JESS KETTLE PRESETS

Desktop Bundle Editing Guide

PRESET GUIDE – SET I

VILLA – Home is where the heart is and this preset is my number one for a reason. Villa is almost always my
starting point and the root of my editing style: bright and clean, moderate contrast, with tones inspired by Fuji
film - warm, peachy skin and cool, subtle greens.

Tip: Bring the exposure up a little more than you think you should and watch your photo get softer and prettier! Villa
has great highlight retention and can handle some brightness. If your image looks a bit washed out, bring the contrast up
a pinch or the shadows down to balance it.

VILLA SOFT – Villa soft is a slight variation of Villa with softer contrast and more highlight and shadow
retention. Use the soft version in harsh lighting to even out the look of your image or if you’re drawn to less
contrast.

Tip: If you want to even out your highlights and shadows but still want moderate to strong contrast, apply Villa Soft and
simply increase the contrast!

LINEN – The timeless staple. Linen has a similar feel to villa, but is a bit more understated. It has neutral skin
tones, slightly cooler whites and is perfect for color accurate edits.

Tip: I use linen for commercial or product photos that I want to be fresh and accurate, but still have personality. It’s also
a good neutralizer for warmer lighting, and also works nicely with flash photography.

LINEN SOFT – Linen soft is a slight variation of Linen with softer contrast and more highlight and shadow
retention. Use the soft version in harsh lighting to even out the look of your image or if you’re drawn to low
contrast.

Tip: If you want to even out your highlights and shadows but still want moderate to strong contrast, apply Linen Soft
and simply increase the contrast!

SEA SALT – This is my one click white fixer - perfect for when you need to make your whites extra bright!
Sea salt also works well to combat a dull photo straight out of camera.

Tip: You may need to bring the exposure, highlights or shadows down just a pinch if Sea Salt overexposes your photo.
Also, I don’t recommend using Sea Salt on very pale skin.

HONEY – Honey has the subtle finesse and simplicity of linen but with warmer highlights and shadows. If you
like your photos on the sunny side with more neutral greens and blues, honey is your jam.

Tip: Honey is a breeze to use and as versatile as they come. If you want to keep the warm shadows but go for a more
neutral color balance overall, just use white balance to cool off the image a bit! Bringing up the contrast will intensify the
depth and warmth of honey.
BLOOM – This preset has minty greens like villa with warm pink highlights and skin tones. I reach for bloom
when I want to accentuate the pinks in a photo or balance out greenish colorcasts that sometimes come from
shooting in green fields and leafy trees. It also has a smooth, filmy vibe that I love on softer images.

Tip: Bloom works amazingly to retain the accuracy of pale pinks in florals, pink backgrounds or clothing. And just wait
until you try it on a photo of a peachy sunset. It just can’t be beat. If you like the overall look of bloom but your image is
looking TOO pink, balance it out in tint or open SPLIT TONING and desaturate the highlight hues to about a 5.

MARINE – Marine is inspired by the muted coastal tones of the Pacific Northwest. It’s a little bit moody, has
great highlight retention and subtly enhances blues and greens.

Tip: Marine not only enhances blues and greens beautifully, but balances elements that are too red or orange. Try it on a
bright white image to give just a bit of an edgy look.

ASH –Ash is a versatile black and white with smooth gradients and just enough contrast. Ash is my absolute
go to black and white!

Tip: Looks killer on a moody or dynamic image, but add just a pinch more contrast and exposure and you’ll love it on a
light, bright black and white too!

PRESET GUIDE – SET II

SABLE – The simplest, most versatile member of the modern color gang. Clean and easy to
use with warmer brown undertones and a just barely desaturated color overall. The set II
staple.

Tip: Bring the exposure up a little more than you think you should and watch it get softer and
prettier! It has great highlight retention and can handle some brightness.

FLAX – Soft, smooth and so dreamy with a sunny sense of color.

Tip: Complements sable nicely when used on images with harsher light. Adjust the contrast as needed!

OCHRE – Muted, but strong with subtle brown tones, the loveliest contrast and understated
colors.

Tip: Use Ochre on an image with dramatic lighting for the prettiest results, also perfect for settling
strong colors or achieving the perfect desaturated (but not TOO desaturated) look. Balances orange
tones beautifully in an indoor setting!

BEECH – Even and understated with sun bleached, driftwood tones. Named for pale,
blonde, American beech wood.
Tip: Ochre’s smooth, even little sister, beech is soft and perfectly muted. Amazing on neutral palates
and indoors with directional window light.

BISQUE – Bright and clear with cool, wintery highlights and slightly warm undertones. So
versatile and adds a subtle crisp effect to your images.

Tip- Bisque is such a beauty, if you need to soften her up a bit, bump the shadows and lower the
contrast a pinch.

ASPEN – Crisp, bright, white fixer. Perfect for when you need to make your whites really
white on a flat lay or product photo. The rest of your image will lighten up but stay soft and
even.

Tip: You may need to bring the exposure, highlights or shadows down a bit if Aspen overexposes your
photo! Works best on images with a white backdrop.

SIENNA – Rich, golden brown hues with a lux feel. Adds warmth and depth to a flat or
lackluster image, or a bit of drama on an image with directional light.

