Cinematic Black Bars [Lightroom Preset]

If you, like me, love the immersive, cinematic look of wide aspect ratios like 2.4:1, 2.33:1, or even 65:24, you already know how stunning these formats can make your photos feel. But you also know the pain of exporting your images to Photoshop or other third-party applications to add the cinematic black bars to bring them to 16:9 so you can upload them to social media.

Benefits of Cineamtic Black Bars in Lightroom:

• Non-Destructive Editing: Because my method uses Lightroom masking, you can toggle the bars on and off with ease, while the original photo remains untouched. Perfect for different exports or client preferences.
• Live Preview: You can adjust colors and tones in your photos, with the cinematic bars in place. This will help you preview the final result while editing. So you won't be surprised by the perceived brightness change after you add the black bars.
• Faster Workflow: Adding the cinematic Black Bars directly in Lightroom means no overlay, no Photoshop, and no third-party software required.
• Space saving: Say goodbye to having the same file multiple times on your hard drives just because you wanted to add black bars. You can now use virtual copies inside Lightroom and save valuable space on your hard disk.

How did I achieve borders in Lightroom?

Adding Black Bars to your photos is not a Lightroom feature. So I use a workaround similar to the one used in my Minimalistic Borders [ Lightroom Preset ]. I am adding a mask that forces the selected pixels to pure black by using a flat curve. But making sure they apply straight on your photos, even if you previously used some distortion control, was not an easy task. My solution was to combine complex math and a bit of coding to manually tweak the .xmp files to create the Cineamtic Black Bars and make sure they are the right thickness. The result? A simple, one-click preset that instantly adds a cinematic widescreen look to your images. Flawless, consistent, and ready for the big screen or social media posts. Let's face it, as photographers, our work is more likely to end up on Instagram than on a cinema screen.

Why Black Bars?

1. For a Cinematic Aesthetic – Many movies, especially big-budget films, use the 2.39:1 (or 2.4:1) aspect ratio. Adding black bars makes a photo feel more like a frame from a film, giving it a storytelling quality.
2. For Emotional Impact – A wider frame often feels more dramatic or immersive. This can help you place your subject in a specific time and place with the help of the details you see around.
3. For better Framing & Composition - A wider aspect ratio forces a different compositional approach. It can emphasize horizontal elements, create a sense of scale, or help lead the viewer’s eye across the frame.

What’s in the Pack?

This bundle contains 4 Cinematic Black Bars Lightroom Presets

• Black bars 16:9 - > 2.4:1
• Black bars 16:9 - > 2:1
• Black bars 16:9 - > 2.33:1
• Black bars 16:9 - > 65:24

Limitations of my method:

• You will first have to manually crop to 16:9 using the Lightroom crop tool
• The Black Bars will move around if you use the distortion correction / transform / crop tools after applying it. So you will have to reset the bars. To do this, you will have to delete the mask and apply the preset again.
• Lightroom processes masks in order. If you apply the border early in your edit, later masks might alter the exposure in that area. For pure black or white borders, delete and apply the Border preset again after finishing your editing.
• Presets can't be applied outside the image area. If you used distortion controls or transform tools without Constrain Crop checked, Lightroom may create transparent zones, but masks won’t work in those areas. So the Cinematic Black Bars won't be able to cover them either.
  

WARNING: Your Lightroom Version has to be somewhat recent.

The Lightroom Border presets won't work with versions of Lightroom that do not have the curve adjustment inside their maks pannel.

LICENSE:

Purchase of these Lightroom presets grants the buyer a personal, non-transferable, and non-exclusive license to use the presets. This license strictly prohibits resale, redistribution, or sharing of the presets in their original or any modified form, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

INSTALLATION:

Copy the .xmp files to the specific folder:

• Windows: C:Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw\Settings
• macOS: User Library>Application Support>Adobe>CameraRaw> Settings

Here you can make as many subfolders and organize the files however you see fit. Lightroom does not care, and it will load everything as normal.

To learn how to add any presets to Lightroom, you can follow these steps:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/kb/faq-install-presets-profiles.html