If you're a fan of Lightroom presets, the PIC Presets Collection might be the most complete set you've ever seen. Check out our review of the full system and find out how if they offer the versatility you're looking for.
The Case for Presets
Presets tend to get a lot of backlash, but honestly, I don't buy it. Yes, you should be able to envision the final product you want and know how to get there; if you can't do that, that's a separate issue that needs to be remedied. But if you can, I think presets are a great way to cycle through a quick number of looks and possibly see something you might not have thought of. It's like when I put Spotify on shuffle: some song will come on that I didn't think I was in the mood for, but I realize I actually do want to hear it. Beyond that, if you know how to tweak a photo to get the look you want, presets can often get you 80 percent of that way. The Develop Module in Lightroom has about 60 sliders, and if I can dial in a look I want quickly, then make a few small adjustments, I'm all for it.
PIC Presets
There are 12 preset packs, listed below:
- Vintage Film Preset Pack ($65)
- Contemporary Film Preset Pack ($65)
- Instant Film Preset Pack ($65)
- Studio Film Preset Pack ($65)
- Art Film Preset Pack ($65)
- Daylight Film Preset Pack ($65)
- Nature Film Preset Pack ($65)
- Urban Film Preset Pack ($65)
- Cine Stock Preset Pack ($65)
- Black and White Preset Pack ($65)
- Lightroom Brush Collection ($49)
- Pic Presets System ($149)
If you decide you want to go for the entire collection, you can them all for $249, as opposed to $848 buying them individually. This package includes 196 one-click presets and 486 refinement presets (we'll get to those), plus free lifetime updates if you purchase the package in 2017.
The refinement presets are a uniquely clever approach and one I'm a fan of. Oftentimes (particularly with film presets), you might get colors you love, but grain you don't, or the like. The refinement presets break the various sections of Lightroom's Develop Module down individually, allowing you to quickly make individual refinements. Of course, you can always jump over to the sliders, but if it's a section with a lot of sliders, it does allow to quickly dial in looks. Creator Ed Gregory refers to them as "virtual layers."
In Use
Here's the first shot I used with the preset system. Below, you can see the straight out of camera raw file:
200mm, f/2.0, 1/200 s, ISO 125
And the final version from Photoshop:
Now obviously, a preset isn't going to do things like blemish removal, but I do a lot of my grading and the like in Photoshop, which is why I included that version here. As you can see, I like colors that pop, a fairly high contrast, a slight squeeze on both ends of the histogram, blues in my shadows, and yellows in my highlights. Because that's a very standard portrait look for me, I've really habituated my eyes to it, so it's good to cycle through some different options to find others I might fancy.
So, I returned to Lightroom. I'm a big film guy, and the Fuji and cine stock will forever have my heart in that realm, so naturally, I dove into those presets. I settled on the Fujicolor Pro+ preset, then used the refinement preset to add a bit of medium format grain.
That's really quite good for two clicks, and with 20 seconds of my own adjustments after that, I could get it pretty close to what I wanted, which definitely saved some time. Next, I tried it on this drone shot, for which you can see my original (without the presets) before and after below:
This comparison is a bit fairer, as there were no blemishes removed or edits of that kind done, just the normal exposure, grading, sharpening, etc. that are all within the capabilities of the presets. Nonetheless, in the interest of full disclosure, I did also use the Nik Collection to finish off the above shot. I normally shoot all my film landscapes on Velvia 50, because the saturation and vibrancy are spectacular, the color palette is very Fuji, and the grain is oh so fine. Unfortunately, my Phantom 4 Pro has a digital sensor. For this shot, though, I thought the sun behind the clouds and the tranquil barge called for a more subdued palette (thus the edit above), so I went with the Agfa Vista (Dusk) preset (Agfa Vista is a much more neutral and less punchy stock). I then used the highlight save, sky boost, punch, and sat + refinements.
I think we return to the original discussion a bit here. Is this edit better than the straight out of camera file? Yes. Is it portfolio ready like my full edit? No. The value lies in the fact that I was able to cycle through 50 looks that each require about 40 individual adjustments in 30 seconds, then get a good basis for a final edit in less time than starting from scratch. Is there anything stopping you from making your own set of presets? Of course not. It's up to you to decide if that saved time is worth the money. In terms of film emulation (which comprises a large chunk of these presets), they were generally quite good, the instant and black and white films being real standouts. Some of the presets can be a bit heavy-handed, and it's unfortunate Lightroom forces you to buy a plugin to control the opacity of presets (though that's no fault of this specific set), but in general, the looks are good, and you get a wide variety of options. For me, the value in presets is the ability to cycle through creative options far more quickly than if I individually dialed them in.
What I Liked
- Wide range of looks
- Easy to quickly cycle through a number of styles
- Instant and black and white films are particularly good
- Refinement presets are helpful for tweaking looks
- Well organized
What I Didn't
- Some presets are a bit strong
Purchase
If you're interested in purchasing the PIC Presets System, you can do so here. Also, you can receive an additional 15 percent off the complete system with the coupon code "complete15" until the end of June.
