If you’re looking for the best Lightroom presets, you’ve come to the right place. Given the number of available options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed – or even worse, buy a pack of presets that you’ll never use.
To help you navigate the wide market of Lightroom presets, we’ve put together a selection of the best quality packs (to fit many different needs).
So read on to discover the 13 best preset packs in 2023!
1. Landscape and Travel Photography Presets
Fine art photographer Jan Erik Waider offers a bundle of eight Lightroom presets packs, designed for different landscapes. Some target physical locations, such as polar or forest landscapes. Others offer a specific aesthetic, such as cinematic or dark and dramatic.
These professional presets allow customization so you can “develop a repeatable personal style.” In addition to the eight preset packs, the bundle includes a surprise pack and will give you access to all future preset releases.
Of course, if you’re not interested in the entire bundle, you can also also purchase the packs individually.
2. Night Leaks
This free pack of presets from Presetlove.com will add vibrancy to your urban night photography. It’s part of the Night bundle, which includes more than 300 free presets.
Night Leaks work best on night scenes where there’s artificial lighting, such as street lights. They’re designed to give you a colorful and vibrant effect with clear tonal contrast.
3. Golden Hour Presets
These Golden Hour Lightroom presets are perfect for portrait photographers who organize outdoor sessions. We all know that golden hour offers beautiful light for your photos. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to schedule your clients around that time.
KatherineDream offers 15 Lightroom presets for mobile and desktop that will give your photos those beautiful, warm, golden hour tones. And on her Etsy shop, KatherineDream offers multiple other packs (and often puts her presets on sale!).
4. All in One Lightroom Preset Bundle
The All In One Lightroom Preset Bundle is perfect for beginner photographers. If you don’t have a field of specialization and you’re still figuring out your style, you’ll find 90 helpful presets to choose from.
The Bundle includes presets for everything: beach shooting, indoor photography, food photos, portrait photos, black and white photos, and moody photos. In other words, the All In One Bundle offers everything a beginner could need – and it even comes with a handy how-to guide!
5. Boho Wedding
If you’re a wedding photographer, then you know how important it is to have an automated workflow that delivers consistent results.
This Boho Wedding preset bundle offers ten one-click presets; they’re easy to adjust, plus they come with an installation guide PDF and video. And they create a creamy warm tone that improves the overall ambiance of your pictures.
6. Winter Wonderland Preset Collection
Most winter presets only add a cool tone to your images – but the Winter Wonderland Collection offers a uniquely well-rounded solution for a winter look.
This bundle offers 32 presets and 5 brushes to create snowy and winter images, no matter the weather forecast. All the presets are customizable, and an instruction guide and video tutorial are included in the download.
7. The Crush Pack
Unlike other presets that are based on subject matter or mood, the Crush Pack is designed for light. Each preset is tailored to a specific lighting scenario so that you always know which to apply.
Whether it is soft or hard light, backlight or flash, there’s a preset to improve your picture, delivering a “bold and vivid style that maintains the skin tone.” You can buy the Crush Pack on its own, or bundled with the Retouching Toolkit for a special discounted price.
8. 20 Free Lightroom Presets Collection
This is a starter pack from BeArt-Presets, and includes 20 presets that can be applied to all types of photographs, from food to portraits.
The download includes two sets of presets: one set for mobile and one set for desktop. And once you determine which preset styles you’re after, there’s a shop with more specialized presets for sale.
9. Free Lightroom Presets for Street Photography
These presets are designed for a grungy look that creates contrasty, detailed images and is especially suited for urban photography.
You’ll be able to choose between color, black and white, and three different tones to “make your images jump off the screen.”
10. Color Pop
If you’re looking for a pack of Lightroom presets to make your images stand out, the Color Pop presets are exactly what you need. You get 20 different presets designed to boost the color of any photograph and make your images look vibrant and fresh.
The files come in three different formats for maximum compatibility. And if you’re impressed and you want more, PhotographyPla.net also offers a bundle with all 1000 of their presets.
11. Free HDR Lightroom Presets
This free preset pack offers ten Lightroom presets designed to adjust the light balance and color tones while boosting saturation, luminosity, and contrast. You can find the preset that matches your style and subject and apply it with just one click.
And if you like what you see, Fix the Photo has a store with a wide variety of LR presets, PS actions, LUTs, overlays, and more.
12. Nathan Elson’s 2020 Lightroom Presets
Nathan Elson is a professional photographer who specializes in portrait, fashion, commercial, and architecture photography; his very defined style inspired this preset collection.
The download includes six color profiles and ten custom-built presets that “create cinematic images to push your photography to the next level.”
13. Prolost Graduated Presets
Designed for complete beginners, the Prolost preset pack includes over 600 presets for you to choose from.
Each effect comes in different intensities; that way, you only need to hover over each preset to preview different results. If you like an effect, you click to apply. And because the pack already comes with plenty of variations, no customization is required.
How do you pick the right presets?
There isn’t one perfect preset that will fit every photograph. There are, however, presets that will be more fitting for your workflow. So given the many choices available on the market, how do you choose?
First of all, look at the quality of the work from the creator and what they’re offering. Any adjustment can technically be turned into a preset, so you’ll run into a lot of useless downloads. Some websites or blogs offer a freebie to get you on their mailing list or make you subscribe, but all you receive is a single preset that moves a slider slightly to one side.
So make sure you get your presets from a professional and check that they offer something more complex than what would be achievable by a beginner.
Another thing that you should consider is the type of photography you do. Make sure it matches the “before” image from the preset preview. This will ensure you get results similar to what you’re expecting. Otherwise, the effect might look great on the sample picture but won’t work on your own shots.
Finally, try to find presets that are customizable. This will allow you to create your own style instead of just replicating someone else’s. It will also make your presets more versatile, so you can use them on a wider variety of pictures.
Are presets worth it?
In my opinion, yes. Because they automate a part of your work, presets will save you a lot of time. Also, presets are a good way to keep your style consistent. This is very important for gaining followers, and it lets your clients know what they can expect from you far in advance.
Also, remember: If you want the benefits of presets but feel like none of the presets I’ve suggested fit your vision, you don’t have to use third-party presets. You can always make presets of your own!
The best Lightroom presets: conclusion
Now you know some of the best Lightroom presets available in 2023! Make sure you get the presets that will fit your type of photography and style – and have fun!
Now over to you:
Have you tried presets in the past? Do you have a favorite preset or preset pack? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Best Lightroom presets FAQs
Is it worth buying presets for Lightroom?
Yes. Many professionals offer high-quality presets that are a great investment; they’ll help you achieve the look that you want in your photos.
Do professional photographers use presets?
Yes. Some professionals create their own presets to save time when editing. Others use presets from professional retouchers. Photography and photo-editing are two separate skills and can be performed by two different professionals.
Can you use Lightroom presets for free?
Some of them are free, yes. Others cost money. Before downloading a preset, I recommend checking the preset terms and conditions.
Can I create my own presets?
Yes. A preset automates a set of image adjustments. Any Lightroom post-processing that you do can be saved as a preset and used in other photographs.
Can I use Lightroom presets on the mobile version?
Any preset that you have in Lightroom can be synced across devices. That way, you can download the best Lightroom presets and use them on your computer and your phone.
