"Are paid presets any different?" I thought to myself and started asking a few fellow photographers for their thoughts and experiences. The response from the handful of people I asked was all but unanimous: they're a waste of money; spend your time learning instead. One friend suggested that they're great if you want to create Instagram cliches, but not much use for anything else. And there's some truth to this: in an era when photographic success is equated with the number of Instagram followers, it's no wonder that people want to buy a formula that feels like it's guaranteed to get likes and comments.
Photographer James Popsys didn't hold back in one of his videos last year: "If you're buying people's presets, you're buying a shortcut that takes you out of the creative process," he explained. If you like a photographer's editing, you can replicate it quickly by buying one of their presets, but how much are you going to learn as a result, and what are you going to achieve by replicating their look and feel? Sure, you can use the preset as a base from which to start, and you can begin figuring out how certain looks are achieved by digging into the various settings, but that time might easily be spent doing a few tutorials, developing your own style, and establishing a better understanding of the editing process. As a result, your future images will have more potential when you go on to apply your newly acquired knowledge.
Having still not bought a preset, I'm interested to find out about the community's experience. On the one hand, I wonder if there's a clique of well-established YouTube photography celebrities who are flogging their presets to a naive audience in order to generate some passive income from very little work and zero overhead. YouTube comments (never a great source of information, admittedly) suggest that certain photographers are churning out video after video that are more about plugging their presets than they are about offering something insightful or educational. When the first line in every video's description is a link to the photographer's Lightroom preset pack, maybe it's time to unsubscribe.
On the other hand, if there's a style that inspires you, is it worth dropping the equivalent of a pizza and a few beers to get an insight into a workflow and use that as another tool towards mastering Lightroom and developing a personal style? It's also a great way to support a photographer who has worked to carve a niche and share their knowledge. And as much as we try to be unique, we're all simply remixing what's already out there, and while a distinctive style is the goal, paid presets can be a (tax-deductible) means of taking a step towards it.
Ok... This was a little bit like Click bait!
Free presets sucks! BUT....
Vsco, Replichrome, 18%Lab, DVLOP, and others paid presets have Custom Camera Profiles that you can't create by yourself. (Unless you have plenty of time and patience.)
They Change colors, curves e tones in way you cant do in Lightroom.
Some of this can put your nikon and canon cameras with pretty same tone to start you own color sign.
So... no... If you try to create some unique visual sign use custom camera profiles presets. They are great, Most of them help maintain cohesion and constancy in colors.
Presets can NOT modify your files in a way not possible in Lightroom. The only thing they do is tell LR what to do, that it can already do.
I don't have much experience with them because as you wrote, free presets suck :-), so I can't find any fault with the rest of your comment. :-)
Sure, the HSL is not the answer, but you can do fine tuning in the calibration tab - which affects the camera/raw profile. Tuning the LR process version or a custom one with e.g. a ColorChecker.
I do however agree with you that some paid presets can be worth it, due to the extreme fine tuning some of them encompass. I for sure doesn't want to spend hours creating my own with this level of quality, but I do apply my own tuning after I've applied the preset - and if I tweak it enough, then I'll save it as my own version of the preset.
I love how you had to correct people three separate times because they just blatantly disregarded what you were talking about and talked about something completely different instead. Lol. You'd think "professionals" who feel they know enough to discount presets would know what a camera profile was?
I personally have purchased SMAL presets and I love them. Few things, I am still new to lightroom and SMAL is the style I love and wish to create. Now of course I do tweak each photo, I don't just apply it and be done. So for me, I think the preset helps me learn and create. Yes I have watched several lightroom videos and of course I have gotten much better, but I still like to use SMAL and then tweak to my desired look. I don't think it is cheating and I don't think it takes away from your creativity. I think presets can be used as a tool and a learning tool to help you achieve your desired look
I was a sucker for presets back then. The good thing is I've never gotten past the free ones or trial versions. I've stopped downloading it recently, even if it's free. Originally, I wanted these so I can have an idea of what looks good on my photos but the thing is, none of them looked good on my photos. :D
You need more information about Professional Presets. They do more than Tweak lightroom slides. When has Custom Camera Profiles you can do more with professional Presets (paid).
If you don't know, do not write about.
I love Peter McKinnon, he seems like the nicest guy and I have learned a ton about photography and especially videography from his Youtube channel (and i'm a professional photographer and media creative). I bought his LR presets mainly as a way of giving something back and saying thank you for some of the tips he's passed on. I have to admit, most are very "Insta-Banger" in style, typical over processed looking things that all the kids would probably love to use to post their photos on the gram. But there is one very good preset that I really liked, and it gave a very different look than I would have decided upon myself. It was interesting looking at how he had got his edit to that point. I don't think i'd buy any other presets. But I bought Peter's knowing that I was just happy donating to him even if they were rubbish.
Couldn't agree more with you. Did exactly the same haha. I don't use the presets anymore, but they definitely helped me finding out what I did and didn't like about them and put the best of them into my own presets.
he makes money from views. his job is to produce videos and get paid from it so essentially watching his videos should be seen as "giving back" although you're learning at the same time as well. you shouldn't feel like you need to buy presets just because. I totally also get the business side of things from the YouTubers POV but i just find like guys like Jared Polin who never talk about presets and always encourage people to learn and develop their own skills is a better way to go :)
In my experience, presets like his are meant to be customized for each scenario. You have to tone down the effect and adjust things to suit the photo. Everyone shoots differently so even the most universally adapted presets aren't a one-click
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! Finally found someone who agrees with me! I get a bit annoyed at YouTubers and start to lose just a little respect for them selling presets. I understand the business side of things is in I shoot good images, I have a decent following and selling these will make people believe their images will be as good as mine and I'll make passive income and then just make a video saying presets aren't intended to be a 1 click solution. I get that. BUT personally I don't agree with presets other than those you've made yourself because I feel like:
1. Using someone else's preset will never make an image look like how you envisioned it out in the field
2. I think it takes away from the learning of how to process images and how to achieve a certain look in post (especially for new photographers) and also you dont get to learn lightroom very well
3. Everyone's images will eventually look similar because they'll use the most popular YouTubers presets
Unfortunately, however, Priime RAW has literally become unusable for me. At some point half-way through my time in Colorado, my iCloud Photo Library got too big and the Priime RAW app now crashes every time I use it. This is a huge bummer because I think Priime has some truly amazing filter presets.
 Wilde Presets. All Rights Reserved. Our content is protected by International Copyright & Intellectual Property Law. By purchasing these presets, you agree to our Licensing Agreement. Do not copy, sell, or redistribute. Derivative works are also prohibited. A license must be purchased per each user who will install or use the presets. Due to the nature of digital products, all sales are final.
Fortunately, this is a concern of the past. Our carefully crafted presets make editing your photos incredibly simple (and fun) and will have you wondering why you didn't start using Wilde Presets sooner!
Presets are high-quality photo filters that can be applied to your photos to give your photos a beautiful, signature look! Rather than trying to sort out all the different color and lighting settings on your own, our presets allow you to quickly apply our signature settings to your photos for beautiful photos in one click!
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