Skip to main content
W
wheel264
Inspiring
November 30, 2018
Question

develop presets buggy in LR and Camera Raw

  • November 30, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 2250 views

I’m have several problems with trying to manage the  Develop Presets .

I have LR Classic CC 8.0. and Camera Raw 11.0 , and the latest version of Photoshop CC. 

I am using Mac OS Mojave 10.14.1.

I have all purchased presets from well know professionals.  The last couple that I bought were XMP format.  I used the ‘ + import ’ command in LR develop preset.  The last two sets were in zip file format.  They seem to easily import into LR , and also  Camera Raw, and also created a folder , with the name matching the name of the download folder.   So far so good.  When I view presets, the folder is there , and ‘most’ of the presets are in that folder. Some are missing. 

I used the import command , on many older presets that are in the ‘lrtemplate’ format,

And they converted to the appropriate ‘xmp’ format.  All of these are in the ‘User Preset’ area of the LR develop preset. There are between 50 and 100, in a jumble, terrible order.   However , none of them are User created, I simply imported them into lightroom.

I look in the Camera Raw – settings – user presets folder, and there are only 11 xmp files.  Which ones, who knows? 

Almost all the imported files are in the Camera Raw – Imported Settings folder , at least 100.

And inside that folder is a  single folder called All-Profiles, which has another 50 or 100 files inside it.  So obviously not “All’ presets are inside it. !!  

There are some presets in the ‘imported settings’ folder which do not show up anywhere in LR presets,  or in Camera RAW, although they are in the ‘imported settings’ folder ???

I used the ‘import – create preset ‘ tool in LR, made a dummy preset, and created a new folder.  The dummy preset is in the new folder ‘viewed in the finder’ .  But I used the ‘move’ command in LR or Camera Raw to move preset that is in ‘User Presets’ to organize it into a folder .  that I created.   In Camera Raw and LR that are moved to the folder that I wanted.  BUT inside Camera Raw – settings folder,  the new folders are empty.  The assigned presets are still in the ‘imported settings’ folder.  

THIS IS A TERRIBLE MESS !! Adobe should be ashamed of this.   Also the move command only works on a single preset at at time, so do I do this 100 times to move the pointers for these presets, and put them into a useable place to work in LR and Camera Raw?

  1. I think the purchased presets that are .xmp files install correctly, and the .lrtemplate files are scattered everywhere, and seem to be unfixable.   Is there a tool to convert .lrtemplate files to xmp files before trying to import them into LR ??

  1. Can I specify where the presets go when they are installed??

  1. Should I delete all the contents in the ‘settings’ folder and the ‘imported settings’ and start over, installing presets just a few at a time, and organize them.   

  1. Should I just uninstall LR and start all over.??

  1. I’m a very experienced LR user, of many years
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    GoldingD
    GoldingD
    Legend
    December 5, 2018

    Another member found this excellent article:

    Updates in Lightroom Classic: How to Install Presets and Profiles April 2018 - YouTube

    Note that it starts talking about profiles, but it then gets into presets.

    JohanElzenga
    Community Expert
    JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 30, 2018

    No, don't uninstall Lightroom because that will do nothing.

    You can manage your presets by right-clicking on them. Choose 'Move' from the contextual menu. You can move them to any preset group you want this way. Local folders are irrelevant for how presets are organised. The old presets used to be organised by folders on your hard disk, but the new presets are organised by information stored inside the preset itself. So either simply ignore these local folders, or use this plugin to restore the old behavior.

    -- Johan W. Elzenga
    W
    wheel264Author
    Inspiring
    November 30, 2018

    Thank you for the reply and info.  you're right, I guess that I would have to uninstall Camera Raw ( if that's possible)

    , or actually just delete all the contents of the 'settings' and 'imported settings' folders.   I know how to use the "move" command to put a preset into a folder that I create.  THE PROBLEM is that I have to move 200 presets, one at at time,  after I figure out which creator  or style folder that the preset belongs in.  So I have to look at each preset name, then look at all the downloaded presets to see where it came from , then put it into the correct folder.   I think that is hours and hours of work.  

    And there is still an 'Import bug "  I have some presets that imported into the 'settings' or 'imported settings' folders BUT they do not appear anywhere in the Camera RAW or Lightroom user interface.... but they are sitting in the folders. 

    Perhaps it is just easier to delete all the contents of the 'settings' folder and 'imported-settings' folder and start over a few at a time.

    BUT that doesnt fix the problem of the presets that don't appear in the user interface.  I have imported some presets several times, and  they are in the folder, but not in the user interface for either LR or Camera Raw.   :-(.  that is definitely a bug.

    I appreciate any advice that others may have or sharing their experiences.   Thank you

    Rob_Cullen
    Community Expert
    Rob_CullenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 3, 2018

    to bhousto90,

    wow.  i would like to thank you for all the effort you went to with the Nicolesy presets .  Yes, I discovered that some of the NIcolsey are located in the Develop Preset section on the left, and I guess the 'main' ones are found in the 'profile browser' on the right panel.

    i also find all 15 files are in one folder in camera raw - settings - Nicolsey Contempo.   very neat and tidy.  slightly different than you said, but I installed them a while back, prior to version 8 of LR.

    It still seems to me that Adobe and everyone else is using the  term 'preset' very loosely.   I understand the basic difference, but not how  to exactly create profiles.  I do have some profiles from Matt K, that I think are created around 'Look Up Tables'.

    Even the Nicolsey  tools, that are sold and discussed at 'presets' , are in my simple understanding,  ten, 10, presets, and five,5, profiles.

    so how do I know if a preset is just a preset, or it is really adjusting a 'profile'.  Yes, I know that a preset can 'call' a profile.

    I have to do some more research to understand what a 'Look Up Table' is , and how to make a profile.

    Also, I have to discover if I need a new workflow,  to look at the 'profiles' First, before applying 'presets'

    I believe that I have also discovered the source of  the 100 + presets in my LR Develop panel that are installed as 'User Presets'.

    They are not my user presets, but in fact third party presets ( in my case , all from On1, who also writes presets into Camera Raw' )

    Adobe must somehow detect that they don't have a 'lightroom tag', and assumes they are user presets, and discards all the creator and folder info,

    and just puts all of them in the giant  basket , they call 'User Presets', and are only sorted by  alphabetical  order, and not how they affect the photo, or there intent.

    So now I have a better chance of finding their original source, and making some subfolders to organize them.

    Maybe Adobe will make some changes to help capture the information from third party 'presets' in Camera RAW  that also show up in LR as User-Presets, but they are not.   Or create another sub area, and keep the creator and folder name info.  They are already xmp files, so the info must be there, as they are organized nicey in on1. 

    ff

    Thank you again, for you kind effort to help me.

    regards,


    FYI

    This link provides (a download) tutorial instructions for making your own profiles.

    I found it to be easy once the steps in the method were (mostly!) understood.

    PROFILE MAKER INSTRUCTIONS

    And Matt Koslowski has a video here-

    https://mattk.com/make-lightroom-photoshop-profiles-luts/

    Regards. My System: Windows-11, Lightroom-Classic 15.1.1, Photoshop 27.3.1, ACR 18.1.1, Lightroom 9.0, Lr-iOS 10.4.0, Bridge 16.0.2 .
      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices