Import preset based on photo type

[Mircula]

Hello,

in lightroom you have the possibility of creating and applying presets on image upon import.

For a while now I was asking myself if it would be possible to apply a preset to different types of images e.g. landscape, portrait etc. which apply some basic settings based on the type of image on import. (Similar to the algorithms my camera uses if I would shoot in jpg).
That would be a good starting point to further process the image, as the raw file looks a bit dull without any editing....

My first question is:
Is it possible to apply to my raw file a preset which reflects or is similar to the one my camera would use to create the jpg file?

Do you use presets based on photo type as described in the first paragraph?

How do they look like for different photo types? Or are they your secret presets :) ?

In case it is common to use this lightroom feature I think it would be really interesting to share our presets to fine tune the image already on import and get a good starting point for further editing.


Thanks,

cheers

Mirc

[Mircula]

Seems like nobody uses these....:(

I googled a bit more and found out that i can adjust these things with the camera calibration tablet in lightroom.

I dont really understand though how that works...If i apply one of the profiles, for instance "Portrait" the pictures change....colours contrast etc....
But, i cannot see any sliders moving....So i dont understand where lightroom makes these adjustments.


What i would like would be the same thing, just that the sliders move so that i can simulate how canon processes the jpgs in camera on my computer and see what settings are applied.....

Is there any way of doing so?



Does anybody even understand my gibberish? :)

[Mircula]

no one at all :(

[dieselpower]

When you select a camera preset, it does change the photo but also changes the 0 points of the sliders, hence why you cannot see the sliders move. Don't ask me why it has been done this way, I'm not an adobe developer. It does make sense though that the neutral image is with all sliders at 0 and the preset applied.

I do use presets on import but manually select what I want on the import screen - I will import in groups if need be.

I setup the presets manually first - eg for my vivid setting (for Nikon D90) I chose the 'camera vivid' profile, and adjusted it as per what I found I was doing a lot for those photos anyway - base tone curve, change tone curve to linear etc. I think the way to do it is to start with the camera calibration setting you want, work the available sliders etc until you're happy with it and save that as a preset to use during import.

Hope this helps!

[ricktas]

Yes you can apply a preset to a RAW file on import, but you cannot have different presets depending on photo content, during the same import. So if you are importing 10 files, the same preset can be applied to all, but you cannot have the first 5 with one preset, and the 2nd five with another. You would need to import them separately to apply differing presets on import.

You can create and save your own presets as well. Just take any RAW file, apply your adjustments, then go to the presets menu and click the small + (plus) sign next to the preset title, follow the screens from there, and when created, your preset will contain all the adjustments you did on the one RAW file, for easy use in future. I am not at my PC at present, so cannot step you through it, but that is the start of the process to creating your own presets.

[Mircula]

Diesel:
Thank you for that useful comment!

Interesting that you set your presets manual starting with the camera calibration presets given. That is what i was thinking of doing. It makes sense i guess, it would just be nice to know what changes these presets do (in terms of which sliders change), but i guess that is not possible.

I would be interested as well in what settings you change for your different photo styles, if you would share them....

I actually thought lots of people do something like that and we could share our presets, but apparently not many people use it.....

Rick:


Yes you can apply a preset to a RAW file on import, but you cannot have different presets depending on photo content, during the same import. So if you are importing 10 files, the same preset can be applied to all, but you cannot have the first 5 with one preset, and the 2nd five with another. You would need to import them separately to apply differing presets on import.


Yeah figured that out, but that is not so much of a problem as I always import my photos after shooting and most of the times they are from the same "genre".



You can create and save your own presets as well. Just take any RAW file, apply your adjustments, then go to the presets menu and click the small + (plus) sign next to the preset title, follow the screens from there, and when created, your preset will contain all the adjustments you did on the one RAW file, for easy use in future. I am not at my PC at present, so cannot step you through it, but that is the start of the process to creating your own presets.

Thats ok, I knew that i could do that.


I was more after what specific adjustments for different photo genres people use and if there is some way to "see" how canon or nikon chooses their presets.


Thank you as well for the comment!!!

[ricktas]

Ah ok, you want to know what Canon and Nikon do when you save as JPG or apply certain settings in your camera. I am not sure if they provide the exact details, but you could search for Canon Lightroom presets etc in google and see if it returns any results

[dieselpower]

It really depends on the photo. If it's portraits I import with my 'portrait' preset which is based off the 'camera portrait' profile. I then go through and adjust each one though, as different metering, ISO, flash/no flash etc will affect how the rest of the processing is done. I find it gives it a good start point by applying a preset and takes much less time mucking around trying to get it looking good as it's pretty close when I start off. I generally don't change the camera profile

Landscapes, still life and many, many other things I use the vivid setting, which is based on the 'camera vivid' profile. I typically don't change it either unless I find I'm pushing settings right back towards the look of one of the other camera profiles.

[Mircula]

Ah ok, you want to know what Canon and Nikon do when you save as JPG or apply certain settings in your camera. I am not sure if they provide the exact details, but you could search for Canon Lightroom presets etc in google and see if it returns any results


yeah thats what i would like. I just dont like the camera calibration as i cannot see what is changed....

Googled a bit, there are tons and tons of presets, but i cannot find the camera calibration ones explained....ahhh welll, maybe somebody here will come up with it.


Thank you diesel. that gives a good insight.

What are other people using? :)