Ugly Hedgehog - Photography Forum
Home Active Topics Newest Pictures Search Login Register
Main Photography Discussion
Lightroom presets and Photoshop actions
Jan 10, 2019 12:16:02   #
brettmilden
 
Novice LR and PS user. Mainly for landscape photography.
1. LR Presets and/or PS Actions. Recommend using these PP on your doing your own editing?
2. Are Presets or Actions preferred one over the other?
3. Recommendations for Presets or Actions to obtain free or purchase?
Thank you for responses!

Reply
Jan 10, 2019 12:47:52   #
sandiegosteve Loc: San Diego, CA
 
Presets just move the sliders around. It is better to learn what they do first.

Then, if you shoot in the same place and some conditions, they can help.

Reply
Jan 10, 2019 13:09:06   #
speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho
 
I do use them quite a bit, but I make my own, I have never purchased any!

Reply
 
 
Jan 10, 2019 13:33:55   #
Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.
 
brettmilden wrote:
Novice LR and PS user. Mainly for landscape photography.
1. LR Presets and/or PS Actions. Recommend using these PP on your doing your own editing?
2. Are Presets or Actions preferred one over the other?
3. Recommendations for Presets or Actions to obtain free or purchase?
Thank you for responses!


Lightroom presets do nothing that cannot be learned and done with the sliders, sure you can find some free presets, but out of 10 you might use 1 or 2. Presets might be a good idea if you are trying to learn Lightroom, but stick with free ones. I eliminated 99% of presets in Lightroom and will create my own to save some time, or just stick with manually moving the sliders as each image is different anyway.

Photoshop actions, are just "macros" - a series of recorded commands to apply settings to an image - again, freebies may be fine, but nothing that cannot be done by learning the commands in Photoshop, and easy to create your own by recording actions during an editing session.

Actions come in handy when they involve a series of steps needed that can get pretty complicated - these can be easily reduced to recorded actions and saved to be recreated later.


Lightroom has presets, Photoshop has actions. Different, but the same.

Reply
Jan 10, 2019 14:46:29   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
Purchasing LR presets is a waste of time and money. They're barely worth their cost when given away free.

Reply
Jan 10, 2019 16:01:41   #
via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP
 
brettmilden wrote:
Novice LR and PS user. Mainly for landscape photography.
1. LR Presets and/or PS Actions. Recommend using these PP on your doing your own editing?
2. Are Presets or Actions preferred one over the other?
3. Recommendations for Presets or Actions to obtain free or purchase?
Thank you for responses!


Presets in LR or Actions in PS simply offer the photographer a way to save time and processing steps. In some cases this is important, for example, a wedding photographer who uses the same processing on hundreds of images and needs to get the job done quickly. In other cases the images we take may need to be processed one at a time. It all depends on the goal that the photographer has. I use LR as my primary processing tool and I use presets of my own making for sharpness and a couple of tone curves. Mostly, however, I process each image or a certain set of images collectively in the way I think will meet my goals with that or those images. Trying presets is fine if you are not confidant in your processing skills but learning what the actual processing steps are and what the sliders do may be better in the long run.

Reply
Jan 11, 2019 07:20:26   #
Deanie1113
 
I wasted some money on LR presets and don't like them in general. But PS actions I like much better because they can be tweaked to your liking and recreating them in PS is, for me, much harder. I use them very sparingly, but when I do, I am pleased.

Reply
 
 
Jan 11, 2019 07:59:53   #
mborn Loc: Massachusetts
 
I use presets as a starting point and modify from there and do the same with PSactions

Reply
Jan 11, 2019 08:45:09   #
sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD
 
Presets are somebody else's idea ho how a photo should look. Many are pretty good, but I prefer to start from scratch with my own ideas.

Reply
Jan 11, 2019 08:57:58   #
Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC
 
Presets are handy when dealing with a large number of photos that were all taken at the same time. In other words... a hundred photos from a particular photo shoot. Make a custom preset to suit your needs, then apply to all in that set. But, that is really a shortcut to the final edit. You will nearly always do some tweaking to the settings for each images. Overall, though, it does save time in PP.

Another advantage is to preview the effects of the preset before applying it. This is a relatively new feature in LR. But, it is very easy to preview, find a preset you like, then tweak from there. 👍🤓👍I

Reply
Jan 11, 2019 10:26:08   #
BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA
 
brettmilden wrote:
Novice LR and PS user. Mainly for landscape photography.
1. LR Presets and/or PS Actions. Recommend using these PP on your doing your own editing?
2. Are Presets or Actions preferred one over the other?
3. Recommendations for Presets or Actions to obtain free or purchase?
Thank you for responses!


I agree with sandiegosteve that it is best to learn the software without presets so you understand the effects you get from altering different parameters. Only when you really understand that part, should you then build your own presets that can be applied to your shooting situations. Others may disagree, but IMHO if you are going to process then learn what is happening!

Reply
 
 
Jan 11, 2019 10:46:25   #
sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD
 
BobHartung wrote:
I agree with sandiegosteve that it is best to learn the software without presets so you understand the effects you get from altering different parameters. Only when you really understand that part, should you then build your own presets that can be applied to your shooting situations. Others may disagree, but IMHO if you are going to process then learn what is happening!



Reply
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.
Main Photography Discussion
UglyHedgehog.com - Forum
Copyright 2011-2024 Ugly Hedgehog, Inc.