Ask a photographer why they still pay for a photo-editing subscription and the answer is rarely the software itself. It's the presets: the looks they've built up over years, or bought from photographers they admire. Leaving feels like starting from zero.
It doesn't have to be.
1. Find your presets
Lightroom presets are small files. Modern ones end in .xmp; older ones end in .lrtemplate. In Lightroom you can right-click a preset and choose to show it in Finder, or export a whole group. Copy them all into one folder somewhere safe. If you bought preset packs, the original download usually contains the .xmp files too.
2. Import them into Sablefilm
Open Sablefilm, go to the Looks tab and choose Import. Pick your .xmp or .lrtemplate files. They appear alongside Sablefilm's own 173 film-inspired looks, ready to apply to any RAW.
3. Point it at your photos
Sablefilm is folder-based, so there's no catalogue to import into. Open the folder where your RAWs live and they show up as a contact sheet. Nothing is moved or copied. Your edits are saved in a small file beside each photo, and the originals are never changed.
4. Keep a way back
Sablefilm can write your edits out as a Lightroom-compatible XMP, so you're never locked in. That's the point: you own the software, the presets and the files.
What it costs
Sablefilm is £9.99, once. No subscription, no renewals, no account, and no internet connection needed. One licence covers up to three of your Macs. Use the calculator on our homepage to see what a monthly plan adds up to over a few years.
£9.99 is our introductory price until 30 November 2026. From 1 December it will be £19.99.
Shoot Fujifilm?
Sablefilm also reads the film simulation recipe your camera stores in the RAF. Here's how that works.
Lightroom and Adobe are trademarks of Adobe. Sablefilm is not affiliated with Adobe. How faithfully a preset translates can vary with the tools it uses.