Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera Raw have long shared presets, which I find immensely convenient. Installing presets into recent versions of Lightroom Classic automatically adds them to Photoshop’s Adobe Camera Raw; as such, I find myself more often turning to ACR/presets when editing in Photoshop.
However, Adobe has stuck with their traditional approach of keeping Masking Presets (formerly Brush Presets) in.lrtemplate format; therefore they DO NOT automatically install into ACR. As a result, I found an alternative “workaround” solution to bring this project to fruition.
Lightroom Classic uses masks in combination with adjustment brushes, graduated filters, and radial filters to allow users to selectively edit parts of an image. Portrait photographers tend to repeat the same settings over and over, which makes editing faster. Pretty Presets has designed beautiful presets to save time when applying edits; these presets are included with several of our collections (Clean Edit Portrait Workflow and Bella Baby Newborn Presets & Brushes), or can be purchased separately in our Retouch & Makeup Brushes Collection.
If you love local adjustment presets as much as I do and wish they were accessible within Adobe Camera Raw, follow these steps and you can get them into that program as well.
Please be aware that these steps are an “workaround,” meaning they require extra steps and work. Adobe should provide an easier method of sharing local adjustment presets between Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera Raw in the near future.
Step One: Choose A RAW OR DNG FILE
To start editing photos in RAW or DNG files, choose an initial RAW or DNG file as your starting point. Ideally, opt for something with ample white space that enables easy placement of masks – this way they won’t get hidden by other parts of the photo!
Step Two: Select the Masking Tool
To select the masking tool, locate and click on the Masking icon located just above the Basic Panel in your toolbar. It resembles a circle with an outline dotted in red – you should see this when hovering your cursor over this symbol.
Select the Brush tool from among the available tools.