Deep purple neon light in the rain. Dramatic and epic stage feel with cool shadows and warm highlights. Inspired by the musical atmosphere of Prince. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the artist, his estate or their record label.
- XMP · Lightroom Classic, CC & Camera Raw
- .costyle · Capture One
- .cube · 3D LUT (DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro)
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Purple Rain
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Character and mood
Purple Rain turns your photo into a night scene that feels like a stage. Deep purple neon light, rain on asphalt, shadows that go almost black. The mood is dramatic without being excessive, epic without tipping into kitsch. This preset draws its inspiration from the musical world of Prince, from that mix of intensity and elegance that ran through everything he made.
Technically, Purple Rain does several things at once. The shadows shift toward a cool blue-purple, while the highlights stay warm. That contrast between cold and warm gives the image depth and tension. The tonal values in the midtones are pulled back slightly, making dark areas genuinely dark. The purple tint does not live only in the color balance. It runs through the HSL sliders too, where purple and blue are lifted independently without pulling other colors along. The result is a photo that looks stylized but not artificial.
The preset performs best in urban night photography. Think street scenes with neon signage, wet pavement reflecting light, portraits under a streetlamp or in a lit shop window. Concert photography, backstage shots, or portrait setups with colored gels are also a natural fit. Low ambient light is not a problem. In fact, the preset is built for scenes that are already dark and high in contrast by nature.
You reach for Purple Rain when you want a photo to evoke a feeling, not just document a moment. When the scene already has something theatrical to it, something that feels larger than everyday life, this preset adds weight to that. It is not the right choice for bright, open, airy compositions. But when the atmosphere is already there in your frame, Purple Rain deepens it without forcing it into something it is not.
One practical tip: start with your exposure a little lower than usual. Purple Rain responds better to images that lean dark. If you apply it to a photo that is already well-exposed or slightly bright, pull the exposure down by 0.3 to 0.7 stops in Lightroom before you do anything else. That gives the preset the tonal range it needs, and from there you can fine-tune to taste.
Installation
Lightroom Classic & CC (desktop)
Unzip the downloaded file on your computer. Open Lightroom Classic and go to the Develop module. Right-click the Presets panel, choose 'Import Presets', and select the .xmp file. The preset appears in your list immediately and can be applied to any photo straight away.
Lightroom Mobile
Lightroom Mobile syncs presets via the cloud. Import the .xmp file into Lightroom CC on your desktop first. Once cloud sync completes, the preset is automatically available on your phone or tablet. An Adobe CC subscription is required for this sync feature.
Capture One
Unzip the file. Open Capture One and navigate to the Styles panel. Click the arrow next to 'Styles' and choose 'Import Style'. Select the .costyle file. The style is available in your library immediately. Works with Capture One version 21 and later.
DaVinci Resolve / Premiere Pro (3D LUT)
Copy the .cube file to your application's LUT folder. In DaVinci Resolve via Project Settings → Color Management → LUT folders. In Premiere Pro via the Lumetri Color panel → Creative tab → Look → Browse. The LUT works on both LOG and standard exposed video footage.
