Recently I received an opportunity from Sleeklens to try out some of their presets and then provide my experience using them. I was happy to accept the opportunity!

Who is Sleeklens?

Sleeklens is a company that provides workflows for both Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. Included in the Lightroom workflow are various presets and brushes. The Photoshop workflow provides various actions, overlays and textures. Sleeklens also provides various templates for photographers to use. For example, invites, albums, cards, etc.

On to the review!

On to the review! The workflow I received was called the ‘Through The Woods Workflow’. The presets arrived to my inbox by way of a .zip file. I extracted the files contained in the .zip to my desktop. Within the folder, there were several items. Included were PDF guides on how to install the brushes, the presets, terms of service, the brushes and presets themselves, and a recipe list with examples using the workflow.

Although I knew how and where to install the brushes and presets, I found the instructions easy to follow. Since I’m working on a MacBook Pro, I followed the Mac installation instructions. Installation of the files went smoothly with no problems. After installing the brushes and presets, I was excited to give them a try.

When I first started looking at the presets, I liked how they were set up. As you can see in the partial screenshot, the presets were clearly labeled in a logical order in which they could be applied. Similarly, the brushes were named in a manner that logically made sense as to what the brush does.

Now it was time to start looking at some images. First, I selected a few images to try the presets and brushes on. These are images that I had previously processed using Lightroom without any special presets or brushes. I simply processed them until I liked what I saw. I wanted to compare the original unedited image to my Lightroom edit, then compare both to my edit using the Sleeklens presets and brushes. For the Sleeklens edits, I tried to use only their presets and brushes.

Below are some comparisons of various images. I was impressed with how the Sleeklens presets and brushes worked. They made it very easy to have a good starting point on an image. I liked how some of the presets were ‘add ons’ to the previous presets you may have used. I found myself being drawn to the same several presets fairly often. I think that just speaks to the style that I like. However, each person would have their own preference as to what they like. I thought that each of the presets did a great job of providing the desired effect. Additional manual adjustments may still be necessary but, that is true of any preset. I don’t feel that presets are supposed to be a one click solution for developing an image.

As with any presets or plugins, etc. I think I would eventually settle on a few that I prefer. Then I would be able to quickly select my presets and move forward with more specific edits if the image needed it.

I really liked the brushes as well. I found myself not only using the brushes in the ‘brush’ panel, but I also used the brush presets in the radial and graduated filter panels. I think it is great that Lightroom allows you to use select your brush presets in multiple places and it comes in very handy.

Overall I found the Sleeklens presets/brushes intuitive, easy and fun to use. With a few clicks, it is easy to see an image come to life in the way you envisioned it. This is a great product that has the potential to help speed up your workflow. A big thank you to Sleeklens for reaching out to me and letting me try their product! If you are interested in any of the Sleeklens products, visit their website Sleeklens.com and see what they have to offer!

Sample Images

Image #1

Edit using Sleek Lens Presets and Brushes

Image #2

Image #3

Image #4

Image #5

Image #6

Image #7

Before/After using only Sleeklens 'Through the Woods' Presets and Brushes

To see more before/after photos using Sleeklens presets and brushes, jump over to their website Sleeklens.com! You can also find tutorials on how to use any of the Sleeklens products here: https://sleeklens.com/lightroom-tutorials/.