Adobe Lightroom is a handy photo editing tool for photographers. But, you can make it more powerful with the use of plugins. There are so many plugins available for Lightroom. It makes it difficult for a user to choose the best amongst them. So, I will share the ten best plugins for Lightroom, which I found useful based on my experience.
10 Best Lightroom Plugins in 2019
1. Luminar Flex
Lumina Flex is a plugin from Skylum, which is compatible with both Lightroom and Photoshop.
Luminar Flex is the actual Luminar software without the library feature.
It comes with lots of new filter sets like AI Sky Enhancer, Accent AI 2.0, Details Enhancer e.t.c. It also has a styling feature called “Luminar Looks” to transform your photos different looks and styles. Here, the photo edits are made easy with the help of AI algorithm.
Thus, you can color grade your images. So, if you are a fan of color grading, then you will find this plugin useful. You also have the option to create your Looks and purchase Luminar look by various famous photographers.
READ: Luminar Flex Review
2. Topaz DeNoise AI
Topaz DeNoise AI from Topaz Labs is one of the best Lightroom plugins for noise removal. The integrated AI algorithm saves a good amount of noise removal time. It is one of the best plugins from Topaz Labs in their AI series.
With a few clicks, you can quickly eliminate the grains in your image, without affecting the details in the picture. So, it is an easy to use image denoiser.
But, if the noise levels are very high, then expect some softness in the final image after denoising.
READ: Topaz Denoise AI Review
3. Topaz Sharpen AI
Topaz Sharpen AI is another popular plugin for Lightroom. Any slight blur in the focused part of an image can be irritating at times. It can be due to lack of shutter speed or due to wrong photography technique.
The Sharpen AI from Topaz Labs helps to fix this through their shake reduction AI algorithm. It helps the subject to pop out from the image without affecting the out of focus part in the scene.
So, a must-have useful Lightroom Plugin. It costs $79.99. But, you can always download a free trial version of Sharpen AI and give a try. It works as a standalone version also.
READ: Topaz Sharpen AI Review
4. Focus Mask
Focus Mask plugin displays the areas of the image that are in focus. So, this plugin makes it easy to do the initial review of captured images. I use it for deleting unwanted images initially while organizing the photos before starting the editing process.
You can easily reject the images which are not properly focused, and delete them together. You can also view this mask on preview images, 32 images max at a time.
When you are in the Develop module, it makes the editing a bit easy by highlighting the focus areas. It is available for both Mac and Windows. You can download Focus Mask for free from the Capture Monkey site.
5. Aurora HDR
Aurora HDR from Skylum is a real game-changer when it comes to HDR photography. It works as a standalone module as well as a Lightroom plugin.
You can easily create an HDR image using Aurora HDR plugin. It allows you to create an HDR picture from a single image also. You can fine-tune the final image without ghosting.
So, if you are a Lightroom user doing HDR photography, then you must give a try.
READ: Aurora HDR 2019 Review
6. Portraiture 3
If you are into people photography or fashion photography, then Portraiture 3 is a must-have Lightroom plugin. It does a fantastic job when it comes to skin retouching.
It gives a realistic look to the skin, removing pimples and scars. Portraiture 3 also ensure that the skin doesn’t go too soft to give an unnatural look.
Portraiture 3 from Imagenomic, is compatible with both Windows and Mac OS. It is available at $199.95. It’s a bit expensive. So, recommended only for photography professionals dealing with portraits and people.
7. LR TimeLapse
If you shoot photos for Timelapse, then LR Timelapse is one of the best processing tools out there. You can add it as a plugin with Lightroom, thereby making your timelapse workflow easy and straightforward.
You can quickly work with your RAW time-lapse captures in Lightroom and use LR Timelapse to generate the timelapse video without any annoying flicker effects. If you are new to the whole Timelapse thing, then they have useful tutorials for you to master the art of timelapse photography.
You can always download the free LR Timelapse version and give it a try.
8. The Fader Lightroom Plugin
You will be using Lightroom presets to give your stylish image looks. But, when you apply these presets, sometimes you may feel that the strength of the preset is more and sometimes less. You can use the Fader plugin in such situations.
It allows you to vary the strength of Lightroom presets. You can decrease or increase (up to 150%) the strength of presets using Fader plugin. You can always download the free version of the Fader plugin, which comes with some restrictions. If you like it, you can get the full version for $10.
9. Topaz Adjust AI
Topaz Adjust AI is another popular Lightroom plugin from Topaz Labs. You can use it to give special effects to your photos like color toning and grading. It comes with preset feature and there are lots of good presets. You can even create your presets to apply the effect to all your photos with a single click.
READ: Topaz Adjust AI Review
10. DXO Film Pack
If you are looking for a dedicated preset plugin for Lightroom, then DxO Film Pack is one of the best options. You have two options to choose from, Essential Edition priced at $79 and Elite Edition at $129.
The essential edition comes with analog and other creative filters.
You can get more features with the Elite edition. These features include RAW format support, separate toning for Shadows and Highlights, automatic correction options, and more filters. DxO Film Pack also works as a standalone application.
Conclusion
I have tested many Lightroom plugins over the past few years. From all my testing so far, I have found these Lightroom plugins to be very useful for my photo editing workflow.
Many of these plugins come with a time-limited free version for download. So, download the trial version and give it a try. I am sure that you are going to like at least five from this lot of best Lightroom plugins.
If you have found any other best Lightroom plugins, feel free to share the details in the comments section below.