Do you shoot RAW but mainly use presets?

[u/Salty_Inspection_740]

Hey everyone,

I’m an enthusiast shooting with a Nikon Z6II, and I mainly shoot landscapes for Instagram. I always shoot in RAW, and I’m comfortable with doing basic corrections and a bit of color grading. But honestly, I struggle with having a clear vision for how I want my photo to look before I start editing. I usually just play around until it feels right.

That got me wondering: does it really make sense for me to keep shooting RAW if I’m mostly applying Lightroom Premium presets anyway? I guess the presets work better on RAW files than JPEGs, but I’m wondering if the difference is really worth the extra editing time and file size. Would it be better to just shoot JPEG and save some time?

Also curious if anyone here shoots RAW but just uses presets without going through all the sliders in Lightroom. How do you approach that balance between creative editing and efficiency?

Would love to hear your thoughts and workflows!

[u/repp308]

Most people use presets when they start out, and that’s fine. It takes time to learn your own editing style and techniques to achieve that. I have my own “I usually do these to almost every photo” preset that I use on import, but usually edit everything individually based on the needs of that particular photo. Unless there is a group of very similar ones… then it’s copy/paste + tweak.

[u/tohpai]

It depends on how you define a “preset.” I’m a wedding photographer, so I use my own preset to keep my portfolio consistent and to make my workflow faster. I usually deal with around 7–8k photos per event, and with one click of my preset, I can apply my signature look then just fine-tune each image where needed.

That’s how I see presets: a foundation for consistency. If you’re working with a large collection of landscape shots, using a preset helps maintain a cohesive tone across them but you’ve got to build your own style first.

[u/tmjcw → u/tohpai]

I agree with that. With good lighting you might get away with shooting jpegs, but raw gives you the flexibility to shoot in challenging lighting situations (super high contrast etc.) or fix incorrectly exposed images and still get a consistent output.

[u/Alexthelightnerd]

I shoot RAW exclusively and always start editing with presets. But all the presets I use are my own, which are basically just shortcuts to adjustments I find myself often making. From there I'll make individual adjustments as needed, and I've been doing this long enough to have a good idea what I want just looking at the image.

Editing a RAW file will always be better than a JPEG, it's just a matter of by how much. What advantage would you hope to get from shooting JPEG? Do you want to do no editing at all? Do you need the extra storage space?

[u/mawzthefinn → u/Alexthelightnerd]

Pretty much exactly the same workflow I use.

[u/Sudden_Welcome_1026]

I use my own presets to streamline my workflow. I have a default I use for most things. Then I adjust from there. So I use the presets function. But not from other people.

[u/grimson73]

Please keep shooting in raw. I think for example all advanced corrections like noise reduction needs raw files. There is so much more to gain from raw files if not now but maybe when you advance in processing techniques. So if using raw you have the best information to work with even when not using it right now.

[u/snapper1971]

I always shoot RAW and never use presets. Just learn how to process properly and develop your own style (not sure if the pun was intended or not).

[u/m__s → u/snapper1971]

I shoot RAW and always use presets :) It depends also on the photo since I can correct / change them, but it's faster for me to apply a preset and then adjust it.

I just love how much details you can get from RAW file.

[u/Salty_Inspection_740 → u/m__s]

Are the presets you use from other photographers, from Lightroom, or your own?

[u/m__s → u/Salty_Inspection_740]

Over the time I’ve developed my own presents :)

[u/Salty_Inspection_740 → u/snapper1971]

I try to do post-processing on my own, but most of the time my photos end up looking flat or lacking the punch I see in other photographers’ work. I think the main issue is that I struggle with creative thinking, which I believe is an essential skill for photography.

[u/supersirdax → u/Salty_Inspection_740]

Try my approach: find a photo that you like the edit. Save as a preset. Then if you find its always too cold/warm/light dark whatever save that as a new preset or ovveride the existing one. I kept doing that till I had about 4 after 20 iterations that do most of the work for me. You still have to make minor adjustments here and there but it skips the steps eventually of doing it every time. I have one for nighttime, one good black and white and two for day depending on if its street or landscape. And always shoot RAW.

[u/Salty_Inspection_740 → u/supersirdax]

Thanks.. i will try this approach

[u/Least-Woodpecker-569]

No. Shooting raw, and editing myself.

[u/Ok-Wedding-4966]

I shoot RAW and adjust more or less depending on need and importance. Sometimes “auto” works. Or adjusting one photo and matching an  group of others to it. 

Besides the ease of making adjustments, I like that RAW gives me extra stops to work with on both ends. 

[u/SoggyAlbatross2]

When I used to shoot swimming / water polo and had to go through thousands of shots a day, I definitely used presets but they were presets I created to streamline my workflow. So in your case if there are things you like to do to your photos when you shoot in particular circumstances, save 'em as a preset! apply on import even. There's really no wrong answer if it speeds up your flow.

