Seeing which dev parameters a dev preset modifies

[kimaldis]

I've a bunch of dev presets but I'm struggling to figure out how to see which parameters the preset will set on a photo when it's applied and what parameters I need to set in the update dialog when I'm updating using current settings. Any thoughts, anyone?

[richardplondon]

A preset is just a text file, basically. It mentions some adjustments to be applied, and those are in effect the parameters that were checked. Anything not mentioned, was an un-checked parameter for this preset.

BTW it escapes me why LrC cannot autoset these checkmarks when updating a preset, the same as they would have been set when creating that, rather than making the user do that research.

But by reading the preset you can see what it does and how. You can edit that yourself if you want a different parameter value. Also you can remove unwanted lines, copy-paste between presets, etc. I believe LrC needs to be restarted in order to read in and then use manual updates of that sort.

LrC Preferences, Presets tab, has a button "Show Lightroom Develop Presets" which opens an OS file browser showing their location on disk - which is standard, unless the option Store Presets with Catalog is checked. User Presets are in their own subfolder.

As an example, here's an extract from my preset for B&W conversion the way I prefer to do it.

Since only adjustments of this nature are present, it can be easily worked out that only the HSL adjustments checkbox was involved.

[kimaldis]

Sure, I get all that. Maybe I should have been clearer in my post. Digging around in the xmp isn't ideal; it's obtuse and the thought of dipping backwards and forwards between the file and a dialog, checking boxes doesn't exactly fill me with joy.

Your point about only populating the dialog with params in the preset is a good one; I'd always assumed it was what happened anyway, before I looked more closely. I think in general the whole preset management & workflow thing is over-ripe for a rerthink. And it doesn't help that much of this stuff seems to appear in the SDK.

I may take a look at parsing xmp files into something more visually useful. If I can pull that out out I might be able to write a better updater.

[richardplondon]

This business of finding out what a preset is doing, is quite a widespread difficulty so I thought I should lay that out for purposes of the wider forum. Also sometimes editing the XMP is more of a 'scalpel', than the rather blunter dialog checkboxes can be.

If when you went to update a preset you did see just the relevant checkmarks offered, this would AFAICT give us enough of a clue about the action of the preset - besides making the management of well targeted presets much easier.

[kimaldis]

The file makes a great deal more sense if you can read it into an editor that can format it. You might need to rename it to an xml file.

[richardplondon]

I am on Windows - XMPs open fine directly into Notepad, and then re-save from there, once that filetype association is remembered via 'Open With'.

[C.Cella]

@kimaldis 

It has been asked already countless of times to be able to see the settings of our preset...and it has been asked countless of times to have a better presetediting window.

You can use this Plug-in: Preset Viewer 

Many preset cannot be created using the current dialogue window and the XMP itself must be edited.

 @johnrellis might be able to update his "Any Presets" Plug-ins to at least allow us to edit better our existing Presets compared to what LrC gives us.

.

[kimaldis]

On a whim I had a crack at giving this to an AI, see what it made of it. It turns out that ChatGPT does a pretty good job of not only telling you what parameters the preset sets but also giving a description of what effect the preset might have. Reveal any preset in the Finder then drag it onto chatGPT. I got this for. one of my monochrome presets. The description at the end is ChatGPT's, not mine. Colour me impresssed:

Torbay Inn Mono - Lightroom Preset Breakdown

Basic Adjustments:

• Clarity: -25 (Reduces midtone contrast, softening the image)

Split Toning (Black & White Color Grading)

• Shadows:

• Hue: 52

• Saturation: 6

• Highlights:

• Hue: 50

• Saturation: 8

• Balance: 0 (Neutral balance between shadows and highlights)

Color Grading Adjustments

• Midtones:

• Hue: 56

• Saturation: 0 (No additional color tinting in midtones)

• Luminance: 0

• Shadows & Highlights Luminance: 0 (No lightening or darkening in grading)

• Blending: 100 (Strong blending between colors for smooth transitions)

• Global Adjustments (Overall Tinting):

• Hue: 0

• Saturation: 0

• Luminance: 0

Preset Summary

This black & white preset is designed for a soft, cinematic look by:

:white_heavy_check_mark: Reducing midtone contrast with lowered Clarity

:white_heavy_check_mark: Adding subtle color toning to shadows and highlights

:white_heavy_check_mark: Keeping midtones and global tint neutral, ensuring a clean monochrome effect