Our Favorite Presets

Photo editing is my least favorite thing about photography. It’s tedious and can be frustrating at times. I certainly don’t like to sit at a desk and stare at a screen for countless of hours but knowing what the end result will look like is highly motivating. Luckily, with the invention of Lightroom presets and Photoshop actions, I’ve been able to quickly enhance my photos and cut down my editing time. If you haven’t quite yet discovered this preset world, below are a few you should definitely check out. Your back will thank you.

Pop! Candy Presets by Diane Villadsen

Hands down my favorite editing presets to date. Diane Villadsen is a creative genius who has nailed this soft and dreamy style (Jimmy Marble vibes if you know what I mean) and given us the ability to try it out for ourselves via these stunning Lightroom presets. These presets are particularly made for enhancing certain colors, lightening up the shadows, and softening the highlights to give us that creamy look.

Pro Tip: If you know you’re going to be using Diane’s presets for your shoot, it’s best to shoot slightly underexposed when possible. It will make your workflow that much easier as you won’t be needing to mess around with the exposure.

Tribe Archipelago

This community, aka tribe, of photographers are very passionate about providing high quality tools for creatives to use. I find Tribe Archipelago’s presets to be the most versatile as they can work beautifully for many styles of photography including lifestyle, portraits, editorial, landscapes, and more. Anytime I feel like I want to go for a film look, I can always count on Tribe Archipelago to give me that moody feel. On top of providing cutting edge tools, Tribe Archipelago offers tutorials and a Facebook group where you can get feedback or ask technical questions about their presets.

A Color Story

I use the editing app religiously so when I realized that A Color Story also offered desktop presets for both Lightroom and Photoshop, I immediately jumped on it. These presets are the most affordable compared to Tripe Archipelago and Pop! Candy Presets. While you might spend some more time tweaking certain things, the end result is still amazing. Best part? It’s easier to keep your feed consistent when the same preset you used for desktop can also be found in the mobile editing app. “On Lock” and “Suede” are my personal favorites.

Thanks for reading and let us know if you have any favorite presets of your own. All images are from our Flower Face editorial, you can see more of those here.

Is it the weekend yet?
Arabela