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zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
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Has anyone used "Luminar Neo" for enhancing easily this photos?
 
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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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?
 
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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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 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)
 
I’ve got an entire library of both good and mediocre family personal historical images, including inheriting immediate post WWII images from my parents and now that I’m retired and have time on my hands decided to whip it into shape to pass on to the heirs. :)

I’ve been pissed at the trend in software going to the rental model, and after some research jumped on Luminar Neo. I purchased a persistent license, although some features are still basically rented, yet the price is better and so far, I am amazed at how easy this software is to use. Currently in the process of familiarizing myself with the choice of many tutorials online including a purchased tutorial. I’ve not hit anything mind boggling yet.

I recently upgraded to a 2024 MBR 4 which sits on the edge on the of desk, next to the PC gaming rig, but now I have a good reason to run an hdmi cable to the big monitor and operate from there.

Does anyone have experience sharing a monitor between your Mac and a PC? Can you leave both computers connected at the same time, and somehow control which computer the monitor is displaying? Right now my in elegant solution is to pull the cable from the MBP when finished with my photo work. I have seen a message pop up on the monitor about which hdmi port to use, it’s got 2, but I have to experiment more.
 
I still find myself going back to good old Luminar AI rather than using Neo for a lot of stuff, especially when I think I may want to do some dodging or burning, as Neo does not offer that functionality.
2025, I see dodging and burning as options. Not played with them yet, but I’ll assume those features have been added since your post?
 
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Played with it a bit when I got the new M4 mini at the end of last year. Was a bit buggy and slow as well. Removed it and really have seen no reason to give the painfully slow download another try.
 
2025, I see dodging and burning as options. Not played with them yet, but I’ll assume those features have been added since your post?
Yes, given that my post was written in 2022! :) I still use both Luminar AI and Neo from time to time, but neilther is my primary editing program.. Neo definitely offers many more functions and features now than the older Luminar AI.

Burning and Dodging is something I remember fondly from my film days, hunched over a negative and an unblemished white paper on an enlarger and deciding upon the best strategy to approach the negative and its contents. Certainly much easier these days!
 
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I’ve got an entire library of both good and mediocre family personal historical images, including inheriting immediate post WWII images from my parents and now that I’m retired and have time on my hands decided to whip it into shape to pass on to the heirs. :)

I’ve been pissed at the trend in software going to the rental model, and after some research jumped on Luminar Neo. I purchased a persistent license, although some features are still basically rented, yet the price is better and so far, I am amazed at how easy this software is to use. Currently in the process of familiarizing myself with the choice of many tutorials online including a purchased tutorial. I’ve not hit anything mind boggling yet.

I recently upgraded to a 2024 MBR 4 which sits on the edge on the of desk, next to the PC gaming rig, but now I have a good reason to run an hdmi cable to the big monitor and operate from there.

Does anyone have experience sharing a monitor between your Mac and a PC? Can you leave both computers connected at the same time, and somehow control which computer the monitor is displaying? Right now my in elegant solution is to pull the cable from the MBP when finished with my photo work. I have seen a message pop up on the monitor about which hdmi port to use, it’s got 2, but I have to experiment more.
So I have two monitors. Both connected to my 2018 Mac Mini and work M4 MBP.

I just switch the source on the front of the screen depending on which I’m using.
 
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