Lightroom 3 Custom Develop Settings Tutorial

In a previous post, Lightroom 3 custom metadata templates, I showed you how you can easily create a metadata template and apply it to every one of your images upon import.

In this post I wanted to share with you another setting that I apply to every image upon import as well. Develop Settings. These are settings that I used to find myself going back to all the time with in the Develop module.

It used to be that once I had an image imported, I’d open it in the develop module, zero out all of the sliders, check my camera calibration and enable the lens correction for auto detection. This gave me the starting point I wanted, but it took a lot of extra time to do this for every image. Then I found a great tip over at Lightroom Killer Tips that turned my world upside down. It taught me how to create a custom develop setting that I could apply to every image on import.

Let me show you how to do it and maybe it will be an eye opener for you as well.

Step 1

Starting in the Develop module.. Zero out out all of your sliders under Basic Panel

Zero out the setting under the Detail Panel

Move down to your Lens Corrections Panel.

• Click to mark the box Enable Profile Corrections.
  Lightroom 3 has a series of various types of lens profiles built in and by setting the Lens Corrections panel correctly Lightroom will adjust your image for any focal distortion that is inherent in the lens (for instance when you are using a very wide angle lens)
• Under Setup; use the drop-down and set it to Auto
  Basically, this tells Lightroom to automatically set the lens correction used on an image you are importing.

 Step 2

With your develop module ready, it’s time to make a preset from them. While still in the Develop Module look to the panel to the right side of the screen and find one called Presets. See the “ + “ sign next to it? Click it and the dialog box you see below will open.

This is the Dialog box that opens from above that allows you to finalize your preset.

Rather then me trying to explain each box (you can look them up on your own) just check the boxes I have marked. They are the one’s that effect the changes that you made in the develop module.

Finally give your preset a name, I call mine “Concert Start” and click the Create button.

Step 3

Now that you have your preset created you can use it in the Import module. Remember in the last Lightroom tutorial, Lightroom 3 Custom Metadata Template Tutorial, I told you where to find the Metadata template that you created? You will find you can choose your Develop Setting in the same area. In the Apply During Import panel.

Now if you import using your custom Develop setting it will be applied to each image imported.

Comments, Questions?

Let me know.