A different way to work in Lightroom. Free.
Rethink Essentials is a complete, working introduction to the Rethink system: 21 presets designed as modular tools, 34 free lessons from the course that teaches them, and the free Rethink app that installs everything in one click. Mac and Windows.
No email. No account. No trial clock. Free means free.
The Rethink workflow inside Lightroom: seven steps, in order, each tool where you expect it.
Not another sample pack
Free presets usually work the same way: a handful of samples, each one a look, none of them connected to anything. You try a few, keep one or two, and learn nothing about how to work.
A grab bag of presets can show you a style. It can't teach you a way of working. That's the difference here.
Essentials comes straight from the full Rethink system, and the selection is deliberate: enough presets to work the complete sequence from start to finish, and the lessons that show you how. Small, but whole. You'll finish real photographs with it, and you'll understand why they turned out the way they did.
One photograph. Three interpretations.
Most presets answer a question you didn't ask: do you want your photo to look like mine? Rethink starts from a better one: what could this image become?
In this demonstration, I take a single raw file through the Rethink workflow three times, in three different directions. Same tools, same seven steps, three finished interpretations. Watch how each decision gets made, in order, for a reason.
The presets exist to move you through that sequence.
What you get
21 presets, organized as a system
Not twenty-one looks. These are working tools from the Rethink toolkit, arranged in the same seven-step sequence as the full system, so everything you learn here carries forward.
Real lessons from the real course
The 34 free lessons come from the actual Rethink Landscape course and walk the complete seven-step workflow, one lesson for the tools you have.
The whole course, in view
The remaining lessons are visible in the app, named and in order, just locked. You always know where the path continues.
11 export presets
Sensible, ready-to-use settings for web, email, and full-resolution output. The same eleven that come with the paid toolkit.
Delivered like software should be
Presets usually arrive as a zip file and a set of instructions. Essentials arrives through the Rethink app, which I built so that nothing about installing, updating, or learning gets in your way.
One-click install
Installs into Lightroom Classic and Camera Raw. No folder hunting, no manual import.
The course plays inside the app
Resume where you left off and take timestamped notes as you watch.
Mac and Windows
Identical features on both. Neither platform is the afterthought.
Removes cleanly
If Rethink isn't for you, one click takes everything back out.
Linear profiles, built for your cameras
During setup, the Rethink app finds the cameras in your Lightroom catalog and builds a linear profile for each one. Adobe's default profiles bake color and contrast decisions into your raw file before you touch a slider; a linear profile starts with none of those decisions made. You'll never see a flat image. The Rethink starting styles apply the adjustments for you, and every one of them stays editable, so you keep full control.
Building profiles is the one place the app asks for your email. Everything else in Essentials works without one.
The unglamorous parts, handled
The app also takes care of the Lightroom maintenance nobody enjoys.
Performance tuning
The Rethink app reads your actual Lightroom settings, compares them against your machine, and tells you what's slowing you down. Apply the fixes with one click. Revert them just as easily.
Moving to a new computer
Back up your entire Adobe setup to a single file: every develop preset you own from any vendor, print and layout templates, plug-ins, keyword sets, watermarks, your Camera Raw settings and camera profiles, even your Photoshop brushes, styles, and workspaces. Bring the file to a new Mac or PC and restore. Years of accumulated setup, moved in minutes.
Your photographs and catalog are never included; those move separately, untouched.
No catch
No email to install. No account. No trial period.
Nothing expires, nothing in it is watered down, and an outage never locks you out of what's installed.
If you remove it, it removes completely.
Why free? Because the difference between Rethink and an ordinary preset pack is hard to explain and easy to experience. I'd rather you experience it.
When Essentials isn't enough
Essentials is complete, and it has edges. When you're fighting a high dynamic range scene, stubborn color, a sky that needs real control, or an image that wants atmosphere, those tools live in the Rethink Landscape Toolkit: the same system at full depth, all 150 tools, and the complete 100-lesson course. One purchase, $297, all future Landscape Toolkit updates included.
Already know what you're comparing? See exactly what each tier includes.
FAQ
Last updated: August 26, 2026
What is Rethink Essentials?
Rethink Essentials is a free Lightroom workflow system from photographer David Kingham of Exploring Exposure. It includes 21 develop presets organized as a seven-step processing workflow, free video lessons from the Rethink Landscape course, and the free Rethink desktop app for Mac and Windows, which installs everything into Lightroom Classic and Camera Raw in one click. No email address or account is required.
Do I need to give you my email?
Not to download or use Essentials. The installer, the presets, the free lessons, and the utilities all work without an email or an account. The one exception is linear camera profiles: the app asks for your email before it builds them. Everything else stays open.
Is this just another preset pack?
No. Rethink presets are modular tools arranged in a deliberate workflow. You apply them in a sequence, adjust freely between steps, and make your own decisions throughout. The free lessons teach the sequence. If you've been disappointed by presets before, that's exactly why this exists.
Will my images end up looking like everyone else's?
The opposite is the point. The demonstration above takes one photograph in three different directions using the same tools. The system helps you build your interpretation, not adopt mine.
Do I need Lightroom Classic?
The app installs directly into Lightroom Classic and Camera Raw. If you use the cloud version of Lightroom, the app packages everything for Lightroom's own import flow instead. Both paths are built in.
Can I still make my own adjustments?
Always. Every preset is a starting point or a building block. Nothing is locked, and everything you apply remains fully editable.
Is this a subscription? Will it expire?
No and no. Essentials is free, permanently. There's no trial clock and nothing to cancel.
Does it work offline?
Everything installed does. Your presets and notes work without a connection, and an outage never locks you out of the app. Lesson video streams, so watching the course takes a connection; downloading lessons for offline viewing is part of the full Landscape course.
What happens if I buy the Landscape Toolkit later?
Essentials is absorbed into it. The Toolkit contains everything Essentials has and replaces it cleanly during install, so you're never left with duplicates. Your course progress carries over, and any favorites you set on Essentials presets are backed up before the switch, since the Toolkit's presets replace them.
Mac or Windows?
Both, with identical features. The app is signed and notarized on macOS and signed on Windows.
Is it too advanced for me? Too basic?
The free lessons follow the course in order and cover the full workflow, so you can begin without prior preset experience. If you're an experienced Lightroom user, the workflow and the profiles are likely where you'll find the most that's new.
See for yourself
Download the app, install Essentials, and take the first lesson tonight. If it changes how you think about processing, the rest of the system will be waiting.
No email. No account. Free means free.