
Taking a good picture isn’t simple, but portrait presets might help you get closer. It’s possible to amplify colours, soften edges, and subtly blend the backdrop into the foreground. Moreover, while this is done after the fact, you need not worry about capturing perfect shots in the beginning.
With that in mind, we’ve compiled 10 of the best free Lightroom portrait presets to get you started. They are all variations on a subject, yet their designs and aesthetics are quite different from one another. For each portrait you need to enhance, you’ll easily discover the ideal template here. I propose that we investigate our choices.
Keep in mind that these free portrait presets work only with Adobe Lightroom Classic. Each one comes complete with its own.xmp file. Find a series of instructions for setting up your Lightroom using our presets at the end of the guide.
Slumberland Free Lightroom Preset
Your portraits will have a fresh, breezy feel with the Slumberland effect. Images with a lot of shadows and darkness that you wish to brighten up will benefit greatly from this technique.

Incorporate it into your summer photography for a breath of fresh air or to create unique album covers.
Using free Lightroom presets is a great way to add some flair to your picture editing without breaking the bank. Have you been working on a portrait while going for a light and airy appearance? Here, right now, at no cost at all, is Slumberland, your new best buddy.
Your preferred portrait photographs benefit from Slumberland’s enhanced highlights and extended exposure. Use these no cost Lightroom presets if you want your photos to stand out. In addition, it’s a potent instrument to use if your photo is too dim and gloomy to be shared. Unlike other LR presets, this one really packs a punch and just requires a single click to activate.
You might think of this as a technique to give your images an indie album cover vibe. Gorgeous tones and colours from the past materialise out of nowhere. In this way, you may fully harness the potential of free Lightroom presets. You perform the artistic effort of taking stunning photographs, and then you may style them in amazing ways using presets in Adobe Lightroom.
Contrast Noir Free Lightroom Preset
Do you find monochrome photographs to be lifeless and uninteresting? An open-source setting called Contrast Noir disproves this.

This preset enhances contrasts to help portrait subjects stand out stylishly against their backgrounds. All eyes will be on your altered photos if you choose this preset.
Traditional, classy looks that never go out of fashion. Gorgeous black and white portraits that seem like works of art. The high-contrast black-and-white Lightroom presets provide all of this and more. Get a free copy of Contrast Noir, a remarkable work in the genre.
Don’t restrict your subsequent photographic imagination by shooting in black and white. Contrast Noir is the tool to use instead, since it will take even the most ordinary photo and make it stand out in black and white. It’s as simple as clicking! This one enhances the contrast, bringing out the finest of details. If you’ve ever been moved to action by the beauty of black and white photographs at an art museum, prepare to go from the role of passive observer to active participant.
Black-and-white Lightroom presets with a lot of contrast can do wonders for a picture. Take note of how the emphasis is placed only on bright and dark areas. With this classic, timeless preset, even the smallest of details in a photograph will jump off the paper or screen.
Cosmic Dancer Lightroom Preset
Cosmic Dancer is a multipurpose portrait Lightroom preset with a strong emphasis on colour. It’s meant to emphasise colour and make it stand out.

If you have flat photos that are in need of some pizazz, this preset is for you. It’s also useful for your landscape photography, expanding your editing options significantly.
Portrait Matte Free Lightroom Preset

Is there an attempt at a throwback look? With its warm, matte tones, the Portrait Matte preset does just that.
This one enhances colour saturation without damaging the palette’s aesthetic charm. Using this method, you may give your favourite portraits a whole new look.
Seeped in Sepia Free Lightroom Preset

Recall some of the most striking images from bygone eras. Age has faded several of them to a sepia-like brown and yellow. Infuse your contemporary photos with classic flair by include one of these.
This sepia preset for Lightroom allows you to achieve that with the click of a button, giving any shot a nostalgic feel.
Do you recall looking at old photographs when you were a kid? What about the stunning artworks you could see at a gallery? Most likely, they were in sepia tones, the coloration often associated with vintage photographs. However, you should realise that this effect may be used on any self-shot photograph.
Lightroom’s sepia preset “Seeped in Sepia” gives photos a classic look and feel. It adds sepia tones to photos that were originally taken in full colour. The true purpose of sepia tones is to push distractions to the periphery, allowing your topic to shine out.
This is useful for both landscapes and portraiture. Every photographer should have a Lightroom sepia preset at their disposal, and here’s one you can download for free right now and start using right away. Take note of how effective it is in portraiture; whilst the model disappears into the background in the preview, she jumps out dramatically in the final image thanks to the stunning Lightroom sepia preset.
Take a Vow Lightroom Preset