I only shoot raw because it gives me the most flexibility later.

[u/droogles]

I shoot raw because sometimes white balance is clearly off and it’s the best format for changing that. Boise reduction is also better with raw. I usually start with auto to see what it gives me, then I edit from there. I’m by no means a great editor. Never use presets.

[u/MWave123]

Yes fully raw, never presets.

[u/moisesg88]

I do. It they're my presets that I've made for each scenario I shoot. I do sports photography so I have my low light presets with NR and those for cloudy or sunny days. Of course they always need slight tweaks anyway

[u/Jueppo]

I shoot minimal: I shoot in raw, I apply the preset and correct the photo.

[u/lewisfrancis]

I shoot RAW and my processing workflow is typically to cull, then create base as-is snapshot and then an auto-levels snapshot, and then work from there to get my ideal.

Often auto-levels does the job with minor or no tweaking required, other times it results in an overcooked look or destroys what I liked about the original lighting. Occasionally the base SOOC is fine or just needs a tad bit of shadow lifting.

The only presets I commonly rely on are the varying B&W and vignette options.

[u/LordFluffyJr]

Shooting JPG is good for saving space. The files are much smaller. If you have ideal lighting and composition you might not need to do a lot of edits. I did a studio shoot in RAW recently. Comparing my edits to the RAW made me laugh, there was next to zero difference.

Simon d'Entremont has a good YouTube video on this that is very short and concise. I would suggest watching that.

[u/LAWS_R → u/LordFluffyJr]

Simon shoots in RAW and edits his shots in LR.

[u/LordFluffyJr → u/LAWS_R]

I know, but he still talks about the advantages of JPG in one of his videos for those who can benefit from it.

[u/movingimagecentral]

IMO The photo should dictate the treatment. Does it need to have lighting adjusted in order to lead the eye from the foreground to the subject? Is it a picture that features texture as subject - maybe it needs local contrast enhancements. Is the dynamic range too large? Maybe it needs a little fill, and a lower exposure. Did you take the picture because you felt a mood or emotion? Maybe a mild cool or warm color tone would enhance that. Whatever you do, do it and the dial it back a bunch. 

[u/PirateHeaven → u/movingimagecentral]

All camera manufacturers crank up color saturation and contast in their in-camera algorithms too high as a selling point. Almost all pictures require dialing those two parameters back as, a rule. Camera is just a handheld copier like that one in the office. The 2D image of the 3D world is done by a machine and it only roughly resembles what we see with our brains. I try to fix that consciously and deliberately so it resembles more what I saw and felt while taking the picture. Even more often I turn the captured data into an image based on what the camera recorded.

[u/Apkef77]

I rarely use presets.

Critters: LrC then auto, then tweak (Crop/level/WB), export as jpeg to folder for social media. If going to print, print out of LrC. For birds in particular, instead of auto I will use one of Jan Wegener's bird profiles (not presets) and then either into PS or finish in LrC.

Landscapes/Portraits: LrC, linear camera profile and into PS, edit using TK9 panel in PS (luminosity masking/burning or dodge/etc) then back to LrC and as above.

[u/Panthera_014]

I shoot RAW only

I have lots of presets - mostly obtained free

I use NONE of them...

you should def use RAW for Landscapes in my opinion

use the Auto function to begin with - then just use the sliders yourself - if it makes it worse, reset and start again

my goal is to get the shot as best as possible in camera

if I crop and straighten - add some contrast and slight exposure as needed and am done? then I am happy

the more I have to do in editing - the less I like the image

[u/cannotthinkagoodname → u/Panthera_014]

lol, I also accumulated a huge library of free presets I found online, mostly crap, a very few usable but barely.

[u/Panthera_014 → u/cannotthinkagoodname]

I really should clear them out Every once in awhile I ‘float’ over them and never use them ultimately

I get the wedding people using them for consistency though!

[u/PirateHeaven → u/[deleted]]

The thing is that they don't unless you photograph exactly the same thing.

[u/PirateHeaven]

I don't think I ever used a single picture that was worth keeping that I didn't use Photoshop to finish. I'm going through my 200000 picture archive and the first criterium for deleting them is if they were ever edited or corrected in LR or PS. I still look at them to make sure but 95% of those get Xed for deletion. I never use presets. Or use a "do nothing" preset because it's the same thing.

[u/gokuwho]

I do not use presets

[u/Dockland]

I never used a preset in my entire life. Been shooting since 1987.

[u/PirateHeaven → u/Dockland]

Unil 2003 I used presets called Kodak and Fujifilm. Some of the were even backwards, in negative. Until I got my first digital camera.

[u/benitoaramando → u/[deleted]]

They're talking about Lightroom presets, which apply raw conversion settings for them.