How to Save Presets in Luminar Neo (Step-by-Step Guide)

Do you want consistent, pro-level edits without having to start from zero every time?

Luminar Neo‘s custom presets make it happen. They store all your adjustments, from the most basic to the most creative, and let you apply them instantly to another photo.

No need to copy someone else’s style. Create your own to match your own vision – this guide shows you how, step by step.

New to presets? No problem. I’ll also cover what presets are and why saving custom ones can revolutionize your editing workflow.

Already using them, but you’re still not sold? Skip ahead to adjusting your saved presets, best practices, and FAQs – hopefully, we can troubleshoot and maximize their use in your workflow.

Ready to get started? Let’s go.

What Are Presets in Luminar Neo?

Presets are reusable sets of edits stored in the software, so you can apply them with a single click to any photo.

Presets store adjustments like exposure, color temperature, contrast, and even creative effects applied to an image. This way, you can open another image and use the preset to apply all those edits in one go.

In Luminar Neo, you’ll find a set of presets already installed with the software. There are more available from the Skylum marketplace, or you can make your own.

Luminar Neo’s presets stand out because of their AI integration. Once you select an image from your Catalog, go to the Presets workspace to automatically receive suggestions for the best-suited presets.

The list of suggestions is based on the AI analysis of your image’s content. You can choose one from this list, or follow your own instinct. Either way, presets are fully customizable once applied.

Why Should You Save Your Own Presets?

Many people underestimate the power of presets, using them as one-click solutions built into the software. Others simply dismiss them, thinking that they’re for people who don’t know how to edit their photographs.

In reality, presets help you achieve consistent results. Professional photographers often use presets to refine their signature look more efficiently.

Presets lock in your go-to adjustments, saving you time when batch editing. Then, you can tweak the edits for precision, streamlining your entire workflow.

Saving your own presets allows you to capture your own creative vision, instead of relying on someone else’s.

Are you ready to build yours? Let’s see how to save your presets in Luminar Neo.

How to Save a Preset in Luminar Neo? (Step-by-Step)

If you’re a first-time user, you should know that you need to import your images into the Catalog before you can edit them. This is simple: just click on Add Photos.

While this is a necessary step, it also lets you manage all your photos in Luminar Neo. I won’t go into that here, but you can check out our dedicated article, How to Work with the Catalog in Luminar Neo.

Edit your photo

Ok, once you have your photo in the Catalog, select it and click on the Edit tab at the top of the screen.

This will open your image in the Edit workspace, where you’ll find all the editing tools and features. Here’s where you make your magic.

For this example image, these are the steps I followed:

• Exposure slider -0-5
• Highlights -50
• Shadows +15
• Contrast +15
• S-curve in the RGB Curve tool
• Lifted shadows and lowered highlights in the blue channel
• Saturation -10
• Greens -30
• Blues -15
• Color grading, adding teal in the shadows and orange in the highlights.
• Light Depth to darken the background
• Structure -10
• Film Grain +10
• Vignette – 10

As you can see, this is quite a few steps, and having to repeat them every time to achieve the same look across all the images of the photoshoot, or use them on a different photo, would be time-consuming.

That’s why saving them as a preset is such a good idea.

Just a reminder that you don’t need to follow these steps to create your own presets. This is just an example of what I did – you’re free to copy the steps to follow along the tutorial, but the idea is that you edit your image any way you want.

Save your preset

Once you’re happy with the final look, or you’ve reached a point where the next lot of edits will be unique to this image, it’s time to save.

To do so, you need to go into the Presets workspace. So, click on the Presets button at the top of the screen.

Then click the three dots icon in the bottom-left corner to open the menu, and select Save as Preset.

You’ll notice that the right side of the screen has changed. Before, you saw all the presets; now you’ve opened the My Presets panel.

If this is your first time saving a preset, this section will be empty. If not, you’ll see a list with all the presets you’ve already saved.

At the top, there will be a space to name your preset. Type there a name that’s descriptive and will help you remember in the future what that preset does – for example, Golden Hour Boost.

In my case, I’m calling it Teal-Orange Cinematic. You can always come back and rename it later by clicking the three dots next to the name.

That’s it: you saved your own preset.

How to Apply Your Saved Presets to Other Photos?

Awesome, now you have your own preset saved in Luminar Neo – let’s put it to the test.

Start by going to the Catalog and selecting a new image that would work well with the look you’ve created with your preset. Remember that not all presets work with all images.

Next, move on to the Presets workspace and click on My Presets. They may require a few seconds to load.

Now, you can simply hover over the name of your preset to see a preview of how it looks on your image. If you like it, click on it to apply.

You’ll notice a slider under your preset’s name; it lets you control the opacity, making the effect smoother or more evident.

How to adjust one of my saved presets in another photo?

As you now know, a preset is not a one-click solution. Instead, it’s a set of edits saved in a way that you can apply them all with a single click.

This means you can adjust each edit separately after applying the preset to an image.

To do so, simply switch from the Presets to the Edit workspace.

Click on Edits in the top right corner. Here you’ll find all the steps applied, and you can go into each of them to tweak the intensity, create masks for local adjustments, or even delete some of them.

You can also leave the preset adjustments as they are, and pick up the work from there to make specific edits for this image.

Tips and Tricks for Using Your Own Presets in Luminar Neo

• Keep presets flexible – avoid extreme adjustments so that there’s room for tweaking.
• Mark as favorite the ones you use the most – simply click on the heart icon next to the preset’s name.
• Test across different types of images (landscapes, portraits, still life, etc.).
• Use the preset on images with similar lighting conditions and color palette.
• When sharing your presets, make sure to copy the entire parent folder, including all its files.
• Save your custom preset with a descriptive name that you’ll easily find and recognize.

FAQs

Can I save presets in Luminar Neo?

Yes, custom presets in Luminar Neo can be saved, reused, and shared. Simply go to the Presets menu to save them. Then, you’ll find them in the My Presets section. You’ll find the detailed instructions above.

Can I edit a preset after saving it?

Yes, presets in Luminar Neo are fully editable. After you apply a preset, go to the Edit workspace and click on Edits. Here you’ll find all the adjustments made by the preset, so you can edit them as needed.

Can I delete or rename presets in Luminar Neo?

Yes, you can both delete or rename custom presets in Luminar Neo. To do so, go to My Presets and click on the three dots next to the preset name. This action opens a menu that lets you choose to Rename or Delete the preset.

Do presets work with RAW files in Luminar Neo?

Yes, in Luminar Neo, you can apply presets to all the supported file formats – the most common are raw and JPG files.

Can I export my presets from Luminar Neo?

Yes, presets from Luminar Neo are saved on your computer. So, you can copy them into a new device or share them with another user. All you have to do is click on the three dots next to the preset and choose Show in Finder. Make sure you copy the entire folder, though.

Are Luminar Neo presets compatible with other software?

No, Luminar Neo presets only work inside Luminar Neo. You can copy them to a new computer, but you’ll need to have Luminar Neo installed there to use them.