How To Create and Sell Your Lightroom Presets (For Desktop & Mobile)

Lightroom is the best way to edit your photos. It's powerful, easy, and takes less time. It's your best bet for editing stunning photos for your Instagram and blog. I'm going to show you how to create your own presets in Lightroom and how you can then sell those on your own!

The best part? The Lightroom mobile app is completely free! I'm going to show you how to create presets in desktop as well as mobile Lightroom. Then, I'll walk you through step-by-step how to sell your own custom presets.

Now, if you want to sell presets of your own, you'll need the full desktop version of Lightroom so that you can export and sell Lightroom presets (mobile or desktop) to users. You can purchase a Lightroom subscription here (I recommend Lightroom Classic CC because it's a more robust tool offering great options for editing your photos.) Adobe, the same company that makes Photoshop, also created Adobe Lightroom, or just “Lightroom,” as it's known.

Did you know I offer free desktop Lightroom presets? And also free mobile Lightroom presets? Check it out here!

First up, why use Lightroom to edit your photos?

Lightroom is the best way to edit your photos. You have the ability to edit colors, set the scene, and powerfully edit your photos. Nearly all professional photographers, bloggers, and Instagrammers use Lightroom to expertly edit their photos. If you want a step-by-step guide to see how I edit in Lightroom, check out this post. I also share my camera and shooting settings there as well.

What are Lightroom Presets?

Lightroom presets are simply a collection of edits that you can apply to your photos. Think of them as filters. Now let's say you edit a photo: you add contrast, brightness, decrease the shadows, lower the temperature, deepen the oranges, make the greens a bit more yellow, dehaze the sky, and add a touch of grain to the photo. Let's say you love this effect so much, you know you might want to apply it to another photo. You can simply save that preset so you can do it again and again, without going through all the steps.

Lightroom makes it SUPER easy for you to create a preset, or filter, that you can easily apply.

Now, once you add your new preset you can still continue editing the photo to adjust it exactly to your liking. This is the power of Lightroom and why it remains the best tool for anyone wanting to create striking photos.

If you want to get started in Lightroom I've created the ULTIMATE guide! A collection of 140 presets (70 for desktop and 70 for mobile) along with a full video course on exactly how to use them, edit them, and create your signature style. It's called the Lightroom Vault and it's only open for a limited time!

Once you make your edit to your photos you can then create a preset, so we will start with that first, then we'll look at how you can sell them.

How To Create Lightroom Presets

Step 1: Make sure you have Lightroom Desktop

(Classic CC) or, if you don't intend to sell your presets, you can also just use Lightroom Mobile, which is the free version of Lightroom. Keep in mind, the mobile version of Lightroom isn't quite as advanced.

Step 2: Upload a photo into Lightroom and edit it.

When you upload this photo, know that this photo will “show up” for others if they add this preset to their Lightroom mobile app if you intend to sell it. So keep the photo in mind when you edit.

Add as many edits as you like to your photo. If you want to learn how to edit, check this out! Finding your signature aesthetic and seeing what edits you like and work for your photos takes time. I personally like my photos to be on the warm and dreamy side. So I tend to edit my photos in that way.

Spend time thinking about aspects of photos you like and how you prefer to edit your photos in Lightroom. This will help you to develop how you'll create your own Lightroom presets.

Make sure that you stay true to yourself. I believe the best Lightroom presets are the ones that work well for a variety of lighting and camera settings. I recommend not going overboard on the exposure, or too heavy on the saturation. Remember, these presets can still be edited even after they are applied.

When I took this photo, you couldn't see the rainbow! But after editing the rainbow comes through! Tha'ts the power of editing.

Step 3: Save the Preset.

This part is fairly easy, which is why I love Lightroom so much! On the left-hand side of Lightroom you'll find all of the Presets you have or created. On the top (sometimes you have to scroll up) below the Navigator, Lightroom says “Presets” click the “plus” next to presets and click create:

Step 4: Name your preset.

I recommend that you either name it numerically, such as your name and the number or what it invokes: a travel scene, a wedding presets, etc. When you name your preset, it will ask you if you want to save all of the edits you created, you can check or uncheck the boxes. Tap the Group menu and choose or create a group for your preset. The default group for presets you create is the User Presets group.

Step 5: Export your preset (IMPORTANT FOR MOBILE!).

To do this Click File: > Export with Preset > Export to DNG. This will now save your preset in a folder. If you have trouble, ensure that you have Lightroom CLASSIC CC installed and it is up to date.

Step 6: Zip your presets together.

Once you've exported all your presets, you can zip all the presets together. This will be how you sell them in the next section.

Create a Mobile Lightroom Preset

Now, if you want to create a Lightroom preset in mobile, you can do the same, all in the mobile app, with a few different steps. Remember, presets you create inside the mobile app, you cannot sell because you cannot export them.

Step 1: Edit the photo in the Lightroom mobile app.

Step 2: On the top right, click the 3 dots or Ellipsis button, a menu will appear. Click “Create Preset.”

Step 3: Name your preset

And check or uncheck the boxes for what edits you want saved.

Your preset is saved and can be used again and again. Find your preset in the far right side at the bottom of the tools inside Lightroom mobile app when you go to edit a photo.

You've just created your very own custom presets! Now, you're ready to sell them!

How to Sell Lightroom Presets

Next, in order to sell your Lightroom presets you need a platform to sell it from.

My highest recommendation, without a doubt, is Kajabi. I've been on so many platforms (Teachable, Shopify, Sellfy, SamCart, and even used WordPress plugins) but Kajabi is the best tool because it has literally everything you need all built in:

A place to sell things (so sales pages, opt-ins).

A place for members to download their presets (or for you to create custom content such as courses, ebooks, etc).

A place to email all your members!

If you do want to sell from your site, a good option is WooCommerce. This is a plugin that you can use to sell things from your site.

Or, if you want a good platform that isn't as robust as Kajabi but is also less expensive then I recommend Etsy! Or, another good alternative is GumRoad.

Sell Lightroom Desktop Presets

To sell your desktop presets, you'll need to go to the folder where your presets are saved inside of Lightroom.

You can go to Your computer > Lightroom > Application Support > Adobe > CameraRaw > Settings > “The name of your presets” Folder.

Zip, or compress those files and upload them to your platform where you intend to sell them. For me, I use Kajabi and I upload them to the site. Once they pay, they will have access to download the presets.

Sell Lightroom Mobile Presets

Instead of doing the above, you'll want to use the “DNG” presets we created. Those should be saved to a folder and also zipped. Now follow the steps to upload them to your platform to sell them.

Before you sell, make sure you test them out to ensure they work properly! Don't forget to try out these presets on your favorite photos.

I hope this helps you on your way to making some money with your talented editing skills.

If you want to learn how to edit like a professional PLUS get 140 presets, check out the Lightroom Vault (for a limited time!).

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