Matte styling helps you add a dash of vintage elegance to your shots. But it’s not generally something you’ll capture in real-time. It’s an edit you’ll apply during the post-processing of your images. In fact, you can transform any photo to give it a matte look and feel.
This is where matte Lightroom presets come into play. Lightroom presets help you apply a specific edit to any image – with a single click. With presets, you can add stunning matte image effects to photos in your library. Plus, you can repeat identical edits over and over. That’s amazingly useful if you’ve captured many photos in a single shoot. It maintains consistency as you edit and share your portfolio.
In this guide, we’ve collected twenty of the very best free Lightroom matte presets. While they vary in style and composition, all share rich matte effects. And like any Lightroom presets, they’re easy to apply. You don’t need to be an expert photographer or editor to take full advantage of these beautiful Lightroom presets.
What are you waiting for? Let’s explore these fantastic presets. Browse the options shown, and choose your favorites. Then, download them and start editing today! You’ve come to the right place if you’re ready to add gorgeous matte styles to your photos.
What Are Matte Photos?
Before we explore the presets, let’s take a look at the key attributes of matte photos. Think of how these edits will fit in with your own photography. After all, photography is really all about imagination.
Matte photos, in general, share stylistic elements like:
- A vintage, nostalgic look and feel. If you’ve ever seen a sepia photo, they are extremely matte. Standard matte presets meet in the middle of sepia and natural color.
- Added warmth and softness. Matte presets reduce sharpness and boost softness. This tends to give photos a warmer, more intimate look.
- Compositions that are film-like. Matte hues are often found in old-school film photography. Presets let you add this look to your images, even when you shoot digitally.
- Lower saturation. Matte images will lower the saturation. This means you’ll see less brightness and variation in the colors of your image.
- Reduced contrasts. Matte photos are flatter, with less stark contrasts. This makes them a common edit for portraits, wedding photos, and more.
Now, let’s dive into our collection of matte Lightroom presets! As you browse, think about what they can do to transform the photos you’ve already taken.
The Top Matte Lightroom Presets
Matte Lightroom Preset (Free)
Reducing color contrasts is a hallmark of matte photography. It softens images and lets details speak for themselves. This is a multipurpose matte preset for almost any subject, with an emphasis on color reduction.
Matte & VSCO Lightroom Presets
This professional collection of VSCO and matte Lightroom presets has been crafted to enhance the efficiency of your photo processing and editing tasks. They will give your photos a contemporary, understated, and fashionable aesthetic, evoking the style associated with VSCO.
Mattehue Matte LIghtroom Preset (Free)
Mattehue is a matte preset suited for urban and dynamic scenes. This preset adds a matte effect without a faded look. It does this by enhancing the hue of each image.
Matte Box Photoshop Actions & Lightroom Presets
The Matte Box Lightroom presets have been crafted to give your photos that distinctive matte finish. The effect will gently soften the colors, slightly fade the darker tones, and give your images the appearance of being printed on matte paper.
High Tide Matte Preset for LIghtroom (Free)
High Tide is a versatile matte preset. It adds a bit of grunge to cityscapes and urban scenes. But you can also use it for landscapes to create a moody vibe.
50 Matte LUTs Pack
Quickly produce impressive cinematic-style visuals by applying these LUTs with just a few simple clicks. These color-grading LUTs have been specifically crafted to achieve captivating matte cinematic tones for your photos and videos.
Matte Gold Lightroom Preset (Free)
A gold tint adds a timeless look to any image. This matte preset features gold coloring. Add it to your photos with a single click.
Matte B&W Lightroom Preset (Free)
Did you know that matte photos can be in black and white? Absolutely! That’s precisely what this preset does, transforming color photos into matte black-and-white stills.
Matte Color (Free)
Here is a wedding-focused matte preset. Capture your special day with unwanted details diminished. It could also adapt into a versatile matte preset for any portrait image.
Autumn Matte Lightroom Preset (Free)
Need warm, retro photos that could be from the 1960’s? If you don’t have a film camera, you’re in luck. This Lightroom preset helps add a vintage, grungy look to any photo in your portfolio.
