> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gridshift.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Effect Presets

> Saves an effect's settings under a name, to switch between while the song plays and to hear and sort in the Sample Library. Click Save Preset on the effect's card, and Switch Preset to hear the others.

## Save an effect preset

Set up the effect, then click **Save Preset** under the power button on its card in the [Plugin Strip](/sounds/plugin-strip.md). Or select the card and run Command Palette → **Save Plugin Preset**. Type a name and press `Return`.

## Switch presets while the song plays

Click **Switch Preset** on the card, or select the card and run Command Palette → **Switch Effect Preset…**. Arrow through the saved presets to hear each one on the running plugin, and press `Return` to keep it or `Esc` to go back.

## Hear your effect presets in the Library

Open the [Sample Library](/library/sample-library.md) with `⌘Y` and choose a scope under **Effect Presets**: **All Effects**, **Unsorted**, **Favorites** or one of your collections. Select a preset to hear a sample played through it, `⌘D` to favorite it, or drag it onto a collection to file it.

## Choose the sample a collection plays

Right-click an effect collection and choose **Choose Preview Sample…**, pick a sample and click **Use**. Or drag a sample from the library onto the collection. On **Unsorted**, **Choose Default Preview Sample…** sets the sample for every preset that has none of its own.

## Add an effect with a preset

Press `⌥E` for **Add Effect…**: saved presets sit under their plugin, and picking one adds the plugin to the selected track playing that preset. In the Sample Library, right-click an effect preset and choose **Insert on Selected Track**.

## Good to know

* **An effect preset is the plugin's full state.** Every parameter value, plus the bypass, the [Mix](/sounds/plugin-strip.md) settings and the sidechain routing.
* **Switching only lists presets of the same plugin.** The **— Default —** row goes back to the settings the plugin had when you opened the list.
* **Nothing changes until `Return`.** Each highlighted preset plays on the running plugin; `Esc` or closing the list puts the old settings back.
* **A preview plays the first 6 seconds of the sample through the effect, then its tail**, at most 8 seconds in all. It is rendered once, while the song is stopped. Without a sample for its collection or a default, a preset has no preview and its **Status** says so.
* **Your effect presets reach your other Macs**: [iCloud](/sync/icloud.md). For a whole instrument with its effects, use [Instrument Presets](/sounds/instrument-presets.md).

> **Details**
>
> * **The name starts as the plugin's name.** Cancel, or confirm an empty name, and nothing is saved.
> * **The preset is saved when you confirm the name**, so knob moves made in the plugin's window while the name sheet is open are in it.
> * **A sidechain route that points at the plugin's own track follows the effect** when the preset is loaded on another track.
> * **A preset whose plugin is not installed on this Mac** is listed under **Other** in **Add Effect…**, dimmed.
> * **Rename Effect Preset…** and **Delete Effect Preset…** in the Command Palette work on the selected effect's presets. Deleting asks first and cannot be undone.
> * **Switch Effect Preset… needs an effect selected in the strip** and at least one saved preset for its plugin.
> * **A collection holds effect presets or instrument presets, never both.** A preset of the other kind dropped on it is refused. The **+** beside the **Effect Presets** heading, or **New Collection…** in a row's menu, makes an effect collection.
> * **The Library lists presets of a single effect**, the ones **Save Plugin Preset** makes.
> * **Tags, rename, Move to Collection and the Trash work as for [instrument presets](/sounds/instrument-presets.md).** `⌫` moves a preset to the library's [Trash](/library/organize-samples.md).
> * **A collection's sample wins over the default.** **Remove Preview Sample** goes back to the default; the library inspector shows which sample a preset plays. Choosing another sample renders the previews again.
> * **Dragging an effect preset onto the arrangement does nothing.** Use **Insert on Selected Track**, which puts the effect at the end of the selected track's chain.

> **Commands**
>
> | Command | What it does |
> | - | - |
> | **Save Plugin Preset** | Save the selected effect's state as a preset |
> | **Switch Effect Preset…** | Audition saved presets on the selected effect |
> | **Rename Effect Preset…** | Rename one of the selected effect's presets |
> | **Delete Effect Preset…** | Delete one of them, after asking |
> | **Add Effect…** (`⌥E`) | Plugins and their saved presets |
>
> In the Sample Library's palette (`⌘K` there):
>
> | Command | What it does |
> | - | - |
> | **New Effect Preset Collection…** | Make an effect collection |
> | **Choose Effect Collection's Preview Sample…** | Pick the sample the shown collection's presets play through |
> | **Remove Effect Collection's Preview Sample** | Go back to the default sample |
> | **Insert Effect Preset on Selected Track** | Add the selected effect preset to the end of the selected track's chain |


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