I. Understanding the Goals of a Soft Portrait Preset:
* Soft Skin: Reducing harsh textures and blemishes.
* Even Skin Tone: Smoothing out variations in skin color.
* Gentle Lighting: Avoiding harsh highlights and shadows.
* Dreamy Aesthetic: Creating a slightly ethereal, romantic feel.
* Preservation of Detail: While softening, avoid making the image blurry.
II. Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Preset:
1. Choose a Suitable Image: Select a well-exposed portrait image to work with. Ideally, use one with good natural lighting.
2. Basic Adjustments (Under the "Basic" Panel):
* Exposure: Adjust subtly. Slightly brighten if needed, but don't overexpose. Generally, aim for a flattering brightness on the face.
* Contrast: Lower the contrast. This is crucial for the soft look. Start with a negative value like -20 to -40 and adjust from there.
* Highlights: Reduce highlights. This helps prevent blown-out areas on the skin and adds to the softness. Try -30 to -60.
* Shadows: Lift shadows slightly. This reveals detail in darker areas and contributes to even lighting. Try +10 to +30.
* Whites: Adjust Whites. This is a fine tuning control for bright highlights.
* Blacks: Adjust Blacks. This is a fine tuning control for dark areas.
* Clarity: *This is a key element.* Reduce clarity significantly. Go for a negative value, like -15 to -40. This is what really softens the skin and gives that dreamy effect. Be careful not to overdo it, as it can make the image look flat.
* Vibrance: Increase vibrance slightly. This enhances the colors without making them overly saturated. Try +5 to +15.
* Saturation: Reduce Saturation slightly.
3. Tone Curve Adjustments:
* Point Curve (often called "Region Curve"): The Tone Curve is one of the most powerful tools. Use the Point Curve and gently create a slight "S-curve." This adds a bit of contrast back in but in a controlled way.
* Lower Left Point: Drag the lower left point up slightly. This will lift your blacks. You will see the black point value display at the bottom.
* Center of the Line: Pull up the center of the line ever so slightly.
* Upper Right Point: Drag the upper right point down slightly. This will flatten out your whites.
If you are using Lightroom 4, you can try to make a slight adjustment to the highlights and shadow curve points.
4. HSL / Color Panel:
* Luminance:
* Slightly increase the luminance of the oranges and yellows. This brightens skin tones. +5 to +15.
* Saturation:
* Slightly desaturate reds. +5 to -10 This reduces redness in the skin.
5. Detail Panel:
* Sharpening: *Important!* Reduce sharpening significantly. A soft portrait shouldn't look overly sharp. Set the amount to 0.
* Noise Reduction: Increase luminance noise reduction. This smooths out any unwanted noise, especially in shadows. Start with 10-20 and adjust.
* Color Noise Reduction: Increase color noise reduction. This smooths out any color artifacts in the shadows. Start with 10-20 and adjust.
6. Lens Corrections Panel:
* Enable Profile Corrections: If your lens profile is available, enable it. This corrects for distortion and vignetting. This step depends on your lens.
* Remove Chromatic Aberration: Check this box to remove unwanted color fringes.
7. Effects Panel (Optional):
* Vignetting: Consider adding a very subtle negative vignette (Amount slider to the left) to draw the eye towards the subject. Small negative values are best (-5 to -15).
8. Calibration Panel (Advanced): This is typically left alone. Adjusting these can affect the color tint.
9. Create the Preset:
* Click the "+" button in the "Presets" panel on the left side of Lightroom.
* Give your preset a descriptive name (e.g., "Soft Portrait," "Dreamy Portrait").
* Crucially: In the "Create Preset" dialog box, carefully select which settings you want to include in the preset. It's generally recommended to *uncheck* these items:
* Exposure: Exposure is very picture dependent
* White Balance: White Balance depends on lighting conditions
* Local Adjustments: These are changes specific to a particular photo.
* Transform: Unless you have used transform in all photos.
* Spot Removal: This depends on the photo.
* Keep *checked* the settings you adjusted above (Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Clarity, Sharpening, Noise Reduction, Tone Curve, HSL adjustments, Lens Corrections, Vignetting).
* Click "Create."
III. Important Considerations & Tips:
* Experimentation is Key: These are starting points. The best settings will vary depending on the specific image, lighting conditions, and your personal taste. Adjust your preset as needed for each photo.
* Don't Overdo It: Softness is good, but don't make the image look blurry or unnatural.
* Batch Processing: Once you're happy with your preset, you can apply it to multiple images at once to save time.
* Iterative Refinement: Use the "Update with Current Settings" option in the Presets panel to fine-tune your preset as you gain experience. This will overwrite the existing preset with the new settings.
* Skin Tone: Pay close attention to skin tones. Make sure the preset doesn't make the skin look too orange, yellow, or pale. Use the HSL/Color panel to adjust as needed.
* Specifics for Lightroom 4: Lightroom 4 doesn't have the advanced masking tools of later versions, so focus on global adjustments. You can still use the adjustment brush for localized skin smoothing, if needed, after applying the preset.
* Backup: Export your preset (.lrtemplate file) so you can import it into other computers or share it with others.
Example Preset Settings (Starting Points):
* Basic:
* Exposure: +0.3
* Contrast: -30
* Highlights: -40
* Shadows: +20
* Whites: 0
* Blacks: 0
* Clarity: -25
* Vibrance: +10
* Saturation: 0
* Tone Curve: Slight S-curve
* HSL / Color:
* Orange Luminance: +8
* Yellow Luminance: +5
* Red Saturation: -5
* Detail:
* Sharpening Amount: 0
* Luminance Noise Reduction: 15
* Color Noise Reduction: 10
* Lens Corrections: Enable Profile Corrections, Remove Chromatic Aberration
* Effects: Vignetting: -10
Workflow Suggestion:
1. Apply the preset.
2. Adjust Exposure and White Balance to suit the specific photo.
3. Use the Adjustment Brush to make localized adjustments, such as further smoothing skin around the eyes or removing distracting blemishes.
By following these steps, you can create a versatile and effective "Soft Portrait" preset in Lightroom 4 that will help you achieve beautiful and flattering results. Remember to experiment and adjust to your specific style and preferences.