The Benefits of Local Adjustment Presets in Lightroom Classic

Lightroom users will have heard of develop presets. They can be a great way to save time and get new ideas for your editing. Did you know you can save and create local adjustment presets as well?

This article will show you how to create your own local adjustment presets to make the most out of your editing time in Lightroom Classic.

What are local adjustments?

Local adjustment presets are similar to develop presets. They allow you save specific combinations of edits so that you can apply them later.

However, the main difference between these two types of presets is that a regular development preset works globally and affects all parts of the image, while a local adjustment preset affects only the selected area.

These edits can be applied with the local adjustment brush, graduated filter or radial filters. Each preset can be applied using any local adjustment tool in Lightroom. Let's say we only want to darken the sky and push the color temperature a little more into the blue, but don't want to change the rest of the photo. In the example below, the color temperature was set to -15 and the exposure to -0,50.

You can combine these edits with the local adjustment brush to apply them at once.

You can save this edit and use it in the future to improve the sky in your images. This preset saves you the effort of going back and tweaking the sliders every time. Local adjustment presets are easier to save than regular development presets. All necessary settings are already available and can be applied with just a few clicks.

How do you save your own preset?

Lightroom Classic since version 11.0 (October 2021 release)

• Open a photo to edit in the Develop module
• Select 'Masking' from the tool strip of the Develop module.
• Click on 'Linear Gradient' or 'Radial Gradient'
• Click the 'Custom' drop-down at the top of the local adjustments panel
• Click on 'Save current settings as new preset' at the bottom of the drop down-menu
• Name your new local adjustment preset like any other type of preset so that you can quickly identify and find it again. For example "Darken the Sky"

That's all! The new preset will appear in the 'Custom' drop-down at the top of the local adjustments panel

→ For more info about the new masking tool, click here or watch the video at the end of this article.

Older Lightroom Classic versions before 11.0 (October 2021 release)

• Open a photo to edit in the Develop module
• Click the 'Custom' drop-down at the top of the local adjustments panel
• Click on 'Save current settings as new preset' at the bottom of the drop down-menu
• Name your new local adjustment preset like any other type of preset so that you can quickly identify and find it again. For example "Darken the Sky"

That's all! The new preset will appear in the local adjustment presets drop-down menu.

Final Thoughts

Local adjustment presets work just like any other preset in Lightroom Classic. They eliminate the need to adjust multiple sliders every time you use a specific edit. A local adjustment preset can be one of the most efficient ways to speed up post processing. Every preset that you create or downloaded can be used with any of the Lightroom local adjustment tools.

Introducing the new Masking Tool in Lightroom Classic

About the Author – Jan Erik Waider

I'm a visual artist and fine art photographer based in Hamburg. My work focuses on atmospheric and abstract landscape photography, capturing the essence of the remote polar regions. – Learn more about me and discover my fine art photo series, prints and books or download my Lightroom Presets or Capture One Styles.

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