Pastel Matte Lightroom Preset (Free)
Matte presets bring the viewer’s eye to the subjects. This preset applies to pastel tones, making it a useful option for portraits.
Urban Soot Lightroom Preset (Free)
Urban Soot is a gritty matte preset for street photography. With it, you’ll see soft, almost sci-fi visuals.
3rd Dimension Lightroom Presets (Free)
Don’t forget: matte photos can still be very colorful! That’s the niche served by this 3rd Dimension preset. It’s flexible enough for both landscapes and portraits alike.
Matte Color Cream Wash Lightroom Presets (Free)
This is another portrait matte Lightroom preset. It washes away bright colors, merging subjects into their background for a softer visual look.
Darken Matte Lightroom Preset (Free)
This preset focuses on adding warmth to your image. It’s an option if you want a moody look for an outdoor portrait or landscape shot.
Matte Fade Lightroom Preset (Free)
Matte Fade is a general-use outdoor matte preset for Lightroom. It’s a candidate for vintage-inspired beach scenes and more.
Matte Blue Lightroom Preset (Free)
Matte Blue is a powerful preset for blue matte images. Most tones are flattened, with blue shades boosted.
Matte Preset for Lightroom (Free)
Free for Adobe Lightroom, this preset is aimed towards wedding photos. But you can apply it to any photo to add a moody film look. As always, it only takes one click.
Matte Black Lightroom Preset (Free)
It’s easy to overlook black and white styles as an option for matte photos. Yet, they let you add eye-catching visuals in just two tones. This preset for Lightroom enables you to add them with just a few clicks.
Skyfall Matte Lightroom Preset (Free)
Skyfall takes on a very vintage focus. It’s a solid preset choice if you need retro shades applied to photos. Versatile, it enhances landscape and portrait photos alike.
Morning Stroll Lightroom Preset (Free)
Morning Stroll adds a matte look to outdoor photos, especially cityscapes. You’ll see brown shades grow warmer and will give a vintage film feel to your modern digital images.
Matteroom Lightroom Preset (Free)
Think of Matteroom as a way to build matte yet sun-kissed landscapes. It adds warmth, letting you create landscape images that look like film photos. Shades of brown and blue are most noticeable.
Woodsy Matte Lightroom Preset (Free)
Seeking fairytale natural landscapes? Matte presets like Woodsy are made for forest photography. You’ll see earth tones blend in vintage warmth and softness.
How to Install & Use a Lightroom Preset
Here’s a straightforward guide on how to install and utilize Lightroom presets effectively:
How to Install a Lightroom Preset:
- Download the Preset: Begin by downloading the Lightroom preset file you want to use. These files often come in the format
.lrtemplateor.xmp. - Locate the Preset Folder: For Lightroom Classic, open the
Developmodule, and go to thePresetspanel on the left side. For Lightroom CC, go to theEditpanel on the right side. - Import the Preset: For Lightroom Classic, right-click on
Presetsand selectImport. Then, locate and select the downloaded preset file. For Lightroom CC, click the three dots...in thePresetspanel and chooseImport Presets. Locate and select the preset file. - Install the Preset: Once you’ve selected the preset file, click the
Importbutton. The preset will now be added to your presets list.
How to Use a Lightroom Preset:
- Select Your Photo: Open the photo you want to edit in the Lightroom module.
- Apply the Preset: In the
Developmodule of Lightroom Classic or theEditpanel in Lightroom CC, scroll through your preset list. Click on the preset you want to use. Lightroom will apply the preset’s editing settings to your photo. - Adjust Settings (if Required): Presets are not one-size-fits-all, and your photo may require additional adjustments to achieve the desired look.
- Save Your Edited Photo: Save your edited photo once you are happy with the changes. Click
Fileand thenExportto choose your export settings and save the final image to your desired location.
Experiment with different presets and fine-tune them to suit your unique style and the specific characteristics of each photo.
Conclusion
We’ve just looked at the top free Lightroom matte presets. They are single-click transformations for all of your photos! With a single click, you can instantly create something new and magical.
What are you waiting for? Choose stunning presets from the collection, and start using them in your own edits. It’s both quick and easy. And once again, you can apply the same matte edits repeatedly. This is the true beauty of Lightroom presets!
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