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zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,791
132
Has anyone used "Luminar Neo" for enhancing easily this photos?
 

Clix Pix

macrumors Core
I have Luminar AI which I sometimes use for quick things like "erasing" a blobby or two that I overlooked when initially editing an image. It's quick and easy to jump in there and fix the problem rather than opening my regular editing program (DXO PhotoLab 5). The erase function in Luminar AI works very well. They also have a nice setup for dodging and burning, and occasionally I make use of that, too, when I need to lighten or darken just a specific section of the image a little bit. I do not use it for swapping skies around or making drastic alterations to someone's face or body -- to me that is going much too far. I don't like the too-vivid HDR effect that one can get if using their "templates," either.

Recently I also downloaded and installed Luminar Neo but found some features and functions missing that are in Luminar AI, and there seems to be a bug in the "erase" program so that when one performs the erasure and then decides to undo it, for some reason the "undo" is greyed out. Not cool!
 
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zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,791
132
When trying to enhance the sea (in a pic with a sailing boat) is there a slider for the sea/waves etc. as there is one for the sky/clouds?
 

tizeye

macrumors 68040
Jul 17, 2013
3,241
35,935
Orlando, FL
Been thinking about upgrading to Neo but never get around to it. I have Luminar AI and use it primarily for sky replacement. It is critical on the presentation of real estate photos and can't always schedule good weather, or do interior and return for exterior. I prefer it to Photoshop's sky replacement and the weird layers it creates. I did note that ir tends to give a blueish cast which is a problem with white eaves and windows. The way I have gotten around it is using as a plug-in in Photoshop rather than fee-standing. Make a background layer to no touch the original, then with that clean original, mask in bringing the white trim and window frames back.
 
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ericgtr12

macrumors 68000
Mar 19, 2015
1,774
12,175
Looks like a great utility but viewing their demos it doesn't appear to do anything you can't already with Adobe PS and LR, but the price point is definitely cheaper.
 

AlaskaMoose

macrumors 68040
Apr 26, 2008
3,586
13,430
Alaska
Looks like a great utility but viewing their demos it doesn't appear to do anything you can't already with Adobe PS and LR, but the price point is definitely cheaper.
Yes, the CC PS and Lightroom apps are very expensive, and aren't standalone apps installed in your computer. DXO's Photo Lab (including the Nik software), OneOne, Luminar, and so on, are relatively cheap standalone apps one pays for up front.
 

Clix Pix

macrumors Core
It is my impression that the Skylum folks are hoping to attract those who don't really want to spend a lot on a software editing program and/or subscription, much less fuss much with editing their images. Yet the prospective purchaser/user might want to tinker a little bit so that their images look better than what they get with their SOOC JPEGs with a P&S or with their cellphone cameras. Both Luminar AI and Luminar Neo emphasize AI and quick-and-dirty -- pretty much automatic -- adjustments to images rather than focusing on targeting the person who wants to spend some serious time in editing images he or she has shot.
 

tizeye

macrumors 68040
Jul 17, 2013
3,241
35,935
Orlando, FL
luminar should really update their NEO blog pages so that their examples for NEO
match the updated UI

they're hiding a lot of functionality with the latest couple of updates to the UI

for example, compare their example (https://skylum.com/blog/how-to-restore-old-photos) with the current 1.0.7
Given the situation at their headquarters in Ukraine, suspect their programmers have other things on their mind. Many may even be pursuing a temporary second career.
 

lcubed

macrumors 6502a
Nov 19, 2020
540
326
Given the situation at their headquarters in Ukraine, suspect their programmers have other things on their mind. Many may even be pursuing a temporary second career.
true, but as Clip Pix pointed out above, the current UI emphasizes the quick and dirty.

it's very easy to miss how powerful NEO is because one has to dig to get to the basic tools.

try following the steps in their retouch blog tutorial as an illustration.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,239
13,309
lcubed wrote:
"it's very easy to miss how powerful NEO is because one has to dig to get to the basic tools."

I find an older copy of Luminar 4 (which has much less of the "AI" stuff) preferable...
 

lcubed

macrumors 6502a
Nov 19, 2020
540
326
lcubed wrote:
"it's very easy to miss how powerful NEO is because one has to dig to get to the basic tools."

I find an older copy of Luminar 4 (which has much less of the "AI" stuff) preferable...
if Luminar 4 were Universal, i'd also be a happy camper.
(I've currently have L2018, L3,L4, LAi and LNeo all on my Studio)
 
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