Minimalistic Borders [Lightroom Preset]

Adding Borders in Lightroom is now possible!

Say NO to sending your images to Photoshop just for borders! Adding borders in Lightroom is a huge improvement, from a workflow standpoint because you won't have to send files back and forth between multiple apps. Moreover, it also allows the photos to be adjusted with the borders applied and this makes it easy to compensate for the perceived brightness change that happens when borders are applied on top of a photo.

Why use borders?

White borders help your photos stand out in a busy social media feed by creating a clean, minimalist frame that separates your image from other content. They also act as a matte in a picture frame, drawing the viewer’s eye directly to the photo and eliminating distractions, making your work feel more intentional and artful.

How did I achieve borders in Lightroom?

Creating these presets wasn’t as simple as just adding a white border overlay so I had to use a workaround similar to my Cinematic Black Bars [ Lightroom Preset] . The trick relies on a brushed-on mask that turns every selected pixel to white/black using a flat curve. But to make sure the borders are perfectly straight, consistent, and work with any photo, I had to dive a little deeper. This can't be done by hand, so instead, I used a mix of programming and manual code editing of the .xmp files (the code behind Lightroom presets) to get perfectly straight lines just on the edge of the frame. The result? A seamless solution that adds beautiful borders to your photo regardless of their dimensions. Smooth and consistent every time.

Key features?

• No Photoshop Required: Finally, you can add white borders directly in Lightroom – no Photoshop or third-party software.
• Non-Destructive Editing: Toggle the borders on and off with ease, ensuring your original photo remains untouched. Perfect for different exports or client preferences.
• Not an afterthought: You can adjust colors and tones in photographs: with the border applied, ensuring your final edit looks exactly as intended.
• Aspect Ratio Agnostic: Whether your photo is square, portrait, or landscape, the border width stays consistent, giving your work a polished, professional look every time.
• Space saving: Say goodbye to having the same file multiple times on your hard drives with different borders. You can now use virtual copies inside lightroom and save valuable space on disk.

Limitations of my method

1. The border is applied on top of your image, so a few pixels at the edges will be covered
2. If you change the crop after applying a border, you'll need to reapply the preset. Due to what seems to be a Lightroom bug, you will have to reset the border either by deleting the mask or by applying any other border preset and then applying the one you have previously used.
3. 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.
4. Borders can't be applied outside the image area. If you use distortion controls or transform tools without Constrain Crop checked, Lightroom may create transparent zones, but masks won’t work in those areas. So the Lightroom Border Presets won't be able to do it either.

What’s in the Pack?

This bundle includes 12 presets:

• 6 White Border Presets: Clean, minimalist, and timeless.
• 6 Black Border Presets: Bold, dramatic, and eye-catching.

With double the options, you’ll have the perfect border for any style or mood.

Perfect for saving time jumping between Lightroom and Photoshop. With this Pack of 12 Lightroom Borders / Preset Bundle, you can add beautiful, consistent white or black borders in seconds – all while keeping your workflow smooth and stress-free.

WARNING: Your Lightroom Version has to be somewhat recent.

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

LICENSE:

Purchase of these Lightroom presets and Camera profiles 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 as Lightroom won't care and it will load everything.

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