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There are times I like to use a preset on a photo, but I am aware that most of these presets will overwrite any initial changes I may have made. For example, I may want to increase the exposure level and bring down the highlights BEFORE I want to add the preset. If I try to add a preset, it usually reset these sliders to the PRESET'S defaults. Now the photo may be too dark because the initial exposure setting is overwritten. Is that any way to add a preset leaving my initial setting and having the preset adding to my setting without leaving the program?
I see under the SETTINGS menu some choices I don't know if they could help. For example, there are three options 'Copy after setting to before', 'Copy before setting to after', and 'Swap before and after settings'. Will any of these setting preseve my initial settings and than let me apply the preset?
Thanks,
Jim
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It all depends on what settings were checked when creating the presets.
If, let's say, the exposure is left at 0 but is checked when making a preset, it will always reset to 0 when applying that preset.
If, on the other end, you leave exposure unchecked, then you can change the exposure on any picture before selecting that preset, and the exposure will stay at your chosen value.
That is why, when saving a preset, you should only check the boxes for the settings you want to be affected, instead of checking them all.
" For example, there are three options 'Copy after setting to before', 'Copy before setting to after', and 'Swap before and after settings'. Will any of these setting preseve my initial settings and than let me apply the preset?"
No, your initial settings will not be preserved. Those are simply options to copy settings for a single picture, similar to when you copy settings from one picture to another except it's from one develop state to another (i.e. within the develop history of that image).
Hope that helps,
Michael
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Michael Niessen - Photographer, photo-editor, educator
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This is a long-discussed issue: presets work in an absolute way (by imposing a stated number ONTO a certain slider, ignoring its previous value) rather than in a relative way (by increasing or reducing the previous value for that slider, BY a certain number) - though this will not always produce, in practice, the same perceived amount of change.
Lightroom / Lightroom Classic / ACR do not now - and may never - offer the option of a true relative preset.
There are other ways to make a relative change, though: