# Tried the new Luminar 4...



## stk (Nov 22, 2019)

So I bought Luminar 4, as I don't want to give Adobe any more money. Unfortunately, it's still not a Lightroom replacement for my taste, but it's still fun to play with.

This is my first image edited with Luminar 4. It's way over the top for my taste, but  at least I got to try some of the new features of the program.

And yes, it's a comp. I took two mediocre shots and mixed them into one...






And one with one of Luminar's included skies:


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## Jeff15 (Nov 22, 2019)

It's always nice to have a play when editing.............


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## crf8 (Nov 22, 2019)

The program includes Skies? What else does it include? Ridiculous...... how is that “your” photograph if you add other people’s work?
Nothing against OP, as he mentioned it, just in general.


FB.me/CRFinTN  Facebook 
www.flickr.com/crf8/


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## stk (Nov 22, 2019)

crf8 said:


> The program includes Skies? What else does it include? Ridiculous...... how is that “your” photograph if you add other people’s work?
> Nothing against OP, as he mentioned it, just in general.
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, it does! In the second image the sky is not my work. 

And I agree with you, but it's still fun.


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## Derrel (Nov 22, 2019)

What is the price of this application?


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## stk (Nov 22, 2019)

It seems like it's €89 at the moment. 

And to clarify, it's not only a sky replacement application, it's a full organizing and post processing application.


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## weepete (Nov 23, 2019)

looks pretty good, I saw the review/ad on fstoppers youtube channel and it looked interesting if limited for what I would use it for. Certainly the AI looks pretty cool though it didn't do a perfect job of masking in the more complex image. It opens up the possibility of using AI for complex masking wich would be massivley useful.


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## weepete (Nov 23, 2019)

crf8 said:


> The program includes Skies? What else does it include? Ridiculous...... how is that “your” photograph if you add other people’s work?
> Nothing against OP, as he mentioned it, just in general.
> 
> 
> ...



You don't have to use their skies, you could replace it with one of your own. But it seems like a lot of people are doing sky replacements at the moment!

Really it's their AI that's used to create complex masking for local adjustments that's the point of their program.


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## K9Kirk (Nov 25, 2019)

Cool pics. It's kind of funny to hear someone say a picture isn't someone's own but yet most people here use LR. It seems the difference is one has slowly been accepted while as the other hasn't ... yet.


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## goooner (Nov 25, 2019)

Nice, is this also a 'non destructive' editing process like LR (ie editing information of the raw file in a 'sidecar' file)?


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## stk (Nov 25, 2019)

goooner said:


> Nice, is this also a 'non destructive' editing process like LR (ie editing information of the raw file in a 'sidecar' file)?


Yes!

"*Luminar* is a *non*-*destructive* image editing and photo management software *for* Mac & PC, designed to deliver professional results in less time than anything else currently available. *Luminar* uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered tools to make complex editing simpler"
- ShotKit.com


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## goooner (Nov 25, 2019)

stk said:


> goooner said:
> 
> 
> > Nice, is this also a 'non destructive' editing process like LR (ie editing information of the raw file in a 'sidecar' file)?
> ...


Cool, I played around with ACDsee a couple of years ago, as you can import your LR catalogues into it, with key words. I see they have some crazy specials on at the moment as well.


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## ronlane (Nov 25, 2019)

It doesn't just do sky replacements, although it is pretty good at that for how easy it is using their software. The AI that is in this program is pretty solid. I was as interested in the portrait stuff that it has in it, also some AI in there.

Works for me and a lot easier than using frequency separation in PS. I'm not a high end re-toucher and my clients typically don't need that type of work. But it is nice to get skin smoothing and some blemish removal done with a slider and click of a check box. I know I posted this image here already but I processed basic in LR and then used Luminar 4 to do the skin, eyes, a touch of face, teeth and then converted to B&W.


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## Ron Evers (Nov 25, 2019)

One Ron to another - the image of the girl no longer looks realistic. 

I have been using ON1 Photo Raw 2018 for the last year & half only because my Lightroom 4.4 would not recognize my EM-5II files.  Many users rave about the 2020 version but I only use basic stuff so am not inclined to upgrade.  
Son Mark, who shoots professionally & subscribes to Abobe, downloaded the trial of ON1 2020 but found it not to be intuitive.  Guess it depends on what one is used to.


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## ronlane (Nov 26, 2019)

@Ron Evers. I have used the ON1 software for the trial period and I really like it too. It is killer if you tether a lot, but I don't. So I just keep using LR & PS.

Not sure what you mean about the girl not looking realistic.


