Presets
Lightroom Presets are like shortcuts enabling users
to apply fixed (absolute) edit settings with a single click. A preset replaces
the existing slider or default settings. They can also include local
adjustments.
Profiles
Lightroom profiles create a look or style and sometimes
emulate a film stock. They sit on top of other adjustments but never change
your edit settings, rather like a filter. This makes it possible to experiment with different looks
without affecting your workflow. If you decide to tweak the slider settings
they will then be relative to the applied profile.
This opens up opportunities
to do things not normally possible in Lightroom such as using a profile with a
3D Lookup Table (LUT)
Lightroom has supported camera profiles for quite a while
but they were hidden away in the calibration panel and were not widely used.
Adobe has now moved them to the top of the Develop tools and has introduced a
profile browser which can be viewed as a list or as thumbnails.
Current
Previous
Many creative profiles have an amount slider. This works
a bit like opacity, allowing more or less of the profile effect to be applied. A 3D LUT is complex, mapping all color values together
in a three-dimensional cube. It is possible to create cube LUT files in
Photoshop or using dedicated software from developers like 3DLutcreator.com
My own free Lightroom profiles are in the XMP format
ready to be imported. Download and installation instructions are given at the
link below for Windows & Mac.
Get Free Profiles
Get Free Profiles
Thanks 99jon, you are a legend.
ReplyDeleteGood to see more explanations of the Lr profile system.