If you have spent 5 minutes in Lightroom editing a picture, you’ll know that there are SO many sliders, SO many presents, and SO many different ways you can edit a raw image. SO many yall.. Today I want to share with you MY three favorite Lightroom hacks that have made my editing so much easier!

Import Preset 

This is BY FAR my absolute favorite thing about Lightroom. Once you have created or chosen a preset that you love, you can actually have that preset applied to your images when you import them into Lightroom! So that is one less click you have to do once you start editing your pictures!! It’s freaking amazing and saves me LOADS of time!! Here is the steps to do it! Step 1: Create a New Catalog in Lightroom (Click File-New Catalog). Step 2: At the bottom left of the screen, click ‘Import’. Step 3: At the top right of the screen you’ll see Apply During Import and then Develop Settings. Click Develop Settings, and your list of Presets should be there! You click the preset you want imported to your images! Then you’ll drag the folder of raw images to your import screen and click Import. Then WHABAM!! Your images are imported to your Lightroom catalog with the preset already applied to them. LIFE CHANGING. When I figured out how to do this, I seriously almost cried. Its the little things y’all.

Lens Corrections

 This is my second favorite Lightroom hack that drastically changed my edited workflow!! Lens Corrections! Okay! So each lens distorts the image (some more than others) and it can appear as though there is a type of vignette to your images! The corners are slightly distorted which makes the image slightly darker than what it is! So in the Develop module, you’ll see a tab that says Lens Corrections! Click that. Then click Profile. Now check Enable Lens Corrections. You will IMMEDIATELY notice your image brighten and the corners are no longer distorted. It’s magic. Bonus: Make sure your import preset has Lens Corrects checked— kill two birds with one stone.

Tone Curve

Okay guys.. when you are first starting out. The basic panel is as far as you want to go.. and I don’t blame you! You are trying to figure out manual mode, light, posing, business, clients, its a-freaking-lot! So diving into the 8 different panels of Lightroom can be one of those overwhelming things and you just want to give up. But don’t. Work your Basic module!! Work it! Up those shadows! Increase the exposure (but don’t get crazy).. and then scroll down to that weird looking Tone Curve! Look at the last option called Shadows. Bring down the shadows in the tone curve and notice the richness it gives back to your light and airy image! It’s literally my favorite thing! I first brighten the shadows in the basic panel, then scroll down the the tone curve panel and bring down the shadows.. or slide it to the left. It totally breathes life back into your images! Love love love it.

And thats it my friends!! My three favorite Lightroom hacks! This is VITAL information for beginners!! Hope this helps you in your editing journey!

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