Presets vs Actions: What Is the Difference?
In photo editing, presets and actions are both automation tools designed to speed up your workflow, but they operate through completely different mechanisms. A preset is a saved configuration of slider settings—primarily used in applications like Adobe Lightroom to quickly alter colors, contrast, and tone. An action, on the other hand, is a recorded sequence of procedural steps—predominantly used in Adobe Photoshop to execute multi-step tasks like frequency separation, layer masking, and resizing. Understanding how each functions allows photographers and editors to apply the right tool to the right phase of their editing process.
What Is a Preset?
A preset is a snapshot of specific adjustment settings. When applied, it changes the static values of sliders within raw-processing software such as Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, or Adobe Camera Raw.
- How It Operates: A preset immediately moves sliders (such as Exposure, Highlights, White Balance, and HSL values) to predetermined numbers. Applying a preset changes the current state of an image's settings all at once.
- Overwriting Nature: Because presets set specific slider positions, applying one preset over another will overwrite overlapping adjustments rather than stacking them on top of each other.
- Best Use Cases: Presets are ideal for batch processing, establishing a consistent color aesthetic across an entire photoshoot, and making fast global adjustments to RAW files.
What Is an Action?
An action is a recorded macro—a series of distinct commands, menu operations, and editing steps performed chronologically. Actions are standard in pixel-based editing software like Adobe Photoshop.
- How It Operates: When you run an action, the software replays every individual step that was recorded. This can include creating duplicate layers, applying Gaussian blur, generating layer masks, running filters, and changing blend modes.
- Stacking Nature: Unlike presets, actions build upon each other. Running an action adds new layers and elements to your Photoshop document without necessarily erasing or overriding your prior work.
- Best Use Cases: Actions excel at automating complex, multi-step technical workflows. Common examples include high-end skin retouching (frequency separation), adding watermarks, preparing images for web export, and creating creative composite effects.
Core Differences at a Glance
- Mechanism: Presets adjust static numerical values; actions record and replay a sequence of operational commands.
- Primary Software: Presets are primarily found in Lightroom and RAW developers; actions are native to Photoshop.
- Destructive vs. Non-Destructive Flexibility: Presets modify developer settings that can be tweaked individually via sliders. Actions generate complex layer stacks where individual steps can be toggled, masked, or adjusted via layer opacity.
- Application Speed: Presets render near-instantaneously, making them suitable for hundreds of photos simultaneously. Actions run through a sequence of processes that can take several seconds to complete per image depending on file size and system performance.
Which One Should You Use?
Use presets at the beginning of your workflow to quickly develop, color grade, and balance large sets of RAW images. Switch to actions later in the workflow when an individual photograph requires detailed manipulation, advanced retouching, or complex layer-based effects that raw development tools cannot achieve.