How To Uplevel Your Instagram Grid Using Presets
While developing your brand online, a strong social presence is vital for attracting your ideal clients and driving sales using Instagram. With so many brands, influencers and small businesses on this platform, standing out from the crowd is key. A fun and effective way is to post well-edited photos that tell the story of your brand with presets. Lightroom presets are a simple way to help you streamline the editing process, create a cohesive feed, and attract dream followers.
But first, what the heck is preset?
It’s a collection of edits that you can apply to a large number of images at one time, to create a cohesive look and feel. Similar to an Instagram filter, there are many different ways you can use (or create) presets to streamline your workflow.
Captured and edited by Christina Jones Photography.
Benefits of using Lightroom Presets
When it comes to using presets for editing the image content on your feed, there are a few reasons why I recommend incorporating it into your workflow including:
Creates a cohesive Instagram feed.
When an ideal client or brand comes to your feed, do you want them to feel excited with bright photos? Or intrigued with moodier photos? Presets can help achieve that look and feel.
Adds some creativity to your photos.
Like me, I’m sure you have your go-to Instagram accounts that inspire you to create. You can do that for others with your own feed!
Makes you stand out from others.
Give yourself an edge over a similar brand with your own preset that feels like you. That shows your followers why they should engage with your content and ultimately buy your product or service!
Streamlines the photo editing process.
As a photographer, I could be editing 5-6 shoots per week, culling through hundreds of images! Once the final images are chosen for editing, using a preset saves me hours during the editing process.
So, why Lightroom for my presets?
What I love about Lightroom from a photographer’s perspective is the ability to pull images from a shoot, apply the preset I want to use, and export hi-res images to deliver to clients or schedule for the ‘Gram.
It’s also very user-friendly, especially the free mobile app! When I first started using it as a mom influencer, I learned how to master the mobile version first. There are also alternative apps such as VSCO that will allow you to apply beautiful filters to your images. This tool is great for beginners, but Lightroom presets take your images to the next level.
Onto choosing the best preset for you.
If you’re starting to think up the benefits of using presets for your Instagram feed, the next step would be to find the perfect preset for your feed.
Think of your brand aesthetic.
Do you prefer pastels and a lot of white space? Choose a preset that will mesh well. How about more shadows and high blacks with a film-like overlay? There are presets for that too!
Choose tones that are natural to your skin tone.
You don’t want to overdo it!! You want the images to be creative and unique to you, but natural enough where brands can repost them on their feed (or see their product in your feed without a bunch of weird filters.)
Don’t be afraid to switch it up because not every preset work with every photo.
This can even mean changing it up seasonally. I love using a bright preset in the winter through spring, a warmer preset in summer and a cooler, moodier preset in fall!
Test out a few presets and see how they’d look on your feed.
Preview, Plann, Later, and Planoly are all great grid planning tools that help me plan out which photos to post when!
Presets can be a game changer when it comes to creating a beautiful grid on Instagram while saving time during the photo editing process. If you’re looking for presets for your business, I am offering a discount on my preset package by using the code SOLSTUDIO at checkout.
guest author
Christina is a natural light fashion and lifestyle photographer based in Tampa, Florida.
