1. Import and Select a Test Image:
* Start with a portrait you want to work on. Choose an image with good lighting, but perhaps lacking the "softness" you're aiming for.
2. Basic Panel Adjustments:
* Exposure: Adjust slightly to brighten the overall image. Start with +0.25 and adjust from there based on your image. Don't overexpose. The goal is subtle brightening.
* Contrast: Reduce slightly. A negative value softens the image and flattens the tones, creating a gentler look. Try -10 to -20.
* Highlights: Reduce to recover detail in bright areas and further soften the overall look. Try -20 to -40. This is key to controlling harsh highlights on skin.
* Shadows: Increase to brighten shadows and reveal detail. +10 to +30 will help create a more balanced and less contrasty image.
* Whites: Slightly increase to add a touch of brightness without blowing out highlights. +5 to +15 is a good starting point.
* Blacks: Decrease slightly to subtly deepen the blacks. -5 to -15 will help prevent a washed-out look.
* Clarity: This is the most crucial adjustment for softness. Reduce Clarity significantly. -20 to -40 will soften skin and remove some texture. Don't go overboard, as it can look unnatural.
* Vibrance: Slightly increase to subtly enhance colors, especially skin tones. +5 to +15. This is better than saturation as it targets the less saturated colors.
* Saturation: Leave this as is (0) or make very minor adjustments ( +/- 5 ) to control overall color intensity. Over-saturation will make the portrait look unnatural.
3. Tone Curve Adjustments (Subtle S-Curve):
* Go to the Tone Curve panel (located below the Basic panel).
* Point Curve: Select the "Point Curve" option (the one that allows you to directly manipulate the curve).
* Create a very gentle S-curve. This brightens highlights and deepens shadows, but do it very subtly.
* Click on the curve to create three points: one near the top-right corner, one in the middle, and one near the bottom-left corner.
* Slightly lift the top-right point upwards (to brighten highlights).
* Slightly lower the bottom-left point downwards (to darken shadows).
* The middle point keeps the overall exposure balanced.
* The key is to make the curve *very* gentle. The goal is a subtle increase in contrast. If you overdo it, it will counteract the softness you created with the Clarity and contrast settings.
4. HSL/Color Panel Adjustments (Skin Tone Enhancement):
* Go to the HSL/Color Panel. This panel allows you to adjust the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance of individual colors.
* Hue:
* Orange: Shift slightly towards yellow (+5 to +10) to warm up skin tones. Be careful not to overdo it, as it can make skin look unnatural.
* Red: Make minor adjustments to the red tones (+/- 5 ) depending on the subject and image, perhaps slightly towards orange for a warmer feel.
* Saturation:
* Orange: Slightly decrease saturation (-5 to -10) to avoid overly orange skin tones. This helps make the skin tone look more natural after the hue adjustments.
* Red: Adjust based on the photo.
* Luminance:
* Orange: Increase the luminance of orange to brighten the skin tones (+5 to +15).
* Yellow: Slightly increase to add warmth and brightness to the image.
5. Detail Panel Adjustments (Sharpening & Noise Reduction):
* Sharpening: This is often counter-intuitive for soft portraits, but a *very* slight amount of sharpening is necessary to retain some detail and prevent the image from looking completely blurry.
* Amount: Start with a low amount, like 20-30.
* Radius: Keep this low, around 0.5 to 1.0.
* Detail: Lower this (10-20) to prevent over-sharpening textures.
* Masking: This is important! Increase masking (60-80) to only sharpen the edges and avoid sharpening skin texture. Alt-click on the Masking slider to see the areas that will be sharpened (white areas).
* Noise Reduction: Even with good lighting, a little noise reduction can help smooth the image.
* Luminance: Start with a small amount, like 5-10. Increase only if needed. Increasing this too much will result in a loss of detail.
6. Lens Corrections (If Needed):
* Go to the Lens Corrections panel.
* Profile: Check the box "Enable Profile Corrections." This automatically corrects for lens distortion and vignetting (darkening at the corners). Lightroom will try to find the lens profile based on the EXIF data in your image. If it doesn't, you can manually select the lens make and model.
* Manual: If you're using a lens that doesn't have a profile, you can manually adjust distortion and vignetting.
7. Effects Panel Adjustments (Optional):
* Post-Crop Vignetting: Consider adding a very subtle vignette (negative value for darkening, positive for brightening). A darkening vignette can draw the viewer's eye to the center of the image. Less is more.
* Amount: -5 to -15 is a good starting point.
* Midpoint: Adjust to control the size of the vignette.
* Roundness: Typically keep this at 0 or slightly negative for a more natural-looking vignette.
8. Save the Preset:
* Go to the Presets panel (usually on the left side of the Lightroom interface).
* Click the "+" button (Create New Preset).
* Give your preset a descriptive name, such as "Soft Portrait."
* In the "Check" section, make sure that only the settings you adjusted are checked. *Uncheck everything you didn't change.* This is important so that your preset doesn't unexpectedly alter settings on other images.
* Click "Create."
Important Considerations and Tips:
* Image-Specific Adjustments: No preset works perfectly on every image. You'll almost always need to fine-tune the settings after applying the preset, especially the exposure, white balance, and HSL adjustments.
* Skin Tone Consistency: Pay close attention to skin tones. Use the HSL/Color panel to ensure they look natural and healthy.
* Subtlety is Key: The goal is a soft and flattering portrait, not an overly processed one. Avoid extreme settings.
* Start Simple: Begin with small adjustments and gradually increase them until you achieve the desired effect.
* Test on Different Images: Apply your preset to a variety of portraits with different lighting conditions and skin tones to see how it performs. Adjust the preset as needed.
* White Balance: While not directly contributing to "softness," White Balance is crucial for overall image quality and skin tone. Ensure it's accurate before applying other adjustments. Usually, slight warming of the image will help make the portrait look more appealing.
* Use Adjustment Brush for Localized Adjustments: For more precise control, use the Adjustment Brush to selectively soften skin, dodge and burn, or adjust colors in specific areas.
Example Settings (Starting Point):
* Basic:
* Exposure: +0.25
* Contrast: -15
* Highlights: -30
* Shadows: +20
* Whites: +10
* Blacks: -10
* Clarity: -30
* Vibrance: +10
* Saturation: 0
* Tone Curve: Subtle S-Curve
* HSL/Color:
* Orange Hue: +7
* Orange Saturation: -7
* Orange Luminance: +10
* Detail:
* Sharpening Amount: 25
* Sharpening Radius: 0.8
* Sharpening Detail: 15
* Sharpening Masking: 70
* Luminance Noise Reduction: 7
Remember these are starting points. Experiment and find what works best for your style and the images you typically work with! Good luck!