Preset marketplace for Lightroom Classic photographers

The moment happens when a photographer finishes a shoot, opens Lightroom Classic, and realizes the built-in presets look exactly like they did three years ago — flat, generic, and nothing like the moody film look they saw on Instagram this morning. They end up on Etsy or random blog download pages, getting ZIPs of presets with no preview, no tagging, and no way to know if they'll work with their camera profile.

The gap persists because Adobe has no structural incentive to curate third-party preset content — their business is subscriptions, not marketplace commissions. And the creators selling presets have no good storefront: Etsy is for crafts, personal blogs don't have search, and the preset packs sold there are one-time downloads with no updates, no browsing by mood or genre, and no in-app preview.

What users actually want is what the complaints describe: presets they can try before committing, organized by style ('black and white,' 'color grade,' '80s film'), free samples before any purchase, and the ability to save and tweak what they buy. None of that exists in one place. There's no equivalent of a font marketplace — browse, preview on your own image, buy a single preset or a pack — for Lightroom presets specifically.

This is a business and not a feature because the need recurs constantly. Photographers cycle through styles as trends change. A wedding photographer in 2024 wants different looks than in 2021. Every new camera body slightly changes how presets render. Creators need a place to sell updated versions. The churn of styles and the ongoing discovery need means photographers come back repeatedly — it's not a one-time purchase problem.

What to build

Build a web-based preset marketplace where photographers browse Lightroom Classic presets by style tag and mood, preview them on uploaded sample images before purchase, and download individual presets or packs — with a free tier of community-contributed presets gating paid creator packs.

Where to start

Launch with a free tier of 200+ community presets in the black-and-white and film categories — the two most-complained-about gaps — so photographers have an immediate reason to visit and share, before any paid creator inventory exists.

The hard part

Getting critical mass of quality preset creators to list here before buyers show up — the chicken-and-egg is especially sharp because creators already have audiences on their own sites and need a concrete reason to split their sales through a new storefront.

How it makes money

30% commission on paid preset sales; free to browse and download community presets; optional $5/month subscription for buyers to access a rotating 'vault' of premium presets without per-pack purchases.