Different layers. Different modes.
Use Lighten for bright trails, Screen for a luminous overlay, or Multiply for deeper tones. Each overlay has its own blend mode and opacity.
Lightroom Classic plugin · macOS + Windows
Many exposures.
One new image.
Build a star trail, layer a landscape, or bring two different moments together. Blend up to 50 photographs, give each layer its own character, and return the finished image to Lightroom Classic.
Free for now18 blend modes2–50 exposures
See the layers come togetherIllustrationLighten keeps the brightest parts of each exposure. A useful starting point for aligned star trails.
Three generated exposures · Concept illustration, not a plugin screenshot. Your photos are never loaded into this demo.
Your stack, your decisions
Choose what each exposure adds.
Start with your Lightroom Develop edits. BlendIt opens a dedicated editor so you can shape the whole composition before saving a separate image.
Change a group in one step
Shift-click a range, add individual layers with Command on Mac or Ctrl on Windows, or Select All. Apply any blend mode to the selected overlays.
Put your base at the top
Reorder layers with their drag handles or arrows. Move a layer to the top to make it the base; that row always renders with Normal.
Make the pieces fit
Adjust scale, rotation, horizontal and vertical position, or flips for a selected layer. Drag the preview to reposition it; hide a layer to compare.
Know where it is going
A visible save path and folder chooser keep the destination clear. Save as 16-bit RGB TIFF or JPEG, with progress while BlendIt works.
Back in your collection
The finished image is imported into the catalog and added to the originating regular collection. Save beside the last source for below-source folder stacking.
Optional Auto Blend
A softer meeting between images.
Keep full manual control, or turn on either of two independent options in Exposure Settings. Both start off and apply to the preview and saved composite.
Soften overlapping edges
Feather an overlay’s image boundaries where visible layers lie underneath. Isolated edges stay opaque, so a photograph does not fade into an empty canvas.
Match tones and colors
Use the overlapping composite below an overlay as a reference for bounded global tone and color adjustments. Blend modes, opacity, and transforms remain editable.
Use either, both, or neither. These options do not perform subject extraction, focus stacking, stitching, or alignment. For pure Lighten star-trail batches, leave both off.
18 ways to combine
Beyond a single look.
Choose a mode per overlay, then use opacity to control its contribution. The base stays Normal, so one layer’s choice never forces the rest of the stack.
- Normal
- Darken
- Multiply
- Color Burn
- Lighten
- Screen
- Additive
- Average
- Color Dodge
- Overlay
- Soft Light
- Hard Light
- Difference
- Exclusion
- Hue
- Saturation
- Color
- Luminosity
From selection to composite
Choose. Arrange. Blend. Save.
Choose your exposures
Select 2–50 online photos in Library. Open Library → Plug-in Extras → BlendIt.
Arrange your stack
Choose the base, reorder layers, and adjust the framing of individual exposures.
Find your blend
Set modes and opacity for one layer or a group. Review the reduced-resolution preview.
Save and return
Choose your destination and format. Watch save progress, then find the new image in Lightroom.
Get BlendIt
Pick your platform.
Free for now. Download the complete plugin folder, extract it, and add it through Lightroom Classic’s Plug-in Manager.
Apple Silicon + Intel
Version 0.1.14 · macOS 12 or later.
Download for macOS ↓Development build. Ad-hoc signed; not Apple-notarized.
Windows 11 x64
Preview 6 · Version 0.1.14.6 · Runtime included.
Download for Windows ↓Unsigned testing preview. Tested in Windows 11 under x64 emulation; Intel/AMD hardware testing remains pending.
Find it on Exchange
The listing link will be added after approval and publication.
Get on Adobe Exchange ↗The Exchange download is not available yet. You can use the platform downloads above.
Need help? Follow the Mac and Windows installation instructions. Your originals stay intact; image processing stays on your computer.
Before you start
A few practical details.
What you need
- Adobe Lightroom Classic and online original files.
- macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon or Intel; or Windows 11 x64 for the preview.
- A writable destination and free space for temporary TIFFs and your composite.
- No Photoshop or separate processing service is required.
What to expect
- Up to 50 source frames per composition.
- sRGB TIFF or JPEG output, up to 12,000 pixels on the long edge and 60 megapixels.
- Manual positioning; no automatic alignment, HDR tone mapping, or noise-reduction stacking.
- Lightroom cloud/mobile and video are not supported.
A few things to know
Before your first blend.
Can I combine more than 50 star-trail photographs?
Use batches of up to 50. For aligned frames with identical framing, Lighten at 100% can combine each batch, then combine those results with Lighten at 100%. Use 16-bit TIFF intermediates, the same dimensions, and no additional Lightroom adjustments between batches. Small encoding differences can occur. This approach does not preserve every other blend mode’s result.
Does one layer’s blend mode control the others?
Each overlay has an independent mode and opacity. Selecting a group lets you change those selected layers together. Unselected layers retain their own settings. The first row is the base and always renders with Normal.
Will the output appear immediately below the last source?
When saved in the same folder, BlendIt asks Lightroom to stack the result below the last source in Lightroom’s original selection list. It also returns the image to the source regular collection and tries to select it. Collection sorting, filters, and stack visibility can affect its position; exact collection-grid adjacency is not guaranteed.
Does BlendIt change my RAW files or upload photos?
Image processing runs locally. BlendIt saves a separate composite and leaves the original files and Develop settings intact. It does not upload photos or require a separate account. Read the privacy information.
Is Average the same as averaging a whole stack?
No. Average follows BlendIt’s original half-opacity Normal blend behavior. It is not an arithmetic mean of all selected frames and is not a dedicated noise-reduction stacker.
Will the preview and the two platforms look identical?
The preview uses reduced-resolution images; inspect the saved file for fine detail. Mac and Windows use different image-rendering systems, so resampling and transformed output can differ. The Windows version is currently a testing preview.