ON1 Lightpanel: The AI Assistant Revolutionising Lightroom Workflows

Transform your professional photography workflow with Lightpanel, ON1's groundbreaking AI-powered assistant for Lightroom Classic. No cloud uploads and no per-image fees – just intelligent, local processing that cuts editing time in half.

How Lightpanel Helps Professional Photographers

As a professional photographer and long-time user of ON1's software suite, I've seen many tools promise to revolutionise our workflow. Most fall short, requiring us to change our entire process or juggle between multiple applications. But ON1's new Lightpanel is different – it's the first AI tool that genuinely understands and enhances the professional photographer's workflow instead of trying to replace it.

Little side note here: I will keep referring to ON1 throughout this article because this is the brand everyone already knows. But Lightpanel is released under the new ON1 Pro brand. This is a new department within ON1 that will deliver products and solutions that address challenges in professional photography workflows.
As per their press release: “ON1 Pro is poised to enhance professional photography workflows by delivering cutting-edge AI technologies, streamlined workflows, and features designed to meet the demands of professionals. ON1 Pro aims to redefine what professional photographers can accomplish by leveraging AI to deliver unmatched speed, consistency, and efficiency throughout every stage of their post-processing workflow.“

The Problem with Current Workflows

If you're like most professional photographers, your post-processing workflow probably looks something like this:

• Importing thousands of images into Lightroom Classic
• Manually culling through photos looking for closed eyes and blurry shots
• Comparing similar shots to pick the best expressions
• Making basic exposure and white balance corrections
• Applying consistent edits across entire sessions
• Switching between apps for enhancements, with or without the help of AI
• Managing duplicate files and versions

This process is time-consuming, often frustrating, and eats into time better spent with clients or behind the camera. For wedding photographers handling 3,000-5,000 photos per event, this can mean 15-20 hours of post-processing – per wedding.

Lightpanel aims at solving this and many other tedious tasks with different genres of photography. If this makes you salivate already, you can visit the dedicated site to find out all about Lightpanel.

What Makes Lightpanel Different?

ON1's Lightpanel is not just another AI photo editor. It's an intelligent assistant that works directly inside Lightroom Classic, eliminating the need for external applications or file duplication. Here's why it's a game-changer in a few bullet points:

1. Native Lightroom Classic Integration

• Works as a panel right inside Lightroom – no switching between apps
• Uses Lightroom's existing rating system and color labels
• Maintains your current folder organization and workflow
• Compatible with all your existing presets and edits

2. Intelligent AI Processing

• Local processing on your computer – no cloud uploads
• No per-image fees or credit system
• Unlimited AI-powered edits
• Learns your editing style

3. Advanced Culling Features

Face Detection and Analysis:

• Automatically detects and zooms to faces
• Identifies closed eyes and blurry photos
• Groups similar photos for easy comparison
• Configurable similarity thresholds

Smart Organization:

• Time-based grouping options
• Visual similarity detection
• Automatic star ratings and color labels
• Customizable metadata workflows

4. Professional-Grade Portrait Enhancement

• Intelligent skin smoothing with adjustable intensity
• Eye enhancement (whites and iris)
• Automatic teeth whitening
• Eyebrow darkening
• Natural-looking results

Ligthpanel Real-World Applications

Wedding Photography

If you are a wedding photographer, you know the challenge of delivering consistent, high-quality images while managing massive photo sets. Lightpanel transforms this process by introducing intelligent workflows that dramatically reduce your post-processing time while maintaining the highest quality standards.

The intelligent culling system works as your first assistant, automatically analyzing and grouping similar shots from the ceremony, reception, and portrait sessions. It quickly identifies the sharpest images in each series and flags any potential issues like closed eyes or motion blur. This is particularly valuable for those crucial group shots where ensuring everyone's eyes are open can be a time-consuming challenge.

