Learn the intricacies of exporting photos and saving export presets in Lightroom in this detailed tutorial, complete with steps and crucial tips for achieving optimal results.
This exercise is excerpted from Noble Desktop’s past Lightroom training materials and is compatible with Lightroom updates through 2020. To learn current skills in Lightroom, check out our Photo Retouching Certificate and graphic design classes in NYC and live online.
Topics Covered in This Lightroom Tutorial:
Exporting Photos, Saving an Export Preset
Exercise Preview
Exercise Overview
In this exercise, you’ll export a set of photos you edited in the Develop module.
Exporting Photos
Go into the Library module.
On the left-hand side, in the Folders panel, click on the Develop folder.
Press Cmd–A (Mac) or CTRL−A (Windows) to select all the photos.
Go to File > Export.
At the very top of the dialog from the first Export To menu, select Hard Drive.
Do NOT close this dialog until we say so! First let’s decide where to export the photos. Under Export Location, from the Export To menu choose Specific folder.
Click the Choose button.
You’ll export the photos into a new folder on the Desktop. Navigate to the Desktop.
Click the New Folder button.
Name it YourName Pictures and make sure it is selected after you create it.
Click Choose (Mac) or Select Folder (Windows).
Check Put in Subfolder.
In the text field next to the Put in Subfolder option, type Developed Photos.
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Under File Settings, set the following (you may have to scroll down):
Image Format: From the menu, choose JPEG. Quality: 100 Color Space: sRGB -
Under Output Sharpening, make sure Sharpen For is checked. Then set:
Sharpen For: From the menu, choose Screen. Amount: Standard -
Under Metadata, from the Include menu, select All Metadata.
Make sure all options in this section are NOT checked.
Under Watermarking, make sure Watermark is NOT checked.
Under Post-Processing, set After Export to Do nothing.
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We are going to create a new preset for this export setting, so do NOT close out of the dialog box yet. Before moving on, double-check that your settings look like this:
Saving an Export Preset
At the bottom left of the dialog, click on Add.
In the New Preset dialog that appears, set Preset Name to Export to YourName Pictures Folder.
Click Create.
Click Export.
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Wait until Lightroom finishes exporting the photos (there is a progress bar at the top left).
Nice! That’s all it takes to export your photos.
Color Spaces
One of the advantages of RAW files (compared to JPEG) is the camera does not automatically assign a color space to the image. The choice is up to you (and you can even change it later). In this exercise, we chose sRGB because it’s a good device-independent workspace for publishing on the web.
However, you should be aware that this color space has a small gamut and is not good to work in for print. If you are exporting for this purpose, we recommend Adobe RGB (1998). In the Output Sharpening section, you would choose to Sharpen For the type of paper you intend to print on (either Matte or Glossy).
