In Defense of Presets: Why Using Them Doesn't Make You Less of a Photographer
Stop gatekeeping presets. They belong in every photographer's toolkit.
Image by Bernadeta Kupiec
Edited with Marigold Presets
The idea that editing with presets makes you a lesser photographer isn't just wrong. It's holding the craft back.
Every art form has its gatekeepers and naysayers. Painters who sneer at digital brushes. Musicians who dismiss producers who use loops. And photographers, plenty of them, who insist that reaching for a Lightroom preset is some kind of shortcut, a confession of inadequacy, a sign that you haven't truly earned your edit.
We think it's a tired argument. And it's time to put it down for good.
Using a preset isn't a confession of weakness. It's an acknowledgment that expertise has value, and that your time does, too.
Presets are the work of experts. Treat them that way.
Image by Elliot Caunce
Edited with Chroma Presets + Soften Highlights from Afterglow Presets
Here's what the "presets are cheating" crowd rarely stops to consider: a great preset isn't a lucky accident. It is the distillation of thousands of hours of editing expertise from developers who understand Lightroom at a level most photographers never reach.
Take Creative Profiles, a powerful Lightroom feature that shapes the fundamental character of an image before a single slider is touched. Most photographers have never built one. Skilled preset developers have. They've also stress-tested their work across dozens of camera systems, lighting scenarios, and skin tones to make sure the result holds up in the real world, not just in ideal studio conditions.
Using the expertise of a master craftsperson isn't cheating. It's collaboration, the same kind that a filmmaker exercises when they hire a cinematographer, or a chef exercises when they follow a technique pioneered by someone who came before them.
As preset creator and owner of Archipelago Presets, Richard McDowell, puts it, the real value lies in where that expertise comes from: "You're starting from decades of combined editing experience. That frees you to focus on the creative choices instead of the technical ones."
Image by Flora Gibson
Edited with Veritas Presets and Light Effects Toolset
Your time has value
Photography is both an art and, for many people, a business. Time spent building an edit from scratch, hour after hour, session after session, is time not spent photographing, not spent with clients, not spent on the parts of the craft that actually bring you joy (and that’s not even taking into consideration work/life balance and personal time you sacrifice).
Presets allow you to correct exposure and white balance to your liking, select a preset, click once, and arrive somewhere that already looks right. That isn't laziness. That's efficiency. Every professional who has ever synced a preset across five hundred wedding portraits knows exactly what that's worth. The hours you reclaim aren't hours you wasted. They're hours you invested somewhere better.
As creator Chris Dunn is quick to point out, there's no rule that says you even need to understand the technical side to benefit: "Tons of 'pros' rely on presets and have no idea how they work. There's no shame in that. They're simply a tool and it's up to you how to utilize them."
Presets are a masterclass, not a crutch
Image by Lis Warren
Edited with Afterglow Presets
There's an irony buried in the "presets hold back your growth" argument: a good preset is one of the most effective teaching tools a developing photographer can have. Open one up and you'll find a roadmap, every slider positioned deliberately, every tone curve shaped with intention.
Richard McDowell describes presets as an "incredible reverse-engineering tool" and he knows from experience. "When I first started photography and editing," he says, "this was how I learned how to edit: taking Photoshop Actions apart and seeing how they ticked." A well-made preset is essentially someone's editing decisions laid out for you to inspect. Open the develop panel and you can see exactly which sliders moved, which curves shifted, how the color grading was built. You can learn more about editing in a few hours of studying how presets tick than in weeks of trial and error.
Liam Rimmington, another member of the Archipelago creator team, sees this play out across skill levels: "For beginners, presets unlock a better understanding of post-production by visually showing how specific sliders and settings contribute to the final look. A well-made preset can show how different lighting scenarios react to the same color grading, teaching users how to adapt their edits for golden hour, overcast days, or artificial lighting."
“For beginners, they’re a great way to learn, and I’d also argue a very affordable way. That said, there’s also no real need to learn if you’d rather focus on your photography.”
Image by Bernadeta Kupiec
Edited with Light & Ochre Presets and Atmospheric Toolset
They work for everyone, at every level
One of the more persistent myths about presets is that they're a beginner's shortcut, something you graduate out of as your skills develop. The people who actually make presets disagree.