Lightpanel's consistent editing capabilities take your workflow to the next level by learning and adapting to your preferred style. Whether you're working with the harsh contrast of midday sun during the ceremony or the mixed lighting of a reception venue, the AI assistant applies intelligent adjustments that maintain consistency while respecting the unique characteristics of each scene. The system understands the nuances of wedding photography, from preserving the delicate details in a white dress to maintaining natural skin tones across different lighting conditions.

Perhaps most importantly, Lightpanel delivers significant time savings that directly impact your bottom line. By reducing culling time by up to 50% and automating basic corrections, you can focus more on the creative aspects of your work. Retouching becomes more efficient with intelligent skin smoothing and enhancement tools, while the streamlined workflow helps you deliver galleries to eager couples much faster than before.

Portrait Photography

Portrait photographers will find that Lightpanel's sophisticated approach to face detection and enhancement transforms their post-processing workflow. The system excels at handling both individual portraits and group shots, analyzing expressions with remarkable accuracy to help you select the perfect moments. Its advanced face detection technology supports multiple subjects while maintaining natural-looking results, ensuring that each person in a group shot receives optimal enhancement without appearing over-processed.

The style consistency features are particularly valuable for portrait photographers who have developed their own unique look. Lightpanel's adaptive presets and context-aware adjustments understand the nuances of your editing style, applying them intelligently across different lighting conditions and skin tones. The custom look creation tool learns from your existing work, allowing you to maintain your signature style while significantly reducing the time spent on each image. This batch processing capability is particularly valuable for high-volume sessions like corporate headshots or school photography, where maintaining consistent quality across hundreds of images is crucial.

Scott Kelby, renowned Adobe educator, says:

“ON1 has a major hit on their hands. I think the real magic is how they integrated Lightpanel into the portrait and wedding photographer's existing Lightroom workflow. Instead of making everyone re-learn an entirely new workflow with another product, they are supercharging the workflow we already have and cutting our workload in half.”

Pricing and Value Proposition

ON1 is offering Lightpanel at a special launch price of $199.99 for the first year (regular price $299.99/year).

This includes:

• Unlimited AI processing
• Two-computer license
• No per-image fees
• Works on Mac and Windows

Pre-Order Bonus Package (worth over $200):

• ON1 Resize AI (perpetual license)
• ON1 NoNoise AI (perpetual license)
• ON1 Effects (perpetual license)
• Free upgrades to 2025 versions

The offer ends on February 28, 2025.

Cost Analysis for Professional Photographers

Let's break down the value proposition. It's all very hypothetical, but it may help you decide whether this is worth your investment,:

• Average wedding processing time: 15-20 hours
• Lightpanel reduces this by approximately 50%
• At $50/hour (conservative rate), you save $375-$500 per wedding
• Processing just one wedding pays for the entire year's subscription

Future Developments

ON1 has already outlined an ambitious roadmap for Lightpanel that promises to make it an even more comprehensive solution for professional photographers.

The upcoming job tracking integration will allow photographers to manage their projects directly within the familiar Lightroom environment, while new order management features will streamline the business side of photography workflows. Client delivery tools are also in development, promising to simplify the final stages of project completion. Perhaps most exciting is the planned advanced workflow automation, which aims to further reduce repetitive tasks and streamline the entire photo management process from import to delivery.

While these features are still in development, ON1's track record of regular updates and improvements suggests that users can look forward to a continuously evolving tool that grows more powerful with each release.

Should You Invest in Lightpanel?

Conclusion

ON1 Lightpanel represents a significant advancement in professional photography workflow tools. Its seamless integration with Lightroom Classic, combined with powerful AI capabilities and a straightforward pricing model, makes it a compelling investment for professional photographers.

The focus on local processing, unlimited AI usage, and workflow enhancement rather than replacement sets it apart from competing solutions. For high-volume photographers looking to save time without sacrificing quality or completely changing their workflow, Lightpanel offers a powerful solution.

Disclosure: As an ON1 affiliate partner, I earn from qualifying purchases made through links in this post. However, this doesn't affect my honest assessment of the software, which I use in my own professional workflow and promote on these pages because I am satisfied with it.