If you’re a portrait photographer who spends hours culling, developing, and editing your sessions, it’s time to speed things up. Lightpanel is the best Lightroom portrait editing plugin for streamlining your entire workflow — and it works right inside Lightroom Classic.

Video Tutorial: Edit Outdoor Portraits Faster with Lightpanel

In this quick tutorial, we’ll show how to use Lightpanel to:

  • Automatically cull your portrait sessions
  • Instantly auto-develop photos using AI
  • Make local adjustments like darkening skies and enhancing subjects
  • Batch edit similar photos to save even more time

🎥 Prefer to watch on Youtube? Here’s a link to the full video: Watch on YouTube

Why Use Lightpanel for Outdoor Portraits?

Lightroom is great for cataloging and global adjustments, but it’s not optimized for fast-paced portrait workflows. Lightpanel picks up where Lightroom leaves off — helping you move from thousands of RAWs to polished, professional portraits without switching apps.

Key benefits:

  • Culling assistance with AI face, blur, and duplicate detection
  • AI-powered auto-tone for quick, clean base edits
  • Local AI masks for skies and subjects
  • Seamless integration with Lightroom Classic

Step-by-Step: Lightpanel in Action

1. Culling Smarter, Not Slower

Once your images are imported into Lightroom, launch ON1 Pro – Lightpanel. It automatically scans your session to detect:

  • Duplicate images
  • Out-of-focus shots
  • Closed eyes or bad expressions

This makes it incredibly easy to identify your best frames. Use Lightroom’s built-in shortcuts (like hitting 5 for 5-star ratings) to tag your selects and move them into a dedicated folder.

2. Auto-Develop with AI

Select one of your favorite shots and apply Lightpanel’s Auto Tone feature. It uses AI to intelligently adjust:

  • Exposure
  • Contrast
  • Highlights
  • Shadows

This gives you a clean, well-balanced image to start with — and it updates Lightroom’s develop settings in real time.

💡 Tip: You can fine-tune the strength of the auto tone using a single slider.

3. Make Local Adjustments (Fast)

Now jump into Local Adjustments. In the video, we see two powerful tools in action:

  • Darken Sky: Lightpanel auto-detects the sky and tones it down to reduce distraction in outdoor portraits.
  • Pop Subject: It finds your subject, applies a mask, and enhances light and clarity to make them stand out beautifully.

These AI-powered tools eliminate the need for manual masking — saving you serious time.

4. Batch Apply for Consistency

Once you’ve dialed in a look you love, apply those settings across similar shots in your session. This keeps your edits consistent and cuts down on repetitive adjustments.

The Result: Polished Portraits in Minutes

With just a few clicks, ON1 Pro – Lightpanel helps you:
✅ Cull faster
✅ Auto-develop clean base edits
✅ Make targeted adjustments in seconds
✅ Batch edit for speed and consistency

And you do it all without leaving Lightroom.

Ready to give it a try?

Cut hours out of your editing workflow and deliver pro-quality portraits faster?

👉 Try Lightpanel Free for 30-Days

It’s the easiest way to level up your Lightroom editing — especially for high-volume portrait sessions.