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## johngpt (Nov 26, 2019)

ronlane said:


> It doesn't just do sky replacements, although it is pretty good at that for how easy it is using their software. The AI that is in this program is pretty solid. I was as interested in the portrait stuff that it has in it, also some AI in there.
> 
> Works for me and a lot easier than using frequency separation in PS. I'm not a high end re-toucher and my clients typically don't need that type of work. But it is nice to get skin smoothing and some blemish removal done with a slider and click of a check box. I know I posted this image here already but I processed basic in LR and then used Luminar 4 to do the skin, eyes, a touch of face, teeth and then converted to B&W.
> 
> View attachment 182847


I opened up your image in a separate tab and liked that while there is some skin smoothing, the skin texture is still there. I see pores and little bumps telling me that you and Luminar did a very nice job.


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## johngpt (Nov 26, 2019)

Alexa, please replace the background of this self portrait.
And while you're at it, please find a better looking subject and replace him too...


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## Ron Evers (Nov 26, 2019)

ronlane said:


> @Ron Evers. I have used the ON1 software for the trial period and I really like it too. It is killer if you tether a lot, but I don't. So I just keep using LR & PS.
> 
> Not sure what you mean about the girl not looking realistic.



I find her face is over the top sharp, compared to the rest of the image.


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## ronlane (Nov 27, 2019)

Ron Evers said:


> ronlane said:
> 
> 
> > @Ron Evers. I have used the ON1 software for the trial period and I really like it too. It is killer if you tether a lot, but I don't. So I just keep using LR & PS.
> ...



Thanks Ron, but not sure that I can fix that because I didn't do but basic sharpening in LR and it isn't much at all.


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## Ysarex (Nov 30, 2019)

goooner said:


> Nice, is this also a 'non destructive' editing process like LR (ie editing information of the raw file in a 'sidecar' file)?



Tentative yes, but *BIG BUT* not entirely. Luminar 4 throws a monkey wrench into your non destructive workflow if you attempt to use it's erase/cloning function. For example you've got a pesky tree limb hanging in the photo from one side and you'd like to remove it. LR can do that and so can Luminar. However Luminar accomplishes that task with what Skylum refers to as a Stamped Layer. That Stamped Layer is a monkey wrench because it freezes your editing at that point and any tweaks or additional adjustments that you might make on edits previously applied will not upgrade to or through that Stamped Layer. The only solution then would be to remove the Stamped Layer and re-do the work and that's a destructive workflow.

Joe


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## ronlane (Nov 30, 2019)

Joe, You maybe correct if you are using Luminar as a stand alone processor. I use it as a plug-in for LR and when doing this, LR makes a copy of the image to process in Luminar, so it is non-destructive for my workflow. If I don't like it, I can delete the copy and still have the original.


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## Ysarex (Nov 30, 2019)

ronlane said:


> Joe, You maybe correct if you are using Luminar as a stand alone processor. I use it as a plug-in for LR and when doing this, LR makes a copy of the image to process in Luminar, so it is non-destructive for my workflow. If I don't like it, I can delete the copy and still have the original.



I'm not using the term non-destructive in the sense that the original image is overwritten but rather in the sense that the software is destructive of your editing work. It's a subtle distinction in meaning. Non-destructive editing is both protective of the original image file and also of your editing work. In other words the software shouldn't make you re-do your work if you later decide to change your mind about an edit or want to tweak an edit. Luminar will basically do that: force you to re-do previous work if you add a Stamped Layer and then later decide you want to tweak or add something to your previous editing. That's a destructive workflow and that's bad software design and they should fix that.

Joe


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## ronlane (Nov 30, 2019)

Ysarex said:


> ronlane said:
> 
> 
> > Joe, You maybe correct if you are using Luminar as a stand alone processor. I use it as a plug-in for LR and when doing this, LR makes a copy of the image to process in Luminar, so it is non-destructive for my workflow. If I don't like it, I can delete the copy and still have the original.
> ...



I understand, there are times in PS that you have to do a stamped layer as well to get it to do what you need to.


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## Ysarex (Nov 30, 2019)

ronlane said:


> Ysarex said:
> 
> 
> > ronlane said:
> ...



Absolutely yes there are; any cloning work done in PS is just as workflow destructive as what I discovered here in Luminar. I've moved away from PS over the years and that's one of the reasons. I try to complete all of my editing using a parametric editor and so avoid that problem. Which is why it was a bit of a jolt to download the trial version of Luminar (a parametric editor) and discover it causes the same problem that PS causes with that task. The other parametric editors I'm familiar with avoid that problem.

Joe


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## jaomul (Dec 1, 2019)

I ended up with ACDsee about 2 yrs ago but went back to Lightroom. However ACDsee released there 2019 and I gave it another go. Does an awful lot of what Lightroom does, plus the ultimate version has a sort of ps bolted on

I then bought affinity for half price. I'll likely not renew my Adobe sub when it comes to renewal


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