Instructions for Installing Lightroom Presets

What is a Lightroom preset?  Find out here!

Go to the develop module in Lightroom. Select a photo. Right click > import and you can import the preset you just downloaded.

When you want to import a collection of presets, however, we have to do it a little differently because we want the entire folder of presets to be imported so that they are nicely organized in your library.

Before you begin, backup your current Lightroom presets. Every once in a while, I’ve seen Lightroom create problems and lose presets when others are installed.

Step 1: Here we are going to create a dummy preset. Select a photo and go wild with your sliders. It doesn’t matter what you do to alter the photo. Then hit the plus button and we’re going to call this “random”. Underneath where you name the preset, click inside the folder box to select a folder. Go to new folder and name it “random”. Click create.

Now we should have the new preset that we made showing up in Lightroom on the left under Presets. Right click on that > show in finder OR for Windows, it’s going to say show in Windows Explore. Great! Now if we look at the folder trail, we can see where Lightroom saves any new presets.

Step 2: Locate presets folder. Open up a new finder window or a new Windows Explorer window then find the the presets you just downloaded. Usually after you download something, you can find it by going to your recent downloads on your computer.

When you find the presets you just downloaded, they are going to be zipped and you have to unzip them. To unzip them either double click the presets, or right click on the presets and mouse over the unzip option. Or use an unzip program if you’re using an older computer.

Step 3: Locate the file you just unzipped. Select all of the files and hit control > copy. Go over to where Lightroom puts your presets folder and click paste.

Step 4: Restart Lightroom. When you restart Lightroom, all of the presets should be there for you to mouse through and they should be there nicely in folders for you.

If you wish to further your knowledge in using Lightroom or simply Lightroom presets, you can go to our article A Beginner Introduction to Lightroom Presets. I have been working on my presets for years and I have lots available for free on my website. I know you’ll love them.