Today’s Question: Is there a way to set the initial Lens Blur setting [in Lightroom Classic] to another default value other than 50? I usually find that when I use that feature that a value of 30 is generally where I end up and I would like to not have to fiddle with it if I can.
Tim’s Quick Answer: You can’t change the default setting for the Lens Blur adjustment in Lightroom Classic directly, but you could use a preset to achieve a similar result without much difficulty.
More Detail: A Develop preset in Lightroom Classic enables you preserve settings for some (or all) adjustments found on the right panel in the Develop module. In this case, you could create a preset that includes only the Lens Blur adjustment.
Start by selecting a representative image, ideally one you haven’t worked on yet so you don’t need to worry about altering any existing adjustments. Then turn on the Apply checkbox in the Lens Blur section of the right panel, and adjust all other settings the way you’d like them by default when applying the preset.
Next, click the plus symbol (+) to the right of the Presets heading on the left panel and choose “Create Preset” from the popup menu. In the dialog that appears, enter a meaningful name in the Preset Name field, and choose which group you’d like to save the preset to. Then click the “Check None” button at the bottom-left of the dialog. You can then turn on the “Lens Blur” checkbox in the Settings section, and click the Create button.
When you want to apply the Lens Blur effect to an image, instead of turning on the Apply checkbox in the Lens Blur section of the right panel, select your preset from the Presets section on the left panel, and then adjust the settings to your liking on the right panel.
The above process obviously isn’t as convenient as simply changing the default setting for the adjustment. But keep in mind that you could also apply the preset in bulk to multiple photos by selecting the images in the grid view in the Library module and then selecting the preset that includes the Lens Blur effect from the Saved Preset popup in the Quick Develop on the right panel in the Library module.
It is also possible to apply the preset to all images being imported, but obviously for most photographers in most cases you wouldn’t want to apply Lens Blur to all images being imported, but rather a relatively small percentage of all photos.
