streetmarty Loc: Brockton, Ma

Hello Hogs,
I get e-mail every few days from Picture Correct. It has been so long I forget whether or not I signed up or it or if it's junk mail, but either way I don't mind as they have interesting articles once in a while. Today's e-mail, "New Deal: Over 1000 Stunning Presets for 1-Click Photo Editing." Normally $560 and usually on sale for $99 but today with the code you can get it for $49. For all you "in the know" Hogs is this a phenomenal deal or is this just another Veg-o-matic? I have yet to use a preset, I actually enjoy tinkering with each photo and the way I personally analyze everything I do I figure it will take me about 41.5 days to check out each of the 1000 presets. But more important here is my main concern with the miracle presets. Let's say I take 100 photos from 6pm to 7pm, the light is completely different at 7 than it was at 6. So I am in Lightroom with the first photo (6pm) and I find a preset that I like and do my 1-click thing, perfect. So now I 1-click the whole 100? No matter the lighting they are all going to look as good as photo #1? Because if the answer is no then what is the point of all this, I might as well do it my way, one at a time. Thanks all....Marty

haroldross Loc: Walthill, Nebraska

I personally would not purchase any Lightroom Presets. Take some time to learn how to create your own presets so you will have a better understanding of how a preset works.

Bill_de Loc: US

I would pass on that. I do have a bunch of presets that came with on1Photo10. They make a good starting point. From there you can adjust each element of the preset to your liking and either save it as a new preset, or just use it one time.

I have looked at a few to see how they get to where they are. It can be a learning exercise.

--

streetmarty Loc: Brockton, Ma

thank you...

streetmarty Loc: Brockton, Ma

thanks... :thumbup:

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Good advice ;)

Agree 110%!

:thumbup: :thumbup:

jim quist Loc: Missouri

Even if you have the thousand, you will probably really like about a dozen.
Someone sat down with lightroom and came up with a bunch of presets and is selling them. Create your own.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

I have some presets (free ones) but don't use them much. I prefer to edit my photos myself. The thought occurs to me that 1,000 presets is pretty unmanageable, even if they were somehow categorized. I'd pass.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Applying any setting (preset or not) to multiple photos will not make them all the same, well, unless you are talking a crop I suppose ;)

All a preset is is just specific settings, say exposure -.5, so if you have 100 different images with different exposures and apply a preset that sets exposure to -.5, that is what all images will get... regardless of what they were.

Where applying settings to a bunch of images would be helpful is perhaps applying a standard dehaze setting to all 100 at once, or sharpness perhaps - but really, at least I find that I do better adjusting each image 1 at a time.

I used to have a screen full of free presets, but never really used them, so deleted them and just create the few of my own that I make use of, like a set of ND Filters as presets.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Much as Bill_de describes, I use a few presets from Lightroom, from DxO OpticsPro or from Topaz. I apply the preset one at a time to a particular image then often tweak the image further to get the look I want. I save the resulting adjustment as a 'user preset' (available only to my good friends for $49.95 - Lol). Seriously, presets can be helpful, but they are not a panacea and should be used sparingly.

Db7423 Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

I'm onboard and agree 111%. Learning to DIY is well worth your time. Who can be a expected to scroll through all those presets to see what works. Best to start playing with the sliders, you'll learn soon enough. ;)

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Those who gain most from presets are the ones who sell them to people who think there are one-click solutions to make their images look like the ad for the presets.

If one buys them with the idea that they are a starting point and need adjustment to fit a specific image, then they can be a reasonable investment.

Same is true for Photoshop Actions.

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

I agree Captain, presets are a staring point, what works for one image usually needs tweaking on another.

Hammer Loc: London UK

I equate presets with Elephants

A friend once offered me a fully grown Elephant for $300.

I declined reminding him that I lived on the 6th floor of a building with no lift

He came back to me and said , OK what about two elephants for $400 the pair .

Right I said lets talk.

The presets are a bargain but do you really need them

bcmink Loc: Monona, WI

I have dozens of presets and frankly most of them are, well, blah. There are just no substitutes for learning the capabilities of LR edit functions/capabilities. Use it long enough and you'll have all the presets you need right in your head and won't have to go searching through a catalog of third party LR presets.