Lightroom Presets

Presets – More Retouching Presets

Today I’ve got an update to some older retouching presets I created for the Adjustment Brush in Lightroom 2. On an interesting “retouching” side-note (and one that I promise I did not plan) Scott Kelby wrote a really fascinating article on the Kelly Clarkson retouching controversy. What I found most interesting is that it’s not about what you’d think (a retouching ethics article). They’ve been done to death. It’s about an entirely new angle on retouching that nobody ever speaks about, but is an absolute reality. Definitely worth a read.

OK back to the presets. This update happens a lot for two reasons: 1) I add new presets and, 2) As I use my presets for a while I find that I need to change their settings. These presets focus on some of the basic retouching effects you can achieve with the Adjustment Brush. Now, before you download them, keep one thing in mind. These aren’t for high-end fashion retouching. Photoshop is still the best place for that. They’re geared for some quick enhancements that you can do right in Lightroom when you just don’t have the time to move the photos into Photoshop. In this set, I’ve included:

1) Brightening/Whitening Teeth
2) Whiten Eyes
3) Red Lips
4) Iris Enhance
5) Skin Softening (Low)
6) Skin Softening (High)

Just like the last set of retouching brushes, I tried to stay pretty conservative on the settings but one of the challenges I came across was the settings worked differently on different photos. But I do think they’re a good starting place. Plus, you can always quickly adjust the sliders after you apply them.

Anyway, these are a little different to install from the regular Develop presets so here’s the instructions.

1) Navigate to your Lightroom presets folder. The easiest way to do this is to go to Lightroom’s preferences by clicking the Lightroom menu and choosing Preferences (PC: Edit > Preferences). Then choose the Presets tab and click the “Show Lightroom Presets Folder” button to open the Lightroom Folder.

2) Now go into the Lightroom Folder. Then go into the Local Adjustment Presets folder. You’ll know you’re in the right folder because you should see the file “Soften Skin.lrtemplate” there too.

NOTE: A number of Mac readers commented that their presets were not stored here. Here is the location that a few readers gave, though mine are not located here: Pictures/Lightroom Settings/Local Adjustment Presets

3) UNZIP the file you downloaded from the bottom of this post. I repeat UNZIP the file you downloaded. Do not try to install the ZIP file 🙂

4) Copy and paste the “.lrtemplate” files into the Local Adjustment Presets folder.

5) Restart Lightroom

Enjoy!

• Click here to download Matt’s Retouching Brushes.

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