Tutorial Objective

In this tutorial we'll show you how to use Layer Presets to increase productivity and to quickly achieve a desired solution for your photos.

Step One - Open an Image

In this tutorial we'll work with a portrait shot. Open a similarly styled photo.

Select a Layer Preset

Click on the Select Layer Preset (A) button at the top of the interface. This will bring up the Presets Catalog.

The Preset Catalog will now appear onscreen. Click on the Mystical Focus name on the left column to expand the tree.

Click on the Atmosphere name on the tree to further expand the options then click on the Vignette (A) name. The preset previews will show up allowing you to scroll and choose the one you like.

Click on the Soft Vignette Preset (A) and then click the OK (B) button.

The preset will now apply the effect to the photo and the preview will be updated (A).

Saving Custom Presets

A powerful feature of Mystical Focus is the ability to save presets you have applied to your photos so you can build your own custom library of effect settings / effect combinations you find effective in your work. In the example below we'll adjust the Vignette settings by increasing the Feather (A) and Darken Mood (B) settings.

Once the settings are increased click on the Save Layer Preset (A) button at the top of the interface.

The Save As dialog will then open up and allow you to save the preset you have created to the folder of your choice. The Mystical Focus software loads the presets for the Mystical 2 > Mystical > Effect Presets > Layers (A) folder. You can save the preset anywhere inside this folder but we suggest you keep the presets organized. You can create new folders and save the presets if you like or save them to the specific folder that relates to the product / effect you have customized. For the purposes of this tutorial we'll open up the Mystical Focus (B) folder.

Navigate to the Mystical Focus > Atmosphere > Vignette directory (A). For the file name call the preset My New Preset (B) and click the Save (C) button.

Now that the preset has been saved go back to the main interface and click the Select Layer Preset button. This brings up the Presets catalog. Navigate to the Mystical Focus > Atmosphere > Vignette (A) tree and then you can scroll and find the My New Preset (B) you just created.

Summary

Presets are a great way to capture a result and reapply it to other photos. Use them as solutions whereby you combine different looks together and want to keep the same settings. You can save presets into any of the folders the software ships with or you can create your own folder and place the presets you save into them.