Understanding the Goal:
A soft portrait aims to:
* Smooth skin: Reduce texture and blemishes.
* Brighten the image: Create a lighter, more airy feel.
* Soften highlights: Prevent harshness and add a gentle glow.
* Enhance details (subtly): Sharpen eyes and lips without making skin texture too prominent.
* Maintain natural colors: Avoid overly saturated or unnatural skin tones.
Steps to Create the Preset:
1. Import an Image: Start with a portrait image in Lightroom. Choose an image that represents the type of photos you'll be using the preset on. This allows you to fine-tune the preset to your specific needs.
2. Basic Panel Adjustments:
* Exposure: Slightly increase exposure (e.g., +0.3 to +0.7 stops). Adjust to brighten the overall image.
* Contrast: Decrease contrast (e.g., -10 to -30). This helps to soften the shadows and highlights.
* Highlights: Reduce highlights significantly (e.g., -50 to -100). This is crucial for taming bright spots on the skin and creating that soft glow.
* Shadows: Increase shadows slightly (e.g., +10 to +30). This helps to open up the darker areas and even out the tone.
* Whites: Adjust based on the image, but generally a slight increase (e.g., +5 to +15) can help. Be careful not to blow out the whites.
* Blacks: Slightly reduce blacks (e.g., -5 to -15). This prevents the image from appearing too washed out while still maintaining the soft look.
* Clarity: Reduce clarity significantly (e.g., -20 to -40). This is a key component for smoothing skin. Don't overdo it, or the image will look unnatural.
* Vibrance: Increase vibrance slightly (e.g., +5 to +15) to bring out the natural colors.
* Saturation: Adjust based on your image. Generally, a very slight increase (e.g., +2 to +8) can be used, or leave it at 0.
3. Tone Curve Adjustments:
* Point Curve: Gently adjust the point curve to create a slight "S" curve for a subtle contrast boost, or flatten it a bit for even softer result. Click on the Point Curve button, then click the small icon on the lower right to switch to the Parametric curve.
* Parametric Curve (Recommended): This will give you more control.
* *Highlights:* Reduce slightly.
* *Lights:* Slightly increase.
* *Darks:* Increase slightly.
* *Shadows:* Reduce slightly.
This gentle flattening or slight S-curve adds depth without harshness.
4. HSL / Color Panel Adjustments:
* Hue: Subtle adjustments to skin tones can be beneficial. For example, you can nudge the orange hues slightly towards yellow to make the skin appear warmer.
* Saturation: Slightly desaturate reds and oranges (e.g., -5 to -10) to prevent skin from appearing overly saturated or flushed. This also helps control blemishes.
* Luminance: Increase luminance of oranges and reds (e.g., +5 to +15). This helps brighten skin tones.
5. Detail Panel Adjustments:
* Sharpening: Apply a *very* subtle amount of sharpening, primarily focused on the eyes and lips. Use the "Masking" slider to prevent sharpening from affecting skin texture.
* *Amount:* 20-40
* *Radius:* 0.5 - 1.0
* *Detail:* 25
* *Masking:* Hold Alt/Option key and drag the slider until only the details you want to sharpen are visible. (e.g., around 50-80). This masks the skin from the sharpening effect.
* Noise Reduction: Apply a *small* amount of luminance noise reduction (e.g., +5 to +15). This helps smooth the skin further, especially in shadows.
6. Lens Corrections Panel (Optional):
* Enable Profile Corrections: Check the "Enable Profile Corrections" box to automatically correct lens distortions and chromatic aberration. This step depends on your lens.
* Remove Chromatic Aberration: Check this box as well.
7. Effects Panel Adjustments:
* Post-Crop Vignetting: Consider adding a very subtle negative vignette (e.g., Amount -5 to -15, Midpoint 50-70) to draw the viewer's eye to the subject.
* Grain: Avoid adding grain for a soft portrait look.
8. Calibration (Optional, but can be impactful for skin tones):
* Experiment with subtle adjustments to the Red, Green, and Blue Primary hues. Moving these sliders slightly can subtly affect skin tones.
* Generally, nudging the Red Primary hue slightly towards orange and the Blue Primary hue slightly towards blue/aqua can improve skin tones.
9. Save the Preset:
* Go to the "Presets" panel (usually on the left side).
* Click the "+" button (or choose "New Preset" from the Presets menu).
* Name your preset (e.g., "Soft Portrait," "Gentle Glow Portrait," etc.).
* Crucially, choose *which* settings to include in the preset. This is important. Deselect settings you *don't* want to be applied automatically (e.g., White Balance, if you want to adjust that individually for each photo; Crop, Spot Removal, etc.). Generally, you want to keep the Basic adjustments, Tone Curve, HSL/Color, Detail, Lens Corrections (if used), Effects, and Calibration.
* Click "Create."
Important Considerations:
* Subtlety is Key: The goal is to enhance, not overhaul. Overdoing the adjustments will result in an unnatural, plastic look.
* Image-Specific Adjustments: Every image is different. You'll likely need to make minor adjustments *after* applying the preset to tailor it to the specific photo. Think of the preset as a starting point, not a one-size-fits-all solution.
* Skin Tone: Pay close attention to skin tones. Monitor the HSL/Color panel to ensure they look natural and healthy. The Calibration panel can also be helpful here.
* Practice: Experiment with the settings to see how they affect your images. The more you practice, the better you'll become at creating custom presets.
* Monitor Calibration: Ensure your monitor is properly calibrated to accurately display colors. An uncalibrated monitor can lead to incorrect adjustments.
* Version Differences: While these instructions are geared towards Lightroom 4, later versions have added features that can enhance these techniques (e.g., the masking tools in later versions are much more powerful for targeted adjustments). Consider upgrading if possible.
Troubleshooting:
* Skin Looks Too Blurry: Reduce the amount of Clarity and Noise Reduction.
* Skin Tones Look Unnatural: Adjust the HSL/Color panel, paying attention to the saturation and luminance of reds and oranges. Check the Calibration panel.
* Image Looks Too Washed Out: Increase contrast slightly and reduce blacks.
* Image Looks Too Dark: Increase exposure and shadows.
* Details are Lost: Increase sharpening and adjust the masking slider to protect skin texture.
By following these steps and experimenting with the settings, you can create a beautiful soft portrait preset in Lightroom 4 that enhances your subjects and creates a dreamy, flattering look. Remember to be subtle and tailor the preset to each individual image for the best results. Good luck!