To be clear, not all free presets are evil. Adobe itself offers free base presets. Many generous educators offer single presets as a “lead magnet” to teach you how they achieved the look. The ethical way to engage with free presets is to use them as , not final solutions.
The best practice for a photographer finding a free preset is to apply it, then immediately open the “Basic” and “Curve” panels to see what changed. Use the free tool to reverse-engineer the settings. Learn that to get “faded blacks,” you raise the bottom-left point of the tone curve. Learn that to get “teal shadows,” you shift the hue of blue/cyan. Download Adobe Camera Raw Presets Free