move the sliders, it won't affect the Creative Profile changes you've just applied. Instead, by moving the sliders, you can add additional edits to the profile you've applied. Note that when you use a Creative Profile, an Amount slider appears, allowing you to adjust the intensity of the profile you're adding.