Money Machine

Lightroom presets and video LUTs

Rank #105 · Tier B · Priority score 53/100 · Category: Digital products

Sell Lightroom presets and video color-grading LUTs to photographers and video creators on Etsy, Gumroad, Payhip or Creative Market.

Scores

Metric Value
Payment probability (6 months) 3/10
Automation after setup 6/10
Setup effort (1 = trivial) 3/10
Ongoing effort (1 = none) 3/10
Income potential 3/10
AI leverage 6/10
Legal in reference countries 100%
Platform pays out in reference countries 85%
Capital required $0
Time to first dollar 14–180 d
Typical monthly income (low / median / high) $0 / $20 / $1,500

Realistic expectations

Most people who try this earn around $0–$20 per month in the first year; the high figure of $1,500 is a ceiling for a focused solo operator, not a typical outcome. The chance of receiving at least one real payout within six months is rated 3/10. Expect the first payment after 14–180 d.

How it works

You build Lightroom presets (.xmp) or video LUTs (.cube) for specific looks (film, wedding, travel) and sell packs on Etsy, Gumroad, Payhip or Creative Market. Buyers pay to save editing time and match a style. Before/after previews are the main selling tool. The niche is saturated, so a specific niche or bundling with your own photo/video audience helps.

Platforms: Etsy, Gumroad, Payhip, Creative Market

Resources & business plan

What you need to start

Resource Amount
Time to launch 20 hours
One-time cash $0
Recurring fixed cost $0 / month
Tools Adobe Lightroom (assumed already owned; otherwise ~$15/month Photography plan); DaVinci Resolve free for LUTs; Etsy/Payhip/Gumroad storefront
Skills photo/colour grading; before/after marketing; Instagram/TikTok content
Equipment laptop; camera or phone with a photo library
Accounts Etsy/Payhip account + KYC; PayPal/Stripe or bank

How the money is made (unit economics)

Metric Value
Unit per sale (preset or LUT pack)
Typical price per unit (low / median / high) $5 / $15 / $39
Direct cost per unit $0.45
Platform fee 9.5%
Gross margin (median case) 88%
Human hours per unit after automation 0

Median $15 per pack on Etsy; Etsy fees 9.5% + $0.45 fixed.

Break-even

Metric Value
Monthly fixed cost $0
Units per month to break even 0
Typical months to break even 4
Months to recover startup cash 0

No fixed cost if you already own Lightroom; a new Adobe plan adds ~$15/month and would need 2 sales/month to break even.

Market conditions (Nov 2026)

Factor Assessment
Demand trend declining
Competition saturated
Effect of AI headwind
Price pressure falling
Chance of real net profit within 12 months (≥ $100/month where the plan can pay that much) 6%
Typical net profit at month 12 (low / median / high) $0 / $10 / $1,000

Photographers and influencers with followings sell presets; without an audience sales are rare. AI editing features (Lightroom adaptive presets, phone AI looks) and thousands of free presets have eroded demand since 2024.

Pricing strategy

Offer a free sample preset, price packs at $9-15, and bundle mobile + desktop versions at $25-39.

Path to profit

  1. Month 0: create 2 niche packs with before/after images (cost $0)
  2. Month 1-3: list and post edits; first 0-5 sales
  3. Month 3-6: $5-50/month
  4. Month 6-12: median ~$10/month unless you grow an audience

Business-plan sources:

Payout path

Full cycle (setup → earn → bank account)

  1. Create presets/LUTs
  2. Make previews
  3. List
  4. Sales
  5. Payout

What can be automated

Unavoidable manual steps

Legality & compliance

Legal everywhere; use only images you own for previews.

Risks

Evidence that people get paid

Presets/LUTs are a long-standing digital category on Etsy, Gumroad and Creative Market; platform fees/payouts documented by each platform.

Sources

Tags: photography, video, passive

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