How to Install Lightroom Presets
Using Lightroom is a great way to process and edit your photos. It can help you quickly get the right tones, colors, and lighting without the complication of more advanced photo editing software.
NEW: How to Use Lightroom Presets on your phone →
In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through all the necessary steps to install Lightroom Presets and save time editing your photos. This tutorial was made in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC. If you have any questions about the installation process feel free to leave a comment below and we’ll help you out!
Step One
Open Lightroom and the image(s) of your choice. Once you’ve done that, make sure you are in the Develop Tab. It will look something like this.
Step Two
Next, look for ‘Develop‘ in the top menu bar and then click Develop > ‘New Preset Folder…‘.
Step Three
After you click ‘New Preset Folder…‘ a box will pop up allowing you to title your presets. Enter a name that suits your folder of presets and then click ‘Create‘.
For this tutorial, we’re going to be using our RetroTone Lightroom Presets. After you create the new folder, it will appear in the Presets Dropdown to the left.
As you can probably see from the photo above, no Lightroom Presets have been installed yet. We simply created the folder where the presets will go.
Step Four
Now that you have a folder made for your presets, right click and you will see a few options.
Select ‘Import…‘ and you will be taken to your files where you can navigate to the specific presets you’d like to install. It will look something like this.
Step Five
Navigate to the folder where you downloaded or saved the Lightroom Presets you’d like to install. If it is a .zip file, make sure you unzip it before attempting to import into Lightroom.
Once you find the right folder, select all the presets you’d like to install. To select multiple presets click and select the first one, then hold the command key (Windows Key on Windows) and select the rest of the presets. To select all the presets in a folder, click the first preset and hold the shift key, then scroll down and select the last preset.
After you’ve selected all the presets you’d like to install, click ‘Import‘.
Your presets will then install and appear in the folder you previously created. It will look something like this.
That’s it! You’ve successfully installed Lightroom Presets. To apply them to a photo simply click one of the effects and then adjust the settings to your liking.
If you’re looking for some new Lightroom Presets to try, check out our marketplace and find thousands of unique filters from your favorite photographers.
I’m very frustrated. These presets will not install on my Windows 10 system. It keep saying wrong presets type error file. I’m not sure what to do next.
where can I open lightroom? on filtergrade I do not think so, do I have to download it?
Hi there, you can download a free trial for Lightroom from Adobe here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom/free-trial-download.html
Free trial does not have develop mode.. what can i do , in case i dont want to buy the software ??
is this can be done in Pc/laptop only? how about in phones?
Hi Karen, at the moment it does not look like Adobe has confirmed that you can use Lightroom Presets directly in the Lightroom Mobile app. However; Matt Larson put together this video showing you how to sync LR Presets to your phone which is a common workaround people use. Hope this helps!
Here also…These presets will also not install on my Windows 10 system. It keep saying wrong presets type error file. What can i do :( i will use this presets
Thanks in advance
Hi there, really sorry about that! I am emailing you a fix right now. We are also working on a post with some tips for how to workaround these errors.
I am having this same issue downloading on windows 10
Hi Justin, are you using the latest version of Lightroom Classic? If so I can send over some steps and a fix for this.
Thanks,
Mike
Can you please give a step by step installation for Windows as well please? Not working on my Windows10 Laptop. Do you need to have the full version of Lightroom?
Hi Joana, the steps should be relatively similar. Which version of Lightroom are you using? If it is Lightroom CC it will be different from the Lightroom Classic CC steps.
Hi! Thanks for your tutorial. How can i import my own luts into LR? Help please!
Is it only for professional pictures or can it also be used for iPhone Pictures?
You can use Lightroom Presets on the desktop app and you can now sync them with Lightroom Mobile using the new update. More information here: https://filtergrade.com/sync-presets-lightroom-classic-lightroom-cc-mobile/
I am trying to install Lightroom presets but no luck. I am following the guide but the example given isn’t the same as what I see on my program. I am using Windows 10 and Lightroom Classic CC Version 8.1.
