How to change Lightroom's default Develop settings

[Mark Sirota]

The Develop module's defaults include:

• White balance: As Shot
• Blacks: 5
• Brightness: 50
• Contrast: 25
• Point Curve: Medium
• Sharpening: 25
• Color noise reduction: 25
• Profile: Adobe Standard

These defaults can be overridden by a Develop Preset applied at Import time, or can be changed.
To change the defaults in the Develop module:

1. Press the Reset button at the bottom of the right panel. This will adjust all controls to the current default settings.
2. Make any adjustments you wish to make to the defaults.
3. Press and hold the Alt/Option key, and note that the Reset button is now Set Default... Press it.

Note that if you have your Preferences set to have different defaults per camera and/or per ISO, you may need to repeat these steps for each applicable camera, ISO, or camera/ISO combination.

Note 2: This will affect new Imports, but will not affect images which have already been imported.