Best Lightroom Presets for Photographers
SLR Lounge has been teaching photography since 2010, and over that time we’ve developed two lines of Lightroom presets built specifically for working photographers. Below you’ll find our current recommendation — the Visual Flow Lightroom Presets — along with everything you need to choose the right preset pack for your editing style and shooting conditions.
Both preset lines were created by the SLR Lounge editorial and education team in partnership with professional preset developer DVLOP. Every pack has been tested across thousands of real-world images spanning weddings, portraits, landscapes, and events — the same scenarios our photographer community actually shoots.
Visual Flow Lightroom Presets (Recommended)
Visual Flow is a dedicated preset company created in partnership with DVLOP. It uses a patent-pending approach called Lighting Condition Based Development (LCBD). Instead of applying a single look across all your images and hoping for the best, LCBD gives you separate starting points for different lighting scenarios — harsh sun, open shade, golden hour, artificial light, and more — so your edits are consistent from the first click.
The result: less time dragging sliders, more time delivering galleries. Here are the current Visual Flow preset packs available at vfpresets.com.
Modern Lightroom Presets
Warm and Vibrant Presets for All Lighting Conditions
- Warm, vibrant, natural editing style
- 10 one-click presets for different lighting conditions
- Patent-pending Lighting Condition Based Development (LCBD)
- Created by SLR Lounge in partnership with DVLOP
- Works with Lightroom Classic and Lightroom (cloud)
The Modern pack is our most popular starting point for photographers who want warm, clean, natural-looking edits without heavy processing. It pairs well with outdoor portrait and wedding work.
Pastel Lightroom Preset Pack
Bright and Airy Film Emulation Inspired by Fuji 400H, Adapted for All Lighting Conditions
- Soft, filmic, bright editing style
- 10 one-click presets across all lighting conditions
- Patent-pending LCBD system
- Light and airy look that holds up across skin tones
- Created by SLR Lounge and DVLOP
If your clients gravitate toward that ethereal, film-inspired look, the Pastel pack is the fastest path to it. The LCBD system keeps skin tones from going muddy even in mixed or difficult light.
Crush Lightroom Preset Pack
Bold and Vivid Presets for All Lighting Conditions
- Bold, vivid style that preserves natural skin tones
- 10 one-click presets across all lighting conditions
- Patent-pending LCBD system
- Created by SLR Lounge and DVLOP
Crush is built for photographers who want punchy, saturated color without blowing out skintones. It works especially well for editorial portrait work, lifestyle photography, and outdoor events where you want images that pop.
Mood Lightroom Preset Pack
Dark and Moody Presets for All Lighting Conditions
- Warm, organic, boho, wanderlust editing style
- 10 one-click presets across all lighting conditions
- Patent-pending LCBD system
- Created by SLR Lounge and DVLOP
The Mood pack is designed for photographers drawn to a darker, moodier aesthetic. Think rich shadows, warm mid-tones, and that organic film-like feeling. Popular for destination weddings, elopements, and lifestyle portraits in natural environments.
Black and White Mixer
A Complete, Professional B&W Lightroom Toolkit
- 10 one-click presets for final B&W looks
- Proprietary “VF Mixer” for intensity control
- 25 Mixology presets for granular custom control
- Covers everything from dramatic to filmic black and white
- Complete workflow for professional B&W editing in Lightroom
- Created by SLR Lounge and DVLOP
Black and white photography in Lightroom is often done as an afterthought — a quick desaturation and done. The B&W Mixer is built around a proper workflow, giving you tonal control, contrast shaping, and a library of looks that go well beyond a basic conversion.
Retouching Toolkit
Complete Set of Lightroom Brushes and Retouching Tools
- 47 retouching brushes and 26 specialized tools
- Fix skin blemishes and uneven tones without Photoshop
- Dodge and burn directly in Lightroom
- Enhance skies, add sun flare, and refine sunsets
- Eliminate Photoshop from your portrait retouching workflow
If you’re still bouncing between Lightroom and Photoshop for basic retouching, the Retouching Toolkit can simplify your workflow significantly. These aren’t novelty brushes — they’re tools built from real workflows used on professional portrait and wedding shoots.
Why Visual Flow Presets?
We get this question a lot: why did SLR Lounge partner with DVLOP to create a separate preset brand instead of keeping everything under the SLR Lounge name?
The answer is focus. SLR Lounge’s core job is photography education — real-world, applicable training for working photographers. DVLOP’s core job is building and supporting world-class presets. By partnering, both brands can do their actual job without compromise.
For photographers, that means:
- Presets built by people who actually shoot. Every pack is developed against real image libraries from wedding, portrait, and event photography — not studio test shots.
- Ongoing support and updates. DVLOP’s business model is presets, so the products are actively maintained as Lightroom evolves.
- Expanding style library. Visual Flow has grown to cover warm/vibrant (Modern), light and airy (Pastel), bold/saturated (Crush), dark/moody (Mood), and professional B&W — with more styles planned across different photography genres.
The Visual Flow website also includes a growing library of Lightroom tutorials specifically designed to help photographers get the most out of the preset system.
Lightroom Presets FAQ
What are Lightroom presets?
Lightroom presets are saved editing settings that can be applied to a photo in one click. Instead of manually adjusting white balance, exposure, tone curve, HSL, and dozens of other sliders every time you edit, a preset applies a consistent starting point instantly. From there, you make minor adjustments for each specific image. Professional photographers use presets to speed up batch editing and keep a consistent look across a gallery.
Are these presets compatible with Lightroom Classic and the new Lightroom?
Yes. Visual Flow presets are compatible with both Lightroom Classic (the full desktop application) and the subscription-based Lightroom (formerly called Lightroom CC). They are distributed through DVLOP’s platform, which handles installation across both versions.
Which preset pack should I start with?
It depends on your shooting style and the look your clients expect:
- Natural, warm portraits or weddings: Start with the Modern pack.
- Light and airy, film-inspired look: The Pastel pack is built for this.
- Bold, vibrant color with pop: Crush is your pack.
- Dark, moody, cinematic feel: Go with the Mood pack.
- Professional black and white work: The B&W Mixer gives you the most control.
If you’re not sure, the Modern pack is the most versatile starting point for photographers who shoot in varied lighting conditions.
What is Lighting Condition Based Development (LCBD)?
LCBD is a patent-pending preset system developed by Visual Flow and DVLOP. The core idea is that a single preset rarely looks good across every lighting scenario — a preset built for golden hour light will look off in harsh midday sun or deep shade. LCBD solves this by giving you separate starting points for each major lighting condition. You select the closest match to what you shot in, fine-tune exposure, and you’re done. It’s a fundamentally more consistent approach than traditional one-size-fits-all presets.
SLR Lounge Legacy Presets
SLR Lounge previously sold its own line of Lightroom presets independently. Those presets are no longer actively sold or supported. If you’re looking for current, actively maintained presets from the SLR Lounge team, the Visual Flow packs above are the right choice. They represent the full evolution of everything we learned from the original SLR Lounge preset system.
Ready to Transform Your Editing Workflow?
Browse the full Visual Flow preset library, read more about the LCBD system, and watch video walkthroughs for every pack at the Visual Flow website.