A woman in a cream dress standing in a lavender field

Soft Blue


Soft Blue is a free Lightroom preset that creates a soft and stylish look using orange and blue hues. The combination creates an airy violet pastel look that gives a dreamy, ethereal, feel. With this preset, you can have both dramatic and tender-looking shots.

Collection: Pastel Presets
Best for: Portraits, Outdoors
Style: 
Soft, Matte, Pastel, Film

You can use this preset for fashion and portrait photos, taken indoors and outdoors. You may also try it on images of newborn babies and children to draw out their innocent charm. Because of its creative thematic look, this filter can serve as a cohesive motif for your Instagram feed.

Tints Highlights and Shadows

A light pastel portrait of a woman wearing a denim jumpsuit

Artistic Tones. To create its signature look, Soft Blue tints highlights with orange and shadows with blue. This combination blends to produce that indescribable near-violet pastel hues. You can examine the result in the above portrait. Pay attention to the changes in the building facade, the woman’s skin tones, and the dark details of her denim jumpsuit.

Notice how its subdued color accents help transform the mood of the photograph. It somehow combines the charm of film and the modern airy aesthetic that is popular on lifestyle blogs.

A soft portrait of a man wearing a jacket

Complementary Accents. You can examine the beauty of these tints more closely in the After photo above. Look at the man’s clothing: the light areas have a tinge of orange while the shadows under the folds have a complementing soft shade of blue. You can also observe the same on his face.

The seamless blend of these two hues creates an impression that these were shot under complex lighting or using a special film. Because of these qualities, notice how the Soft Blue preset creates a beautifully cinematic scene.

Amplifies Light and Contrast

A soft pastel photo of someone making a cake

Brightening. The preset increases exposure and contrast to optimize them for the previously mentioned orange and blue tones. With more light and a wider spectrum of color intensity, it can produce more nuanced tones. This also helps retain some depth even with a tender look. The photo example above shows how it moderately lights up the scene and draws out colors.

Lowers Vibrance and Saturation

A softened portrait of a woman wearing red shoes and leaning against a car

Unsaturated. Soft Blue softens its hues by lowering both vibrance and saturation. It softens colors and significantly lowers their intensity. These go hand in hand with the light orange and blue tones that the preset applies to highlights and shadows.

You can compare the woman’s red shoes and her hair in both photos above. These look significantly undersaturated in the After image. You can also see how these hues blend well with the overall pastel motif. It somehow produces a retro style and a timeless feel.

Lightens Dark Tones

A car parked along the street

Muted Blacks. The preset turns blacks and shadows into gray. It makes dark areas less harsh by adding some light to them. These then complement the warm gray tint that Soft Blue applies throughout the image as an accent.

Soft Blue is for Lightroom Mobile, Desktop, and…

Like all our Lightroom Presets, you can absolutely use Soft Blue as is, right out of the box. With any preset, you might need to make adjustments to accommodate your specific camera, settings, lighting, and subject matter.

  • Entirely Adjustable
  • Designed for Adobe Lightroom for PC, Mac, and Mobile
  • Includes Lrtemplate and XMP preset formats for Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic desktop apps
  • Includes DNG preset format for the free Lightroom mobile app
  • Applicable to both RAW and JPG images
  • 100% Free Preset Download

Need help with the presets? You can visit our guide to learn how to install Lightroom presets.


Free Lightroom Preset by Marc

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