Shortcuts used by professional or serious photographers during the editing process have always been a point of some discussion and debate.

Some photographers, see Lightroom presets as inappropriate for professionals to use as shortcuts while others view it as being clever because Lightroom presets save time, and time is money. Whichever position you take, there is no denying the value in saving time. Investing in presets does not diminish your skills or talent. It allows you to spend less time at the keyboard editing your photos while enhancing the quality of your work.

Let’s break down the idea of using Lightroom presets for what they have to offer any photographer as part of the standard editing process. We are going to discuss the potential for value when using a preset.

1. Simplicity:

Presets make life simple; rather than having to re-teach yourself an editing process or trick each time you want to use it, you can use a preset instead. If you're not using that edit or style daily, then you're likely to forget how to do it. A preset means you just click and create the style you wanted. Period and full stop. A few clicks and you’ve made your edits using a preset!

2. Save Time:

It's hard for anyone to justify wasting time during the photo editing process. This is why Lightroom was created - so photographers could save time in the shooting process. Set up the shot as well as you can, point, click and shoot. Later, you can enhance or clean up your pictures using photo editing software such as Lightroom which offers the ability to apply a particular preset to one photo or many photos. You can use a preset and stop there with those enhancements or make some further tweaks to the picture. Think back to when you needed to edit individual images and how much time that took! Now with a simple click, you can sync your edits across an entire batch of photos - like for a wedding or other event requiring large batches of photos.

3. Better Edits:

By using presets you can take your photo editing up to the next level of proficiency and quality. Taking advantage of presets is the best and fastest way to get better edits rather than spending hours on a single image. It is comparable to having a professional editor doing it for you, so you don’t have to spend hours and hours learning how to do the edits. Someone else has already spent hours producing the preset, so you don’t have to!

4. Versatility at Its Best:

Presets allow you to try a variety of styles on your photos quickly. It can take photographers years to test and master a variety of photo edits to create a style they like. Presets let you try out different styles far more quickly than trying it for yourself. They also allow you to develop your own branding look by finding a style you feel well represents your "look" or tastes. Just click on it each time you want to change the appearance of your image. It can convert everything from color and contrast to shadows and highlights. You can spend some time trying different Lightroom presets to find and pick your favorites. That’s still far less time and more versatile than doing edits yourself without a preset.

Summary:

There are many useful, smart, and creative presets available on the market today. I recommend you try at least one or two created by professionals before you make up your mind whether or not to continue using them. However, most people find they can't keep working without them! Depending on your needs, Lightroom offers numerous presets making it easy to pick one as a starting point to work your way from there. The Lightroom presets provide great value for what they offer including a lot of attractive and versatile styles any photographer would appreciate and find easy to use.