User Guide Cancel

Presets

Migrate presets from earlier versions of Photoshop

You can migrate presets from earlier versions of Photoshop into newer versions. The Migrate Presets command lets you automatically migrate brushes, swatches, gradients, patterns, and more.

  1. Choose Edit > Presets > Migrate Presets.

  2. Click Yes when prompted to import presets from an earlier version of Photoshop.

  3. Click OK.

Work with the Preset Manager

About the Preset Manager

The Preset Manager lets you save or load your presets for contours and tools. Each set of presets has its own file extension and default folder. Optional preset files are available inside the Presets folder in the Photoshop application folder.

To open the Preset Manager, choose Edit > Presets > Preset Manager. Choose a specific Preset Type from the Preset Type menu.

To delete a preset in the Preset Manager, select the preset and click Delete. Use the Reset command to restore the default presets.

 

You can adjust the way presets are displayed by clicking the Preset Manager's gear icon and choosing from the display modes listed:

Text Only

Displays the name of each preset item.

Small Thumbnail or Large Thumbnail

Displays a thumbnail of each preset item.

Small List or Large List

Displays the name and thumbnail of each preset item.

Rearranging presets

To rearrange your listed presets click and drag any item up or down in the list.

Photoshop Preset Manager
Rearranging tool presets in the Preset Manager

Load Presets

  1. To load presets with the Preset Manager, do one of the following:

    • Click Load... select the preset file you want to add, and click Open.
    • To replace with a different set of presets, choose Replace [Preset Type] from the panel menu. Select the preset file you want to use, and click Open.

Manage presets

You can rename and delete presets or create and restore sets of presets.

Rename preset items

  1. Select a preset item. Shift-click to select multiple items.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Click Rename, and then enter a new name for the brush, swatch, and so on.
    • If the Preset Manager currently displays presets as thumbnails, double-click a preset, enter a new name, and click OK.
    • If the Preset Manager currently displays presets as a list or text only, double-click a preset, enter a new name inline, and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS).

Delete presets

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Select a preset item, and click Delete.
    • Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the items you want to delete.

Create a new set of presets

  1. Do one of the following:
    • To save all the presets in the list make sure that all items are selected.
    • To save a subset of the current list, hold down Shift and select only the items you want to save.
  2. Click Save Set..., choose a memorable location, enter a file name, and click Save.

    You can save the presets anywhere. However, if you save to the appropriate Presets folder in the default preset location, the set will appear at the bottom of the panel menu after you restart Photoshop.

Restore default presets

  1. Choose Reset from the panel menu. You can either replace the current list or append the default presets to the current list.

Default preset locations

  1. The default location for saving/loading/replacing presets depends on your operating system.
    • Windows 10: [Drive]:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop [version]\Presets\[feature name]
    • Windows 7: [Drive]:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop [version_number]\Presets
    • Mac: <User>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AdobePhotoshop [version_number]/Presets.
  2. Presets that ship with Adobe Photoshop are stored in the Photoshop program folder.

Displaying hidden files in Windows

The default locations for saving/loading/replacing presets are hidden by default in Windows.

See Show hidden files and folders to learn how to view hidden items.

Get help faster and easier

New user?