Since wedding photographs are likely to be among your most treasured images, you should give them the greatest editing you’re capable of.
The Take a Vow preset was designed specifically for use with wedding photographs. To keep the focus on the newlyweds, the backdrop colours gradually fade off.
To put it simply, it is the greatest day of your life. That’s because you’ve made some memories worth holding into eternity. You’ll want to show the world the breathtaking images you take as part of that. Photos of your wedding should be as beautiful as your new union, whether it was held inside or out.
Trust the sophisticated Click here to get a free Lightroom wedding preset designed just for the Vow. Presets were developed specifically for wedding books, so you can be certain that your photos will look fantastic after being edited with one. This one boosts contrast, making you and your buddy the centre of attention in every photo you take. The environment fades into the background while maintaining a positive, cheery aesthetic. Pictures like this are great for showcasing the fresh starts you’ve had as a married couple.
Modifiers available at no cost In this way, a lightroom wedding might be the perfect addition to your big day. Even if your wedding images already look great, using this Lightroom wedding preset will take them to the next level.
Hopscotch Portrait Lightroom Preset

The Hopscotch portrait setting is another bright and colourful option. The result is a portrait with a striking, ethereal aesthetic.
If you’re looking to make some cool, artistic photos, this is your best bet. Your enjoyment of the applied setting will increase in proportion to the amount of colour there to begin with.
Limograph B&W Portrait Lightroom Preset

Black and white photographs are timeless because of their sophistication. Nevertheless, shooting in monochrome is not recommended. Don’t be afraid to snap some photographs in colour; you can always transform them using filters like Limograph afterwards.
This keeps your options open creatively, since colouring in graphics is a lot of work. A grayscale picture design with flat, gentle tones is what you’ll find here.
Vintage Portrait Free Lightroom Preset


Pictures with a retro aesthetic aren’t automatically dull. They have the potential to be visually magnificent, vibrant works of art. You can do just that with no cost by using the Vintage Portrait preset on your images.
To achieve its timeless and sunny vibe, this preset relies heavily on yellow and orange tones. It’s a style that can’t be replicated in a camera.
Shadowze Free Lightroom Preset

Lastly, we have Shadowze, a black-and-white portrait preset. It was designed to appear and feel like film cameras, therefore it displays photographs with a high contrast but flat aesthetic and few apparent tonal differences, much like real film.
Shadowze is a top-tier portrait preset that looks great on everyone.
Consider colour perception to be the sole important aspect of photography. To the contrary! The subject is the central focus of any outstanding photograph. That holds true even more so in a portraiture context. When photographing people, it’s important to get a clear, uncluttered shot that shows off their individuality.
Lightroom portrait editing in black and white requires special consideration to shadows. Raising the contrast by darkening them does the opposite for lighter shadows, which creates a more open and airy feel. This latter aspect revitalises and brightens any portrait photograph, colour or black and white. This manner, the focus will be on the subjects in the photos rather than on the setting.
If you’re retouching black and white pictures in Lightroom, the Shadowze LR preset is a must-have. It smooths out the shadow areas in colour photographs. Use it as a starting point for creating stunning black and white portraits with little effort.
How to Install Adobe Lightroom Classic Presets
- Download the preset file from the links above.
- Find the .XMP file in each download package. Sometimes, the file will come packaged in a zip file and will need to be extracted.
- Open Lightroom Classic and switch to the
Develop
module. - On the left side, find the panel labeled
Presets
. - Click on the
+
icon and chooseImport Presets
. - Browse to the
XMP
file, select it, and chooseImport
. - Find your new preset in the sidebar and click on it to apply it to an image.
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