Tip: Sienna is meant to have depth and drama, but it doesn’t brighten like the rest of the images in
the set. Just bump your exposure if it pulls your image a bit too dark.

RIVER – True to her name, river is cool, calm and deep.

Tip: I love river for a shady, even, PNW coastal vibe and especially on underexposed images.

DUSK – This preset is nothing short of magic. It beautifully diffuses dynamic, harsh light,
creating an effect that can typically only be created during golden hour.

Tip: Dusk is a wizard on harsh lighting, but avoid using on an evenly lit photo, it will look very flat.

CINDER – Somehow crisp, but smooth at the same time, cinder is a high key, high contrast
black and white.

Tip: Cinder looks incredible on images with bright, soft light. I like it best a bit overexposed, so be
sure to bring your exposure up! Still works nicely on medium to darker images if you are going for
more contrast and definition.
 JESS KETTLE’S GUIDE TO EDITING

If you are an amazing camera technician and you nail your exposure and white balance in camera every
time, you will likely be able to apply a preset and be done. However, the key to getting consistent
results in a variety of situations is first correcting the image with exposure and white balance and then
using a preset to enhance and polish your image.

THE GOLDEN RULE: EXPOSURE + WHITE BALANCE + PRESET = PERFECT

Once your exposure and white balance are adjusted, you have a clean slate to start applying your
presets to. Next, you can quickly click through each preset and decide which looks best. Once you are
more familiar with the presets and your preferences, you may want to switch the orders. Once I edit
one or two images from a set, I usually apply my preset to a large batch of images and then click
through to quickly correct the white balance and exposure. I notice that this is a faster way for me to
edit a complete session.

If there is a major issue with your photo, address that issue FIRST. If your white balance is way off,
make that your first adjustment and everything else will fall into place more easily. If your exposure is
way off, make sure that is your first adjustment. If your image looks great unedited, start by applying a
preset. Then afterward, adjust the white balance and exposure as necessary.

If an image needs fine tuning, my most common adjustments after white balance and exposure are
contrast, highlights and shadows. Increasing or decreasing contrast can totally change the look of your
image and I have found that contrast preferences varied greatly among my preset testers. For that
reason, the presets were created with neutral contrast so you can easily bring it up or down to fit your
style. Adjusting the shadows and highlights gives you even more control, allowing you to retain color in
skin tones, add depth, or even out your image with precision.

TROUBLESHOOTING

If your image looks dull:

- Brighten the exposure
- Increase contrast - the more exposure increases, the more contrast should increase with it.

If your image looks too bold and vibrant:

- Decrease contrast
- Decrease saturation
- Increase exposure

If your image looks too bright and washed out:

- Decrease exposure
- Darken the shadows and blacks to add depth but keep highlights and overall
exposure bright
- Increase contrast
 If your image looks dark and muddy:
- Increase exposure
- Lift the shadows liberally and the blacks a bit if necessary.
- Often the muddiest colors come from shooting indoors or in mixed or shadowy overhead
lighting. See below.

Dealing with poor indoor lighting:

- Increase exposure
- Cool down the white balance liberally
- Desaturate the oranges and yellows- under HUE/SATURATION/LUMINANCE (H/S/L)
- Consider a black and white preset (ash) so you can correct the exposure without
worrying about the colors looking terrible.

Hint: These are often the trickiest images to fix. While presets and editing are supposed to bring out
the best of an image and can help it look significantly better, if it’s TRULY horrible, take note of why it
didn’t work and resolve to photograph it differently the next time. Because no matter what, you just
can’t make a true turd sparkle. ;)

Dealing with harsh, shadowy, outdoor lighting:

- Increase exposure
- Decrease contrast
- Bring highlights down AND bring the shadows up – this combination helps even out dark shadows and
blown highlights on the image overall, but with a bit more precision than contrast.

SKIN TONE QUICK FIXES

I am constantly asked what my secret is to creamy skin tones. And while the below techniques are
definitely in my bag of tricks, beautiful skin really starts with a great preset and NAILING your white
balance. I shoot auto white balance in camera because I am so particular that no matter what, I can’t
avoid making at least a small white balance correction afterward.

If skin is looking too warm or a little orange (all skin tones):

FIRST – Check your white balance, you may need cool down your image and bring your tint toward
green. Blue + Green balance out orange nicely (think of a color wheel).

SECOND – You may need to brighten your exposure, oranges often occur in shadowy, underexposed
skin.

THIRD – If skin still looks orange, go to H/S/L and decrease the orange saturation.

*** If you need to ADD warmth and saturation to your skin tones, do the opposite! Bring down your
exposure a bit, slide your white balance toward the yellows, tint toward pink, and increase the orange
saturation.

If fair skin is washed out:

FIRST – Pull down the highlights liberally and the whites a bit if necessary. This will allow you to bring
back the color in your skin without darkening the entire image.

SECOND – Bring down the exposure.

*** If fair skin isn’t bright enough, do the opposite! Lift the highlights, whites and exposure!

If dark skin looks too dark:

FIRST – Brighten the exposure of the overall image

SECOND – Lift the shadows liberally and the blacks a bit if necessary. This will allow you to see more
detail in the skin tones without affecting the overall exposure of the image.

*** If dark skin isn’t dark enough, do the opposite! Pull down the shadows, blacks and exposure.