Essence 04 Balanced Classic | Heritage Film Preset for Lightroom Mobile & Desktop

It works across diverse skin tones. E4's neutral balance produces natural skin rendering across light, medium, and deep skin tones without the warm skin bias that the rest of the collection has.

It is the most universally consistent preset. Mixed lighting, varied subjects, different locations — E4 produces film-quality results without fighting against the ambient in the way warm presets can in cool conditions.

It provides the film look without the warm direction. Grain, tonal depth, organic color, lifted blacks — all the qualities of the Essence Archive, calibrated to neutral.

1 × E4 Balanced Classic DNG file — for Lightroom Mobile
1 × E4 Balanced Classic XMP file — for Lightroom Classic
Installation guide
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This preset captures the soft, faded aesthetic and refined warm tones similar to the iconic E4 filters. It’s the perfect professional alternative for those wanting a muted, analog-inspired look that feels organic and timeless. By emulating the naturally desaturated character of aged color film prints, the E4 ensures your digital shots have a polished, matte finish that stands out on both desktop and mobile.

E4 works across all lighting conditions — its balanced character does not assume a warm or cool ambient. It is the most lighting-agnostic preset in the collection.

White balance: correct to natural neutral before applying — approximately 5,000-5,400K for daylight.

On phone photos: 85% strength.

E4 is for photographers who want the Essence Archive's film quality applied neutrally — without the warm direction that characterises E1, E2, E5, and E7.

For photographers who shoot diverse skin tones across varied sessions where a warm preset would be inconsistent — E4's balanced character produces natural results regardless of the ambient light or skin tone.

Is E4 the same as just a desaturated version of E1? No. E4 has a different colour calibration — it is not simply E1 with reduced warmth. The HSL adjustments, grain, and tonal curve are calibrated specifically for the neutral balanced direction.

Which photographers benefit most from E4? Photographers who shoot across diverse skin tones, documentary photographers who want film character without warmth, and editorial photographers working in environments where the clean, neutral film look is more appropriate than the warm direction.