ARTICLE: Photography Presets: Are They Worth It?
Presets are everywhere. Scroll through Instagram or YouTube and you’ll see them in every ad and every caption. Each one promises a “signature look” that’ll transform your photos in one click.
Cinematic tones. Creamy highlights. That warm film glow everyone seems to love.
But are they really worth it? Or are they just a shortcut that hides the real craft?
Let’s look at what presets actually do, when they help, when they don’t, and how to use them properly.
What Presets Actually Are
A preset is just a saved set of editing adjustments. Things like exposure, contrast, tone curve, HSL, and color grading all stored together in a single file.
When you apply it, Lightroom or Capture One copies those settings onto your image. Nothing more.
A preset can’t fix poor lighting or bad composition. It can’t make up for missed focus or blown highlights. It works best when your photo is already solid.
If your image is technically good, a preset can lift it. If it’s not, the preset will usually make it worse, faster.
Why Photographers Use Presets
There’s a reason presets have become part of almost every photographer’s workflow.
Speed. They cut editing time dramatically. You can batch a full shoot in minutes.
Consistency. They help you maintain a cohesive visual style across multiple shoots.
Reliable color grades. When you build presets properly, they hold your color balance steady. Your shadows, highlights, and midtones behave consistently. That’s what gives a portfolio its polish.
Learning tool. Reverse-engineering someone’s preset can teach you a lot about tone and color.
Starting point. Even pros use presets to set a base grade before fine-tuning.
Used well, presets are practical. They make editing faster and more consistent without removing the creative control that matters.
The Beginner Trap
Presets are sold heavily to beginners, and that’s where most of the misunderstanding starts.
The marketing sounds great: “Buy this pack and your photos will look professional.”
It’s a nice idea, but it doesn’t work that way.
A preset can’t fix a bad photo. If your lighting, exposure, or color temperature is off, no pack will save it. That’s why so many new photographers apply a preset and wonder why it looks nothing like the example image.
Those sample images look good because they started good. The preset just enhanced what was already there.
Beginners often end up chasing looks instead of learning light. They click through packs hoping something will “just work” instead of figuring out why an image feels off. Over time, that habit slows progress.
Presets are still useful when you’re learning, but not as shortcuts. Treat them as teachers. Apply one and see what changes. Study the color mix, contrast curve, and tone response. Once you understand what the preset does, you’ll start building your own taste.
“Presets can help you look professional faster, but they won’t make you professional.”
That part comes from understanding light, composition, and color — not from buying someone else’s idea of style.
The Problem with Presets
Presets rarely look right straight away. Different cameras, lighting, and white balance mean you’ll still need to adjust every image.
A few more truths:
They can make your work look like everyone else’s.
They can make you lazy if you stop learning how color and light really work.
They can be overpriced for what they offer.
They can create false expectations for beginners.
Presets are tools. Nothing more. The problem is when you expect them to do the heavy lifting.
Are Paid Presets Worth It?
Sometimes they are.
If you find a pack that fits your vision and saves you time, that’s money well spent. If you buy a set that you can tweak and re-save to suit your taste, even better. You’ll turn someone else’s work into something that fits your own style.
What you’re really buying isn’t the preset itself, it’s the insight. You’re buying into another photographer’s approach to tone, color, and mood.
But if you’re buying presets to make your photos “look pro,” you’ll be disappointed. Presets don’t make better photos. They just make faster edits.
Build Your Own Presets
Making your own presets gives you control and understanding. You start to see what makes a color grade work. You learn how light interacts with texture and tone.
Start simple. Take one of your best edits and save it. Then build a few versions that suit different conditions:
Golden hour
Cloudy days
Studio lighting
Interiors
Over time you’ll have a small collection that matches your workflow. The more you use them, the more refined they’ll become. Eventually, they’ll reflect your taste, not someone else’s.
AI-Selected Presets and Masks
Lightroom’s AI tools have changed how presets work. You can now build adaptive presets that automatically detect and target specific areas of an image.
That means one preset can brighten a car’s paintwork, tone down the sky, and warm up the background — all automatically.
You can build AI presets that:
Lift shadows only on the subject
Add contrast just to bodywork
Recover skies
Adjust tones for different lighting
Maintain consistent color grades across mixed light
For automotive photographers, this is a big deal. It keeps your look consistent from paddock to pitlane without hours of local adjustments.
Should You Buy or Build?
Here’s the real question.
Buy Presets If:
You’re short on time and need a fast base.
You’ve found a pack that matches your camera and your look.
You’re using them as a learning tool.
You plan to tweak and re-save your own versions.
They can speed up your workflow and help you find new ideas.
Don’t Buy If:
You expect a one-click fix.
You want a look that’s truly yours.
You shoot in conditions very different to the examples.
You’ll end up frustrated.
Build Your Own If:
You want complete control over your colors and tones.
You shoot in mixed light or varied environments.
You care about developing your own visual identity.
When you build your own, you learn fast. Your presets evolve with your style.
Best of Both Worlds
For most photographers, the smart move is to do both.
Buy one or two quality packs that fit your work, study them, then rebuild your own versions. That way, you learn what works and still end up with a unique look.
Using Presets the Right Way
Presets aren’t the destination. They’re the starting point.
Apply one, adjust it, and make it yours. Change the exposure, color temperature, and contrast until the photo feels like something you’d shoot.
Think of presets like seasoning. Too much, and the flavor’s gone. Just enough, and it enhances what’s already there.
Final Thoughts
Presets aren’t good or bad. They’re tools.
They can make your workflow faster and more consistent. They can also teach you a lot about editing if you use them deliberately.
Buy them if they save you time. Tweak them to your liking. But if you want lasting improvement, build your own.
Once you understand light, tone, and color, you won’t need to copy someone else’s style. You’ll already have your own.
That’s when editing stops being one click and starts being yours.
Note
If enough people are interested, I’ll put together a short video showing how to use presets properly — and how to build your own from scratch.
OutlawPhotography.co.uk or follow him on Instagram @outlawcarphotography.