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The other day when I posted the 5 shot pano story, I received a comment about the origin of the printing preset that I was using.  I had mentioned that I got it from Scott Kelby but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember when and where I got it.  I didn’t want to bug Scott with it so I thought I would just export my adaptation of his preset so it could be downloaded.  That’s where I ran into a little problem, I didn’t know how to export my own presets.  I searched the menus from top to bottom but just couldn’t find the right item to export my printing preset.  Of course I couldn’t let it go at that so I called my personal Lightroom Help-Line (it never hurts to be buddies with the guy that wrote the definite book on Lightroom).  What I learned was both surprising and a little embarrassing.  So here’s how it works.

setup-1

Open up Lightroom and then set up your special print layout.  Then, click the plus sign at the top of the Template Browser.  This brings up the New Template dialog box.  Name your template and choose the location to save it (usually in the User Templates collection).

save-template

Now that you have the preset saved, here is all that is required to export it.

Simply right-click or ctrl-click on the preset that you would like to export.  A pop-up menu will appear with several options.  At the bottom, you will see Export and Import.  Yes, it really is that simple.

export-preset

Just click on Export, choose a name and location, and click Save.  That’s all there is to it.

export-preset-2

To load one, simply do the same ctrl-click and then choose Import.  Then find the location where you have saved the imported preset (if it came in a zip file it must be unpacked first), click on the file name, and then click on Import and it will be loaded into your template collection.

So there you have it.  I was surprised that it wasn’t actually in a menu drop-down and a little embarrassed that it was as easy as right-clicking a mouse.  I guess you learn something new every day, especially if you hang around Scott.


3-across

Here is a zip file containing the three presets I used in these posts, two panos and the 3-across print you see above (click here to download).

Related posts:

  1. Quick Image Prep in Lightroom
  2. My Lightroom Holga Preset
  3. Cleaning Out Your Lightroom Catalog (Part B)
  4. Bridge vs. Lightroom
  5. Lightroom Beta 3′s New Publish Feature
6 Responses to “Sharing Your Lightroom Presets”
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Comments
  1. Candy says:

    Jeff – thanks for the info and all the work you put into your blog. I enjoy it… on a daily basis.
    I’m a “newbie” so please forgive if this is a totally lame question.
    Is the 3 across preset only for the three pictures that are inserted into the “whole” picture (white frame and photos)? Or does it include the frame/name/signature part.
    I love the look that you, Scott, Matt, Moose, and others use to show your gallery photos. But, wonder if you keep a template of the white frame and then just insert the photos.
    Can you explain your method?
    Thanks

  2. Tanya says:

    There is also a much more complicated way to find your presets… once you have saved them, they will be located in the depths of your computer, different depending on what OS you are using (Library on Mac, I think, and Application Data on Windows). This is the same place where you traditionally install them (however, does Import work for this?? Much easier if so!). And it is also in this place where you can organize your presets into folders when you collect too many!

  3. Chris Bull says:

    Thanks for the great presets Jeff. Could you please explain how you create the double signiture under the photos. I know one can include a single name plate in print but how do you get one on top of the other.
    Many Thanks

  4. Does anyone know how to export ALL your presets and not just one…

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