No More DNGs? The "Import Presets" feature for Lightroom Mobile on iOS is here! 

Update: The 9.4.1 Update on July 22nd solved the issues discussed in this article! XMP import is now as easy as 1-2-3 in Lightroom on iOS! 

The current standard process for installing presets in Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop involves downloading and importing a .zip file of XMP presets. This feature was introduced seamlessly to the Lightroom Mobile app on Android in April 2020, unifying experience across the creative cloud photography apps on most devices - so why has it taken so long for iOS to get an "Import Presets" feature?

The June 2024 9.4 update to the Lightroom Mobile app on iOS boasts the following: "Easily share and save your favorite looks with improved capabilities to import and export presets or groups of presets via XMP" - but is it really that easy? Here's a preview of the current process of installing presets in Lightroom on iPhone using the new import feature:

Seems easy, right? Especially if you consider that Lightroom Mobile users on iPhone and iPad have grown accustomed to individually saving presets from DNGs one-at-a-time (or syncing their presets to the app from another device with XMP import). So, the one-step "Import Presets" feature has been desperately wanted! The good news? Presets can now be downloaded and imported as quickly as they can on any other device in both the paid and free Lightroom Mobile app on iOS - no more manually saving presets one-at-a-time. The bad news? Key issues with the new feature seem to clue us in to why it has been so long delayed. 

These are some issues we've identified in testing the new feature in LR on iPhone: 

• Presets import with the .zip folder name as the Preset Group name, and the Preset Group Name merged with the Preset name:
  
  
  
• Presets sometimes import into the middle of another preset group entirely:
  
  
• Presets lose their intended settings selections at import (any excluded settings options are now automatically overwritten). So for example, if you already adjusted exposure, white balance, or any other basic settings prior to applying your preset (that was imported via this feature on iOS), it will overwrite your changes. 
  
  
• At import, you cannot select multiple folders at once. So you need to import collections one at a time:
  
  
• Duplicates can be imported without any error messaging, so you could end up with copies: 
  

Our recommendations if you want to use the new feature: 

• Only import global (full image presets). Don't import tool, toolkit, or effects presets - as presets imported this way are overwriting any applied changes and thus cannot be stacked which defeats the intended purpose of these tools and negatively impacts workflow. 
  
  
• Adjust your workflow to apply any exposure, white balance, crop, or optics corrections until AFTER your imported preset has been applied to your image. Otherwise, these changes will be overwritten. 

Above issues aside, we are so excited to see this long-awaited update for Lightroom Mobile on iOS! We hope to see this feature improved in the coming months and to see it working as per the standard set by functionality on all other devices. 

Want to try the new feature to import your Luxe presets onto your iPhone or iPad instead of saving DNG files manually, but want more info? Reach out to our team at support@theluxelens.com