Lightroom Tips

The Flickr Lightroom Preset Extractor is Back Up!

First, don’t forget to check out the next post. I’ve commented about some comments I got here on the site. Instead of burying them in the comment section, I created a post so everyone could read.

Next…Good news! The Flickr Lightroom preset extractor is back up. The original post and the following post I made about it caused nearly 150 comments here on the site. Mike Wiacek (who wrote the program) took it down to research any possible legal problems it could cause for him. But its back. Basically, if you see a Flickr photo you like, you can try out the Preset Extractor to create a Lightroom preset of the effect. The extractor looks at the metadata and tries to reverse engineer it into a preset. Of course it only works if people don’t strip the EXIF data from their photos before posting them and it only seems to work with the latest versions of Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw. Here’s the link… again.

Share:

15 comments

  1. Paul Weinrauch 13 July, 2009 at 16:52 Reply

    I too am grateful that it back online! It was a non-issue. We all need to learn together. I became a photographer to be part of a community not to fight about intelectual property.

  2. Mr Funky 11 July, 2009 at 18:37 Reply

    If I rip the all program code of Photoshop, is it still an issue of that “required good exposure”? I mean, if I create a program that gives me access to the code of Photoshop, is that okay?

    To me it is totally irrelevant whether the actual original picture is good or not. Watching a tutorial is one thing. Using a program to get access to hidden parameters is someting different. Isn’t it?

    All of you claiming that it is down to a good picture; of course it is. A stand alone preset doesn’t create the magic. That’s not the issue. The issue is whether it is okay to rip someones data or not. To me the answer is no. Ask a person for the information if you like a picture. Ripping it can never be okay.

    And as a mentioned in an earlier post: Don’t share things you don’t want to be copied. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay to rip without permission.

  3. John Zeppo 10 July, 2009 at 20:04 Reply

    It is interesting that we are talking about copying someone’s else process such as lightroom presets. Well, how about another process like Peter Wolf’s so-called patent claiming that posting multiple photos on a website from an event where you sell prints to make money. Peter claimed that we photographers need to purchase the license from to do that, or his high-priced lawyers are coming after you. How can you claim a patent on that process? NO ONE HAS THE COURAGE TO CHALLENGE THIS PATENT, MOST OF THE BIG-NAME COMPANIES GAVE IN AND SETTLED OUT OF COURT.

  4. Tim O 8 July, 2009 at 20:55 Reply

    I hate to hijack…

    When importing photos to Lightroom with a Canon 40D – the colors appear to change, when rendering 1:1 previews [Shot in Raw]….

    Any thoughts on where to look?

    newsletters AT cogeco.ca

    Thanks!

  5. J 8 July, 2009 at 18:27 Reply

    Please print the directions for adding a preset to LR.
    When I click on “retrieve preset”, a pop up box ask me to “drag this link to your bookmark toolbar”.
    When I copy & paste the URL of the Flickr photo I’d like to save the preset from, it gives me a long list of steps. How do I save that? Can I save it as a word file? Please provide more exact info.
    Thanks in advance!

  6. Erin 8 July, 2009 at 15:50 Reply

    Yes, I’m patiently waiting for the ‘installing presets’ video to be fixed, and many others as well. Thanks!

  7. Joseph Flores 8 July, 2009 at 15:26 Reply

    About presets, the video on how to install presets from your site is down. I guess I am about to figure out myself, but I wanted you to know!

  8. RON 8 July, 2009 at 14:01 Reply

    To this Lightroom post and the one before,

    I think it is great that we have a place like this to learn and share ideas.
    “we are all teachers and students”
    I think that all the cry babies and critisizing know it alls need to get over themselves.
    What Matt does is show us all the methods which he uses, to help those who are willing and not affraid to take direction to create or refine their skill and become better in the art of photography. There is and never will be one absolute way to accomplish ones artistic visions.
    I would like to see this community of readers and users of Lightroom at some point have an opportunity to submit ways,tricks,or tips inwhich Matt can show in a video or post for all of us to try ourselves. I think we can all learn from each other and maybe we can grow tighter as a community as well.

    Ron

  9. Sean McCormack 8 July, 2009 at 10:48 Reply

    Hi Matt,
    Let’s get Kevin Kubota to show more samples. (Kidding)

    I guess the point really is that if you don’t want people copying your Presets, then minmise your EXIF.
    Still I’m wondering how it sits with commercial presets? If someone uses a commercial preset and someone else is able to copy it via EXIF, is this then an intellectual property issue?
    I’m not referring to anything like my commercial presets, it’s *really* obvious what they do, and my free ones are free, so I’ve relinquished IP on them. There are, however, people selling develop presets for $249 for a pack (Yes, I do ask how anyone can justify that!), where do people copying those settings stand?

    Ultimately a preset only works well if it was created from a well exposed image, and is then applied to similar well exposed images. Roll on the day when Lightroom allows relative presets, when we can add a preset to previously corrected images and have the desired effect.

  10. Steve 8 July, 2009 at 10:32 Reply

    I am SO GLAD that Mike put this back up. This was such a non-issue in the first place. If someone does not want the Lightroom settings to be reverse engineered then they can simply strip out the EXIF data. Thanks for keeping us informed Matt!

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *