There are hundreds of Lightroom landscape presets available for download. Some are part of paid packages. Others are free.
What are Lightroom presets? Lightroom presets are easy “recipes” for post-processing. With one click, you can completely change the style of your landscape images.
I've chosen 35 free Lightroom presets to share that will shake up your landscape photography. Most are for color and daytime scenes, but I've included some for astrophotography, black & white conversion, and a few special effects.
How to Download Lightroom Presets
Before I jump into the recommended presets, let me show you how to install Lightroom presets. First, download the preset and unzip it if necessary.
There are two ways to install presets for Lightroom.
Option One
In the left column of the Develop Module, click the plus sign next to the Presets window. You'll have the option to import a preset. By default, Lightroom stores the preset under the User Presets tab.
Option Two
Drag a folder containing presets into the Develop Presets folder on your computer. This folder can be tricky to find. Here are the steps I take to get to this folder:
- Go to the Presets tab under Preferences
- Click the "Show All Other Lightroom Presets" button
- Open the Lightroom folder
Drag a new folder containing Lightroom presets into the Develop Presets folder. The next time you open Lightroom, a new group of presets will appear.
Color Lightroom Presets for Landscape Photography
1. Wanderlust
Fix the Photo has many quality presets. Wanderlust is the first of two I've included in this article. The Wanderlust preset subtly enhances your landscape with clarity and contrast.
Split image with original photo (left) and Wanderlust preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast 0
- Highlights decreased -36
- Shadows increased +38
- Whites decreased -17
- Blacks decreased -17
- Clarity increased +21
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance increased +20
- Saturation 0
There are also slight changes to the tone curve, white balance, and the HSL panel.
2. Magic Nature
Magic Nature by Fix the Photo seems to find colors that I didn't think were in my image. The preset favors purples and reds. The free presets on Fix the Photo come and go. This is one of my favorites. Let's hope this one stays around!
Split image with original photo (left) and Magic Nature preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast increased +24
- Highlights decreased -24
- Shadows increased +31
- Whites increased +12
- Blacks decreased -31
- Clarity increased +48
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance increased +26
- Saturation 0
There are also large changes in split toning and the HSL panel. All colors have been saturated, some more than others.
3. Dull Slot Canyon
The Dull Slot Canyon preset is part of the Exploring Exposure Landscape bundle. This is a set of additive presets that work together to enhance your photos. I'm going to talk about two presets in this bundle that immediately enhance your image.
Dull Slot Canyon enhances the sunset and autumn colors of your image. Add one of the high-contrast scene presets and your colors will really pop!
The bundle comes as one download once you sign up for the Exploring Exposure newsletter. The presets are donationware, so there is nothing to pay, but you are handing over an email address. Its author calls the set an old one and points you at his paid toolkit instead, so treat these as a free starting point rather than a finished workflow.
Split image with original photo (left) and Dull Slot Canyon preset (right).
This preset makes all changes in the HSL saturation panel.
4. High Contrast Scene – Light Shadows
The High Contrast Scene – Light Shadows preset is part of the Exploring Exposure Landscape bundle. This set of additive presets works together to enhance your photos. High Contrast Scene – Light Shadows, as the name suggests, increases contrast and lightens shadows. This brings out the colorful details in your landscape.
Split image with original photo (left) and High Contrast Scene – Light Shadows preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast 0
- Highlights decreased -100
- Shadows increased +100
- Whites increased +69
- Blacks decreased -46
- Clarity increased +10
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance 0
- Saturation 0
There are also slight changes to the tone curve and noise reduction.
5. Classic Bright
Classic Bright found on Preset Love creates a bright, high-contrast scene that’s full of color. There's nothing moody about this preset. It brings in all the light of a bright sunny day.
Split image with original photo (left) and Classic Bright preset (right).
- Exposure increased +0.50
- Contrast increased +21
- Highlights decreased -50
- Shadows increased +45
- Whites increased +35
- Blacks increased +10
- Clarity increased +25
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance increased +20
- Saturation increased +15
There are also changes to the white balance, tone curve, HSL panel, and noise reduction. A slight post-crop vignette holds the lightness in check.
6. Summer Breeze
When I'm gifted free presets from the post-processing queen, Nicolesy, I jump on them. I’ll recommend four of her free presets. The first is the understated preset Summer Breeze. It subtly clarifies your landscape’s colors and freshens your image.
All four of Nicolesy's free presets sit behind a short signup form. You give a name and an email address, consent to her mailing list, and the download unlocks. The presets themselves cost nothing.
Split image with original photo (left) and Summer Breeze preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast 0
- Highlights 0
- Shadows 0
- Whites 0
- Blacks 0
- Clarity 0
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance increased +33
- Saturation 0
There are changes to the tone curve and split toning. A color-priority post-crop vignette centers the scene.
7. Summertime
The Summertime preset by Nicolesy is bright and breezy. Shadows are brightened, allowing your colors to pop.
Split image with original photo (left) and Summertime preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast 0
- Highlights 0
- Shadows 0
- Whites 0
- Blacks 0
- Clarity increased +4
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance decreased -33
- Saturation increased +48
There are changes to the tone curve, split toning, and the HSL panel. There is also a highlight priority post-crop vignette.
8. Touch of Drama
Touch of Drama, found on Preset Love, is for photographers who like deep, dark tones. It dims the light regions and emphasizes the dark regions and midtones, so the contrast lands where the detail already is. There is definite drama afoot, and it works well on any outdoor scene. The preset also refines color saturation and luminance and enhances textures, which keeps the darker treatment from going muddy.
9. Beautiful Sunrise
The Beautiful Sunrise preset by Preset Pro warms up the image like the first hour of light. It recovers detail in a bright sky while lifting the deep shadows in the foreground. That is exactly the problem a sunrise scene hands you, and one click solves most of it. The warmth is built with split toning and color luminance adjustments, setting warm highlights against cooler shadows.
10. Cinema Stock 1
Cinema Stock 1 on Preset Love is for photographers who want a cool, retro color scheme. There's plenty of color, but the effect is of dim light on a hazy day. This Lightroom preset feels cinematographic and empowering to any landscape scene. The preset applies a Portra 800 film tone curve and brightens the frame. Saturation drops in the reds, greens, aquas, and magentas, and a soft magenta tint runs through the whole image.
11. Very Dynamic
The Very Dynamic preset by Preset Pro is, as it says, very dynamic. This is a strong preset that highlights details through contrast. The increased blacks and clarity give added punch to the scene. It gives the impression of a stronger sun during the blue hour.
Split image with original photo (left) and Very Dynamic preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast increased +96
- Highlights decreased -96
- Shadows increased +93
- Whites decreased -93
- Blacks increased +96
- Clarity increased +40
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance decreased -6
- Saturation decreased -5
There are also slight changes to the tone curve, split toning, and the HSL panel.
12. Perfect View
Perfect View on Preset Love is the all-rounder of this list. It brightens a scene and pushes its colors until they look like a postcard, without the heavy styling that makes a preset only work on one kind of photo. It works on mountains, coastline and city streets alike. It builds the look by warming the color temperature and laying a light magenta over the top, then lifting both light and dark areas while pulling the highlights back so nothing blows out. The color work is granular: saturation up in the greens, aquas, and blues, luminance up in the yellows, greens, and oranges, and luminance down in the aquas and blues so water and sky go deep turquoise. That is the orange and blue pairing doing the heavy lifting. The finish is matte, so skip it if you want glossy, punchy contrast.
13. Mountains & Valleys
Kevin Krautgartner is a fine art and aerial photographer whose landscape work runs from the Dolomites to the Icelandic highlands. His Mountains & Valleys collection is pay-what-you-want, so all 10 presets download for free. They're built for mountain and scenic panoramas, and each one takes a different creative direction rather than repeating the same look. The collection ships as XMP, lrtemplate, and DNG files, so it works in any Lightroom version and in Camera Raw. Exposure and gradient presets are included to balance the light after you've picked a look.
14. Warm Winter Colors
Warm Winter Colors, found on Preset Love, does the opposite of most landscape presets. While many increase contrast to sharpen a scene, this one adds warmth to a cold one. Snow stops reading blue and grey, and a bleak season starts to look cozy. The preset boosts contrast for a broader range of tones, brightens the image, and moderates the highlights and shadows so nothing clips.
15. Desert Sun
Desert Sun, also on Preset Love, is not for the faint of heart. This preset pushes warm colors hard to give the stark impression of sweltering heat. There's no gentle golden hour here. It's a full-on sun blast, and even a barren scene comes out vivid. Deep orange tones do most of the work, balanced by tonal changes that hold clarity and depth in the shadows.
16. Gray Winter Day
Gray Winter Day is a preset that seemingly changes little yet has a big effect. It draws out the deep gray tones in a scene and cools the color temperature to accentuate them. The muted result gives a rainy-day feel to the image without losing the whites. Whites are pushed to their brightest, midtone contrast is softened, and color saturation is pulled back in a balanced way across the frame.
17. Film Landscape
Film Landscape on Preset Love applies a vibrant film style that cools your scene and emphasizes its colors in a unique way. There's a richness to this preset that I love. It produces soft matte tones but still draws out the detail, so a landscape reads cinematic and crisp at the same time. The preset reinforces the midtones, adds texture, moderates the light and dark regions, and adds brilliance to the warm colors.
18. Aged Film
Aged Film found on Preset Love desaturates the image while retaining all the detail and contrast.
Split image with original photo (left) and Aged Film preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast increased +21
- Highlights decreased -71
- Shadows increased +50
- Whites increased +30
- Blacks increased +10
- Clarity increased +10
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance 0
- Saturation decreased -12
Changes to the white balance warm the image. There are also changes to the tone curve, split toning, and the HSL panel. Grain and a post-crop vignette are added, and extra sharpening brings out the details.
19. Utah
Utah on Preset Love trades bright color for classic film tones. It is the preset to reach for when a landscape looks flat and modern and you want it to look shot on stock, with cool tones running through the whole frame rather than a single filtered wash. It tints the highlights cool blue and the shadows soft red, then pushes whites and highlights up while driving blacks down, so a terrain's elevation, crevices, and inclines read more clearly. Saturation drops in the reds, oranges, and magentas, and red luminance drops too, which turns earth tones dark and dramatic. Film grain finishes it. That grain and the muted warm hues mean it is the wrong choice if your scene depends on vivid autumn color.
20. Autumn Vintage
Autumn Vintage, found on Preset Love, is for all those vintage lovers. The preset desaturates and warms the image. The added bit of lightness simulates a faded image.
Split image with original photo (left) and Autumn Vintage preset (right).
- Exposure increased +0.44
- Contrast 0
- Highlights decreased -2
- Shadows decreased -2
- Whites increased +2
- Blacks decreased -2
- Clarity decreased -5
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance increased +14
- Saturation decreased -36
Changes to the white balance and split toning warm the image. There are also changes to the tone curve and the HSL panel. All colors are saturated, some more than others.
21. Crisp Mountains
Landscapes come in all moods and weather conditions. Crisp Mountains, a free preset from Preset Love, is built for the dull end of that range: the shots you took on a cloudy winter day and nearly deleted. It rescues them without turning them into something they were not. It lifts exposure to fill the frame with light, raises the whites so bright regions read as brilliant, then deliberately holds contrast back so the depth is emphasized but not overcooked. Luminance tweaks in the HSL panel and camera calibration make water and sky more crystalline, and heavy sharpening pulls out rock and terrain texture. It is a base rather than a finished look, so expect to set exposure and whites yourself afterwards.
22. Autumn Forest
Jan Erik Waider photographs the Nordic landscape as Northlandscapes, and he gives away several packs from his own workflow. His Autumn Forest set is five free presets aimed at fall color. They lift the yellows and oranges in the foliage and drop a touch of blue into the shadows, creating a slightly faded, moody pastel look. The five presets are visually related, but each weights the highlights, shadows, and saturation differently. Five vignette presets are included to finish the frame, and the download takes one click with no email required.
23. Cinematic Film
Preset Pro has another take on the cinematic style with its Cinematic Film preset. Decreasing contrast, highlights, and whites give the image a dark and moody look. Extra sharpening and grain add to the grungy flavor.
Split image with original photo (left) and Cinematic Film preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast increased +9
- Highlights decreased -100
- Shadows decreased -11
- Whites decreased -100
- Blacks increased +27
- Clarity decreased -10
- Dehaze increased +7
- Vibrance increased +15
- Saturation 0
There are also changes to the tone curve and split toning with some added sharpening.
Astrophotography Lightroom Presets for Landscape Photography
24. Alhena
There are a lot of quality presets in Film Speck One bundle. I especially like what they do to my astrophotography images. I usually have a spin through all the presets, but I'll recommend three from the set. Alhena takes a subtle approach with just a touch of contrast to bring out the colors.
Ian Norman gives all 102 presets away on a name-your-price basis. Enter $0.00 at the checkout and the whole pack downloads for nothing, so the only cost is going through his cart.
Split image with original photo (left) and Alhena preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast 0
- Highlights increased +20
- Shadows decreased -20
- Whites increased +21
- Blacks decreased -11
- Clarity increased +20
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance increased +23
- Saturation 0
There are also changes in split toning to bring out the blues.
25. Brandenburg
The Brandenburg preset in the Film Speck One bundle increases the contrast and darkens the overall effect.
Split image with original photo (left) and Brandenburg preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast increased +66
- Highlights decreased -64
- Shadows increased +95
- Whites 0
- Blacks 0
- Clarity increased +60
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance increased +15
- Saturation 0
There's also a bit of grain added to the image.
26. Terebellum
The Terebellum preset in the Film Speck One bundle is the strongest I'm recommending. I like the way my night sky pops.
Split image with original photo (left) and Terebellum preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast increased +50
- Highlights decreased -44
- Shadows increased +40
- Whites 0
- Blacks 0
- Clarity increased +44
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance increased +15
- Saturation 0
There is a strong change in the tone curve.
Black and White Lightroom Presets for Landscape Photography
27. Black & White Landscapes
It's important to include a few black and white presets in my recommendations. Northlandscapes' free black and white set is five presets built to solve the problem everyone runs into. Lightroom's own monochrome conversion is flat. These give you deep, rich blacks and the contrast a landscape conversion needs. They're strongest on coastal, forest, and mountain scenes shot under cloud, fog, or overcast skies. You'll still want to set exposure, whites, and shadows in the Basic panel, then fine-tune the Black & White Mix.
28. Monoceros
If you've downloaded the Film Speck One bundle, check out the black and white presets. There are many winners in this bundle. Monoceros gives your images a strong dark look.
Split image with original photo (left) and Monoceros preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast 0
- Highlights decreased -93
- Shadows increased +44
- Whites 0
- Blacks 0
- Clarity increased +59
- Dehaze 0
The tone curve and B&W filter panel have also been changed.
29. Antique Bronze
Antique Bronze on Preset Love brings a sepia monochrome look to your photos. Your images will look like an old-fashioned photo losing its color with age. The tones stay intense even though only bronze hues remain, and the detail is preserved rather than smoothed away. A vignette completes the vintage feel. It's most visible in the sky, particularly at the upper corners.
30. Aged B&W Print
Maybe you're looking for a way to quickly create an aged black and white landscape. If so, it doesn't get better than Nicolesy's Aged B&W Print preset. The preset lightens the image through filters and a light post-crop vignette. You'll even get a slight rounding on the corners of your image.
Aged B&W Print preset.
Nicolesy starts with the Adobe Standard B&W profile and changes nothing in the Basic panel. There are changes to the tone curve, split toning, and the B&W filter panel. There is a strong post-crop vignette.
31. B&W Infrared
I'm always on the lookout for a good black and white infrared preset. My current favorite is one found at Gumroad. This preset darkens the blues and lightens the greens for the infrared look we love. The settings are changed through an embedded profile.
It is a name-your-price listing, so type 0 into the price box to take it for free. Gumroad will still ask for an email address to send the file to.
Split image with original photo (left) and B&W Infrared preset (right).
This profile starts with the Adobe Standard B&W profile and changes nothing in the Basic panel. The white balance, tone curve, and many colors in the B&W filter panel are significantly altered. So are the colors in the Calibration panel.
32. B&W Infrared
Preset Love has an interesting black and white infrared effect. Color is removed, but strong contrast and detail remain. The infrared effect is created in the B&W panel by lightening colors such as green and darkening colors such as blue.
Split image with original photo (left) and B&W Infrared preset (right).
- Exposure 0
- Contrast increased +42
- Highlights decreased -48
- Shadows increased +69
- Whites decreased -23
- Blacks increased +38
- Clarity increased +51
- Dehaze 0
There are changes to the white balance, tone curve, split toning, and the B&W filter panel.
Lightroom Presets with Special Effects for Landscape Photography
Sometimes my scene screams for a sun flare or another special effect. I keep a few special effects Lightroom presets on hand for such occasions. These special effects are sometimes what you need to add a bit of interest to your landscape photography.
33. Grain It Up
Not every special effect is a flare. Grain It Up on Preset Love lays a heavy film texture over your landscape and coats it in a warm brown tint, which is the fastest way to knock the sterile shine off a digital file. It blends a warm color temperature with a magenta tint and drops a tinge of yellow into the highlights, so light reads as golden whether it was direct or diffused. Then it broadens the tonal range, so blacks deepen and light areas brighten, and adds sharpening and clarity so the grain has detail to bite on. Vibrance and saturation come down for that undersaturated old-film look, and a strong vignette frames the result. It is a big, committed effect, so it fights any scene whose appeal is clean, saturated color.
34. Sun Flare
I'm not sure if Nicolesy intended her Sun Flare preset to work with landscape photography, but I like the result. This preset sharpens detail and creates a bright, soft glow in the highlights.
Sun Flare preset by Nicolesy
- Exposure 0
- Contrast 0
- Highlights 0
- Shadows increased +53
- Whites increased +56
- Blacks increased +30
- Clarity 0
- Dehaze 0
- Vibrance increased +74
- Saturation decreased -25
There are changes to the tone curve and split toning with a paint overlay post-crop vignette.
35. Lens Flare
Preset Love has a free Lens Flare preset that simulates a flare in any photo. Point it at a bright outdoor scene and you get a realistic light flare with a dramatic edge, as if you'd caught the sun at the wrong angle on purpose. The effect adds a sense of spontaneity and warmth, and it hints at where the photographer was standing. Use it on outdoor photos with plenty of light. It has little to work with in a dim scene.
Conclusion: Best Lightroom Presets
These are my 35 Lightroom landscape preset recommendations. But I'm always discovering new presets.
The results of these presets vary depending on your subject and lighting. Feel free to tweak them for a more personalized and scene-specific edit.
