Lightroom 7.5 develop presets aren't showing up

[mattrtrevino]

I'm not sure if this issue has been happening on previous versions. When I physically add a folder with presets into the following directory \HD\Users\Username\Library\Application Support\Adobe\CameraRaw\Settings they do not appear in Lightroom.

I'm running OSX 10.13.6. I've tried trashing everything in the Settings folder and copying to the \Library\Application Support\Adobe\Lightroom\Develop Presets folder. I am able to add them individually Import Presets feature but they get added to the User Presets. I want them like my previous bundles; in their own folders.

[Sahil.Chawla]

Hi Mattrtrevino,

We're sorry to hear about the presets not showing up in Lightroom, could you please try the steps below and let us know if it helps?

Go into Preferences and if the Store Presets is checked as shown, uncheck it, quit and reopen Lr. Let us know if you see the presets.

You may also have a look at this forum thread and see if it helps: Presets not loading

Regards,
Sahil

[mattrtrevino]

That didn't work. You can see in the following images, where I installed the presets. Yet, there aren't showing up in Lightroom. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling Lightroom.

I also tried copying the presets in both folders specified in preferences.

[johnrellis]

Matt, your screenshot shows the groups (folders) in the LR Presets panel collapsed. What happens if you expand one of the groups by clicking the grey triangle to the left of the group, e.g. "00-00 TOOLS"?

If that doesn't help, please so the same screenshot as before but with the groups in the Presets panel expanded and the folders in the Finder window expanded, so we can see the actual files in the folders.

[mattrtrevino]

This is beyond frustrating! I showed the groups because I wanted you to see the comparison between what's showing in Lightroom and what's in the \Settings\ folder. I think the .dat file is not being updated correctly. Why can't I just copy my presets in the /Settings/ folder and they just work?! Like they used to in versions previous to 7.3?

When I expand the folder, the preset is there. My apologies, I should have been more specfic. 8a, 8b, 8c, and 10a aren't showing up correctly. I've tried adding/removing the folders. I've tried importing them.

[johnrellis]

In general, you can add preset files directly to the preset folders and LR will see them. But there are complications caused by the automatic conversion process LR uses from the old .lrtemplate format to the new .xmp format, and by LR bugs (most of which have been fixed, but not all).  That's why it's generally easier to tell people to use the Import Preset command.

You can exit LR and delete any .dat files you find in the Settings folder. LR will rebuild it when you restart.

If that doesn't help, show a screenshot of the Finder window with 8a expanded.  That will let us see exactly what's in that folder. Then upload one of the 8a preset files to Dropbox or similar and post the sharing link here. That will let us quickly determine if there's a problem or bug with that preset.

[mattrtrevino]

Dropbox link: Dropbox - Lightroom - Simplify your life

I've included several files. One xmp preset, one lrtemplate preset, dat file, and screenshot of presets expanded. I also included a screenshot of what my /Settings folder looks like right now. Do you see the duplicate folders with empty items? Compare the folders to the dropdown list in Lightroom. The presets are there but they arent showing up in Finder.

In the past, I've been able to organize, rename, remove, and add presets within the actual developer preset folder. I'm not able to do this anymore. The changes I make aren't being recognize by Lightroom. Lightroom isn't even converting the lrtemplate preset into an xmp. Yes, I can import the lrtemplate preset but it puts them all in User Presets. I then have to go and create a new one > create group and then move all of them into the group. Why can't I just organize them in the folder, restart Lightroom, and my changes are updated?

[johnrellis · Accepted solution]

I understand what's going on now.

LR stores a preset's group in the preset's .xmp file. It doesn't matter which filesystem subfolder the .xmp file is placed in -- the preset will appear in Preset panel group that's recorded in the .xmp file. And when you drag a preset into a new group in the Preset panel, LR won't move the .xmp file in the filesystem.

As you've discovered, this means you can't use the Finder to organize your presets. To work around that, you could use the Organize Into Subfolders and the Organize Into Groups commands of the free Fix Presets plugin.

You could add your construction opinion to this problem report in the official Adobe feedback forum: Lightroom Classic: Presets are a nightmare to organize | Photoshop Family Customer Community . Be sure to click Me Too and Follow in the upper-right corner. Adobe product developers read everything posted in that forum and sometimes reply, but they rarely participate in this forum.

[johnrellis]

The file "LG-The-Essential - 1.xmp" sets that preset's group to be "08-LG-The-Essential", so that's where the preset will appear in the Preset panel, regardless of which filesystem subfolder contains it.

[johnrellis]

Lightroom isn't even converting the lrtemplate preset into an xmp.

That file is named "~~LG-Magazine-Style - 1.lrtemplate". The prefix "~~" was added by LR 7.3 or later when it first converted that template to .xmp format; the prefix tells LR not to try converting it again. If you remove the "~~", LR will reconvert the preset.

[nirvaanj]

So here's what worked for me (Lightroom Classic CC 7.5):

My issue and solution:  Some old folder structures imported into LR when I upgraded but most new presets were going into User Presets Folder.  Plus ay new addition I was making, the folder structure was not working out so I basically thought of pushing LR to reconvert old presets to new ones except that I prepared the folder structure under the old location (Lightroom/Develop Presets) and made sure the destination folder for LR to convert into was empty (Camera Raw/Settings).  In abundant caution, I renamed the existing Settings Folder to "Backup Settings" in case I needed to recover.  This pushed LR to reprocess my folder structure from old location to the new location and now I have the folder structure I want under my presets tab.

Steps:

1. I went to the original location which we are used to seeing presets under (Lightroom/Develop Presets)
2. I searched for "~~" and replaced all applicable filenames to remove "~~" under all folders.
3. Closed Lightroom and restarted.
4. Lightroom automatically converted all presets from old folder into XMP now stored at new location.

Hope this helps