Understanding the Difference Between Profiles and Presets in Lightroom
When working with my Lightroom Preset Packs, you may have noticed two key elements—profiles and presets. While they might seem similar, they serve very different purposes in your editing workflow.
In this video, I’ll break down exactly how they work and how you can use them effectively.
Presets: The One-Click Edit
Presets in my packs—whether it’s Film Edition One, Two, Three, Colour Film, Monochrome, or the Silver Palette 2024—apply a carefully crafted look to your images. They include colour grading, tone curve adjustments, clarity tweaks, vignette, and grain to achieve a specific aesthetic.
When you apply a preset, you’re not just adding a colour profile; you’re also adjusting multiple settings in Lightroom to get that filmic feel.
For example, applying the Arizona Film preset from Film Edition Three will not only use the Monochrome Arizona profile, but it will also adjust clarity, tone curve, vignette, and grain—giving your photo a complete, professional-grade look in one click.
Profiles: The Subtle Starting Point
Profiles, on the other hand, act as the foundation of each preset. Every single preset in my packs is built on its own custom profile that I’ve created externally from Lightroom. However, profiles don’t touch your exposure, contrast, or grain settings—they simply shift the way Lightroom renders the colours and tones in your image.
If you like the look of a particular preset but want to keep control over the finer adjustments, you can just apply its profile manually from the Profiles panel.
This gives you the flexibility to start with the colour and tonal characteristics of a preset without any additional edits.
When to Use Profiles vs. Presets
Presets are best when you want a one-click edit that instantly applies a filmic look with adjustments like contrast, clarity, and grain.
Profiles are perfect when you want to retain control over the adjustments, using them as a subtle base to build your own edits.
Whether you use just the profiles or go all in with the presets, the goal is the same—to make editing faster, more intuitive, and to give your images a beautiful, film-inspired look with minimal effort.
Check out the video above to see the differences in action and find the best approach for your editing style!
A complete black and white Profile, Preset & Workflow Pack for Lightroom
Film Edition 5 - Workflow Series (Monochrome) is a structured set of Lightroom profiles and presets designed to help you achieve a finished monochrome look quickly and consistently.
This is not a random “pick a look and hope” pack. It’s designed as a repeatable workflow you can run on a full set of images, with fixes and finishing tools when you need them.
If you edit regularly in Lightroom, you already know the problem. You want a strong black-and-white style, but you also need it to behave consistently across different scenes, lighting conditions, and subjects. This pack is designed to help you move fast without the work looking rushed.
You start with one of the custom monochrome profiles to establish the tonal foundation, then shape the image with workflow presets that are designed to work with that profile rather than fight against it. From there, you can use the included Toolkit for things like AI masking, grain, curves, highlight control, sharpening, finishing touches, and everyday problem-solving inside Lightroom. The product page positions the pack exactly this way, with the profile first, workflow second, then utilities and finishers to refine only when needed.
Built for speed and consistency
If you edit your photos in Lightroom, you already know the problem: you want a strong monochrome style, but you also need it to work across different scenes without constant fighting.
This pack helps you move fast without the work looking rushed.
Fast workflow: fewer decisions, clearer steps.
Consistent results: the set hangs together as a series.
Film-inspired tonality: depth, shape, and texture without the “preset look”.
Useful fixes included: real-world Lightroom problems, solved quickly.
What’s included
11 custom monochrome profiles
20 one-click presets
128 Mullins Lightroom Toolkit presets, including AI masks, fixes, utilities, grain, tone curves, colour helpers, sharpening and finishers
Compatibility
Works with Lightroom Classic and Lightroom Desktop. AI Mask presets require Lightroom Classic 11.0+ or Lightroom Desktop 5.0+.
Three for Two Offer
All preset packs are included in the 3-for-2 offer. Add any three preset packs to your basket, and the cheapest one is free at checkout.