Never do this to your Lightroom presets
When I was a small child (my husband uses the phrase small child and I think it’s the cutest thing), you might have been able to describe me as a bit obsessed with organization. My evening routine involved tidying up my room and making sure everything was just so… down to a candle being turned the right way.
Thankfully, I’ve left behind my childish ways and apparently made it my mission to have heaps of laundry on the floor on a daily basis.
No, not all heaps of laundry are dirty, but in my defense most of the heaps start in baskets and just start overflowing because… I’m so good at washing the laundry? Ha! Not everything has to be perfect.
However, I do think it’s important to mention I do still have an evening routine that involves drinking a warm cup of tea. It’s all about balance. ;)
But one area of life that needs to be organized and easy to use? That’d be Lightroom.
When you sit down to hammer out an editing session, the last thing you want is to have to tidy up and make more space on your computer, organize your Library in Lightroom, or sort through your presets.
Oh, no.
You definitely don’t need to sort through your presets and that’s exactly what we’re chatting about today. Our L&A presets haven’t been around since the beginning of Lightroom, so by now, most photographers and bloggers have hundreds and hundreds of presets to sort through. Presets that never really worked to begin with.
So let’s make sure that your Light & Airy Preset Suite has an area of its own so you can easily find it and get started with your editing!
If you already have the L&A Preset Suite, you’ve seen your video tutorial for installing the presets inside the membership area, but just in case you skipped that section and are trying to filter through all of your presets every time you go to use them, this is for you, too.
Never do this when importing presets into Lightroom
If you do a quick Google search, you might see a tutorial that involves just opening the Develop module (located in the top right menu in Lightroom), locating the presets section and right clicking on User Presets —> Import...
Don't do this. We've gotta keep Lightroom easy for you to use and we don't want your L&A presets getting lost in the mix. So below is a screenshot of what you DON'T want to do. Don't import presets into your "User Presets" folder.
When importing your presets into Lightroom, do this every time
Instead, right click anywhere in the presets area (you can even right click on User Presets) and click "New Folder."
Next, you'll want to enter the name for your folder. Since there are 2 folders in the Light & Airy Preset Suite, you'll want to give the first folder this name: "L&A Preset Suite - 10 second edit"
Click "create."
Next, right click on the "L&A Preset Suite - 10 second edit" folder that you just created and select "Import..."
Locate the zipped file that you downloaded from our L&A Fam Membership area. Unzip your folder if you haven't already and make sure you're importing the correct camera brand.
For example, if you're a Canon shooter, make sure you've downloaded the presets created specifically for Canon: "L&A Preset Suite - Canon"
Inside that folder, there are two folders: one folder contains your mix-and-match presets for the 10 second edit and one folder contains my signature 1-click Fuji and Portra presets.
Find the 10 second edit folder, which will actually have the same name as the folder you just created inside Lightroom: "L&A Preset Suite - 10 second edit"
Select all of the presets inside that folder and click "Import"
All of your mix-and-match presets for the 10 second edit are now in Lightroom and ready for you to use!
Next, right click anywhere in the presets section (you can even right click on "User Presets") and click "New Folder"
Name this folder: "L&A Preset Suite - Fuji + Portra"
Right click on the folder you just created: "L&A Preset Suite - Fuji + Portra"
Click "Import..."
Locate the "L&A Preset Suite - Fuji + Portra" folder, which will be right under the 10 second edit folder you've already imported.
Select all of the presets in the L&A Preset Suite - Fuji + Portra folder and click "Import"
You're finished! You'll see all of your presets for the Light & Airy Preset Suite neatly placed in Lightroom so you can get started on editing and stay focused without any extra clutter!
New to this whole Light & Airy thing? I designed the Fuji Classic preset to work in any lighting situation. Tricky indoor ceremony lighting? Click Fuji Classic and then go to your 10 second edit folder and click "overhead light" from the saturation group. Talk about editing-life changing.
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And just in case you haven't heard, I created a free Light & Airy preset for you that will handle the basics when you're editing so you can focus on the big picture. When you're doing your 10 second edit, apply this preset to every single photo and lay the foundation for a L&A photo!
Click the button below and tell me where to send your free preset!
