Editing Cheat Sheet: 10 Recipes for Editing in Lightroom

Lightroom Editing Recipes

Everyone loves a good before and after example, but sometimes, they can leave you wondering exactly how a certain edit was achieved using a particular preset.  In this blog post, I will dive a bit deeper into several edits and tell you exactly how I achieved my final image.

Of course, it is important to remember that presets can and will act differently on various images.  By that I mean, the quality, color, and direction of your light, the choices you make during exposure, and the true-to-life colors existing in your original image will all play a role in how a preset impacts your image.

However, this Lightroom editing tutorial will show you how presets, workflow sets, brushes, and filters can all be used to create beautiful, and easy, edits. 

Lightroom Recipe #1

It is always good to start with a well-exposed image. On the top is the original, SOOC (straight out of camera) image.  The final edit was achieved with one preset and two brushes.

• Starting Preset: Wispy from the Pretty Film Pastels Collection.

• To give the background a little more depth and clarity, I used the Portrait - Add Detail Brush from the Perfect Portrait: Makeup and Retouch Brushes on the background.

• Finally, I used the Portrait - Skin Smooth Brush also from the Perfect Portrait Brushes lightly over her arms. 

A quick beautiful edit using just a couple of clicks and presets!

Lightroom Recipe #2

Here is another edit with the same image.  The steps for this edit are as follows:

• Starting Preset: Serendipity from the Pretty Film Bohemian Collection.

• Next, I used the Portrait - Skin Smooth Brush from the Perfect Portrait Brushes lightly over her arms.

• Finally, I used the Portrait - Add Darkness Brush also from the Perfect Portrait Brushes in the area just over the left shoulder because the brightness was competing with the subject.

Again, this edit took just a couple of seconds!

Lightroom Recipe #3

This final edit of this image shows an easy black and white conversion.  The steps for this edit are as follows:

• Starting Preset: London Fog from the Film Noir Collection.

• To finish this image up, I used the Portrait - Add Darkness Brush from the Perfect Portrait Brushes over the left shoulder just like in the last edit because the brightness was competing with the subject.

This edit took just a few seconds!

Lightroom Recipe #4

Here we have another well exposed, unedited image on the top with the final edit below.  The steps for this edit are as follows:

• Starting Preset: Passionfruit from the Bomb Pop Collection.

• Next, I added two post presets from the Bomb Pop Collection - Color Boost I, and Soft Center Light III.  I selected the Radial Filter, highlighted the pin and adjusted the filter to be just over the shadow side of her face.

• Finally, I used the Portrait - Skin Smooth Brush from the Perfect Portrait Brushes over her face and shoulder avoiding the lips, eyes, and nostrils.  And I also used the Portrait - Add Clarity Brush from the Perfect Portrait Brushes over the subject's eyebrows and eyes.

From start to finish, this edit took about two minutes!

Lightroom Recipe #5

Here is another variation on that same image, this time using a preset from the Pretty Film Pastels Collection as our base.  The steps for this edit are as follows:

• Starting Preset: Nightengale B&W from the Pretty Film Pastels Collection.

• Then I added 3 presets from the Pretty Film Toolkit that is also included with the Pretty Films Pastels collection: Contrast +40, Tone Shadows Soft, and Grain VIII.

These three clicks took just a couple of seconds!

Lightroom Recipe #6

The Clean Edit Collection is a beautiful workflow collection of presets.  These collections were designed to allow you to layer presets.  In these next few edits, I will create three different looks using the same image and the same collection.

The steps for this first edit are as follows:

• Starting Presets: I added Base 4 | Velvet Color and Curve 1 | S-Curve Pop from the from the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow Collection.

• Next, I moved to the Clean Edit Portrait Toolkit which is also included with the same collection and added Exposure +1.00, Soft Center Light Neutral, and Soft Vignette I.

• Finally, I added a few touches using the Clean Edit Portrait Brushes also included with this collection.  I used the PRETTY | Add Clarity Brush over the eyes and eyebrows, the PRETTY | Skin Smoother Brush over her skin, and the PRETTY | Burn-Darken Brush over the gray chair.

This was a very easy edit, taking less than a few minutes!

Lightroom Recipe #7

For our next edit, I went for a more bold, matte edit.  The steps are as follows:

• Starting Presets: I added Base 2 | Rich Color, Curve 5 | Soft Matte, and Split Tone | Silver-Lilac from the from the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow Collection.

• Next, I moved to the Clean Edit Portrait Toolkit which is also included with the collection and added Exposure +0.25, and Soft Center Light Neutral.

• Finally, I added a few touches using the Clean Edit Portrait Brushes also included with this collection.  I used the PRETTY | Add Clarity Brush over her eyes and eyebrows, the PRETTY | Skin Smoother Brush over her skin and the PRETTY | Burn-Darken Brush over the gray chair.

This edit was finished in just a couple of minutes!

Lightroom Recipe #8

Here is an extremely easy black and white edit using the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow.  The steps are as follows:

• Starting Preset: I added Pretty Mixer | Fave 7 from the Clean Edit Portrait Workflow Collection.

• Next, I moved to the Clean Edit Portrait Toolkit which is also included with the collection and added Exposure +0.50, and Soft Center Light Neutral.

• Finally, I added a few touches using the PRETTY Portrait Brushes included with this collection.  I used the PRETTY | Add Clarity Brush over her eyes and eyebrows, the PRETTY | Skin Smoother Brush over her skin, the PRETTY | Dodge-Lighten on the right side of her face and the PRETTY | Burn-Darken Brush over the gray chair.

This edit was super quick - just a couple of minutes!

Lightroom Recipe #9

Again, I am starting this edit with a well-exposed base image.  These are the steps for the edit.  

• Starting Preset: Freesia from Color Luxe Workflow (retired collection).  I also added Exposure | Add Light +1 from the same collection to brighten the image.

• Finally, I added the Color Luxe | Correct Red Skin to fix the red around her eyes and the red cast from the flower in her hair.

This was an incredibly quick edit!

Lightroom Recipe #10

Again, I am starting this edit with a well-exposed base image.  These are the steps for the edit.

• Starting Preset: Calypso from the Pretty Film Bohemian Collection.

• Next, I added Exposure +50 from the Pretty Film Toolkit that comes with this collection.

• Finally, I used the Portrait - Skin Under Eye Circles Brush from the Perfect Portrait Brushes to the shadowed areas under her eyes.

This edit took under two minutes!

I hope this blog post gives a better understanding and a more in-depth look at how I use the various Lightroom Presets and Brushes from Pretty Presets to create gorgeous, polished images.

Do you have any questions or comments about my 10 Lightroom Editing Recipes?  Leave us a comment below - We would LOVE to hear from you, And PLEASE SHARE our post using the social sharing buttons (we really appreciate it)!