"Presets help photographers at every skill level," says Liam Rimmington. "For seasoned pros, they speed up workflows and create consistency across scenes." Richard McDowell echoes this: the value isn't in not knowing how to edit. It's in not having to start from zero every single time.
The beginner gets a window into expert decision-making. The intermediate photographer gets a faster path to their vision. The working professional gets consistency and speed across hundreds of images. These aren't different use cases. They're different expressions of the same value.
Image by Elliot Caunce
Edited with Light & Ember Presets and Atmospheric Toolset
Consistency is a professional advantage
A cohesive visual identity isn't a vanity project. It's what clients hire you for. Brides booking a wedding photographer, brands commissioning commercial work, magazines assigning editorial assignments: they all want to know what they're going to get. Presets are how you deliver that consistency reliably, across varying lighting conditions, locations, and equipment, without rebuilding the wheel every time.
The photographers who dismiss presets as a shortcut are often the same ones laboring for hours to recreate, from scratch, the same look they've already made dozens of times before. That isn't artistic integrity. That's just inefficiency with better PR.
The photograph is the art, not the process
At the end of a session, nobody who looks at your final image will ask how you edited it (well, unless they’re a fellow photographer who wants to imitate your brilliant edit). They'll feel something, or they won't. The frame you composed, the light you chased, the moment you anticipated: that's where your artistry lives. The edit is in service of all of it.
If a preset helps your image reach the vision in your head faster, more reliably, and with room to spare for the things that actually matter, then it isn't getting in the way of your art. It's clearing the path for it.
Image by Heidigita Photography
Edited with Kin Presets
Use them. Tweak them. Learn from them. Build on them.
The only rule in photography is that the image works, and presets have been helping photographers get there for a very long time.
Voices from the creator team:
“Presets help photographers of all skill levels. For pros, they speed up workflows and create consistency across various scenes. For beginners, they unlock a better understanding of post-production by visually showing how specific sliders and settings contribute to the final look.”
“For beginners, they’re a great way to learn, and I’d also argue a very affordable way. That said, there’s also no real need to learn if you’d rather focus on your photography. Tons of ‘pros’ rely on presets and have no idea how they work. There’s no shame in that.”
“A well-made preset is essentially someone’s editing decisions laid out for you to inspect. You can learn more about editing in a few hours of taking presets apart than in weeks of trial and error. When I first started photography, this was how I learned: taking Photoshop Actions apart and seeing how they ticked.”
Frequently Asked Questions:
Using Presets in Lightroom
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No. Using a preset is an acknowledgment that expertise has value, and that your time does too. Great presets are the result of thousands of hours of editing knowledge from developers who understand Lightroom at a level most photographers never reach.
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The opposite is often true. A well-made preset is one of the most effective teaching tools available. Opening one up reveals every slider positioned deliberately and every tone curve shaped with intention. You can learn more about editing in a few hours of studying how presets work than in weeks of trial and error.
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No. Presets help photographers at every skill level. Beginners get a window into expert decision-making, intermediate photographers get a faster path to their creative vision, and working professionals get consistency and speed across hundreds of images.
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Instead of building an edit from scratch, you correct exposure and white balance, select a preset, and arrive somewhere that already looks right in a single click. For professionals editing large volumes, like syncing a preset across hundreds of portraits, the hours reclaimed are significant.
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Yes. Presets let you deliver a cohesive visual identity reliably across varying lighting conditions, locations, and equipment, without rebuilding the same look from zero each time. That consistency is often exactly what clients hire photographers for.
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No. Many professional photographers use presets without knowing the technical details behind them. They are a tool, and how deeply you engage with them is entirely up to you.
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A quality preset represents the distilled editing expertise of developers who have stress-tested their work across dozens of camera systems, lighting scenarios, and skin tones. It also incorporates features like Creative Profiles, which shape the fundamental character of an image before a single slider is touched, something most photographers never build themselves.
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The craft lives in the frame you composed, the light you chased, and the moment you anticipated. If a preset helps your image reach your creative vision faster and more reliably, it is not getting in the way of your art. It is clearing the path for it.
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