Updating the Process Version in Develop presets from Lightroom 3 to Lightroom 4 and later

When creating a Lightroom preset, it is saved to a location that all versions of Lightroom share. Therefore, when you install a newer version of Lightroom, presets created in an earlier version are automatically imported.

Note: The setting "Store presets with catalog" in Preferences > Presets causes Lightroom to look for and save your presets to your catalog folder. Enabling this option does not move presets currently in the default folder to the catalog folder. If you have enabled this option in Lightroom and then install a newer version, this preference setting is not passed to the new installation automatically.

Develop presets and Process Version

Changes in Lightroom between versions can cause some Develop presets created in a prior version to behave in an unexpected manner in a newer version. For example, when you update from Lightroom 3 to Lightroom 4, the default Process Version changes from 2010 to 2012.

See Create and apply Develop presets and Process versions in Lightroom Help.

Differences between Process Version 2010 and 2012

Some of the editing capabilities change depending on which Process Version is in use:

When saving a preset, you can include the Process Version as part of the preset:

Update a Develop preset to use the latest Process Version

If you created a Develop preset in a prior version of Lightroom that saved the Process Version and you would like to update the preset to use the current Process Version, create a preset that incorporates this new setting. Saving over the original preset, while possible, is not recommended as the preset will no longer be usable in the prior version of Lightroom.