Thanks in advance
I was able to install the Lightroom presets to my Mac in Lightroom Classic. However, there was no option to create a new preset folder in the Develop tab. The only option was “new preset.” I would like to be able to organize my presets and now they are all listed under User Presets. It was relatively easy to create folders on the mobile app but so far, no luck here. Any guidance would be much appreciated!
If you right click one of those presets listed under User Presets and then select ‘Show in Finder’, you can view all the folders and presets in your develop panel. From there you can make folders and organize your presets. After you create some folders, just restart Lightroom and they should show up. Hope this helps!
If the presets still aren’t showing up properly in the folders, you can also try this. Click Lightroom in the top menu of your Mac (next to the apple logo), then select ‘Preferences…’, and go to the Presets tab. Click both ‘Show Lightroom Develop Presets’ and ‘Show All Other Lightroom Presets’ to ensure the folders are copied to both. That usually works for me when I still can’t see the folders.
Hi, Having the same trouble others are mentioning above. Can’t seem to install the presets – I am using Windows 10 and Lightroom Classic CC. Seems like they need to be xml. format??
Appreciate any help.
Thanks
Hi Felicia, for Lightroom Classic CC, you should still be able to import the .lrtemplate presets. Then once you restart Lightroom, it will automatically convert these to .xmp files for you. Sometimes takes a few seconds to load.
Hope this helps. If not though, let me know. Happy to help troubleshoot.
Cant install it on windows 10 :( very frustrated,need to make these pics look good for tomorrow,send help T-T
Hey, sorry to hear that! What errors are you seeing? Also, which version of Lightroom. Happy to assist, just let me know your questions.
Ah, so frustrating doesn’t work for me my presets are in xml format and it will not allow me to add those file types when trying to add the preset
Hi Mike,
My “Portrait Series – Head Shot Capture One Styles by Mark Binks” download is reading as an incorrect file type. Do you have a LR fix for this instead of the “.costyle” file type? Thanks!
Hi Douglas, sorry for the confusion here, but these are Capture One Styles not presets.
How do I get the presets into lightroom? When I open the file the shortcut for lightroom isnt there
Hi Megan, which type of presets do you have? What filetype? And also, which version of Lightroom are you using? Happy to help!
Hi there! It looks as though I am having the same issues as others. However, I still do not understand how to resolve it. I am using Lightroom Classic CC version 8.0 on my Microsoft Surface with Windows 10. Every time I try to import the presets it comes up with the message “IMPORT PRESET” “An unknown error occurred” and there’s no further info provided as to what went wrong. I paid over $100 for these presets and I’m very excited to start using them. If you can help me fix this problem it would be greatly appreciated :)
Hi Jaimee, so sorry about those errors! Emailing you now to see how we can help.
Can’t import presets; keep getting the “not a valid file” pop up. I am using MAC OS Mojave and whatever the most recent version is of Adobe Light Room (April 2021). Please help.
Which filetype are you tying to import? Are they .xmp presets? Happy to assist!
They downloaded as the ‘.lrtemplate’ filetype.
Sorry for the delays, try this method to make a folder and import that way: https://filtergrade.com/how-to-create-preset-folders-in-lightroom/
Let me know if it works, and if not happy to help suggest some other ideas.
I’ll give it a try! I’ve been able to import LRtemplates from other preset purchases that were not filtergrade so I’m curious what the difference is. Stand by while I try your ‘folder’ suggestion.
Hey! I downloaded the presets, I have windows 10, I also downloaded the latest version of lightroom 2021, went to the “styles” – “import styles” section and copied them with a folder, it says that 8 presets are installed, but whatever I do, only 5 of them are reflected 8 why these presets are not displayed: Monaris_Brown Mood, Monaris_Street Bnw, Monaris_Street Portrait. Thanks in advance for your answer!
I’m using Lightroom classic 10.4 and I tried importing the Monaris presets using several methods to no avail. The presets are just not recognized by LR 10.4. I sent you a message via the FilterGrade website, but nobody responded to me. I am very disappointed and frustrated.