In this digital age of “pics or didn’t happen,” it is extremely important for you to document the happenings of your life through photos. Many social media platforms encourage people to upload Insta-perfect photos. But with so many photo editing software and apps to choose from, how can you choose the best? Fortunately, Skylum Luminar is here to save the day!
What Is Skylum Luminar?
Skylum Luminar is a powerful and universal photo editing software that was introduced by a global imaging technology company with offices in the USA, Ukraine, and Japan. As a universal software, it works on both Windows and Mac OS devices. What’s great about Skylum Luminar is that it can work as a standalone application, but it can also work as a plug-in for known photo editing applications such as Apple and Adobe products.
It boasts of a seamless integration process with Adobe Photoshop Series, Adobe Lightroom, and even macOS! This means that you can say goodbye to the stress and hassle of importing and exporting photos because Skylum Luminar has seamless integration with this editing software.
Skylum Luminar Packages & Cost
Skylum Luminar offers very cost-effective and reasonable package tiers where you only must pay for the product once, and you have the software forever, including all its future updates! Here are its package options and payment methods.
Package Tiers
Skylum Luminar offers three subscription tiers:
- Luminar 4 – $67 for One Seat, $89 for Two Seats
- Luminar 4 + AI – $188
- Luminar 4 + Aurora HDR + AI – $257
Click here for more information regarding subscription options.
Once you purchase any of the subscription tiers above, Skylum Luminar also offers the following perks:
- Instant product activation.
- A money-back guarantee due to dissatisfaction (30 days)
- 24/7 customer support
Payment Methods
You can purchase Skylum Luminar through major credit cards and payment platforms such as Norton Secured, Visa, American Express, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and Wire Transfer.
Skylum Luminar Features
What exactly does Skylum Luminar do? This powerful software automates photo editing boasts of using only the most cutting-edge technology for all your photo editing needs. This software uses the powerful features of artificial intelligence (AI) to make your photo look incredible but still leave the creativity within your hands. Here are all some of its most noteworthy features.
Sky Replacement Tool
The sky replacement tool allows you to change your photo’s mood, look, and feel in just one click! With many templates to choose from, such as Bright Blue Sky, Dramatic Sunset, and Sunset Cloud templates, you have the power to replace the sky with something that suits the mood of your photo.
Sky Enhancer
The AI sky enhancer will automatically detect the sky in your photo and adjust it accordingly, so you can create the overall mood, look, and feel of your photo. Again, you can do all this with just a simple swipe of your finger.
Skin Enhancer and Portrait Enhancer
The AI skin enhancer boasts powerful photo editing features that can transform your beauty into perfect portraits. Its features include tools that enhance or remove the finest details.
Augmented Sky Tool
The AI augmented sky tool allows you to insert new objects in your photos with just a few simple clicks! You can choose among literally dozens of pre-installed objects already available in the Skylum Luminar software. What’s more, is that you can even add your own and easily embed them into your photos.
You can blend your photos by tweaking the amount, warmth, and relight conditions of your embedded photo so it will smoothly blend in.
Sunrays Tool
For landscapes and forest view photos, you can further enhance your photos using the Sunrays tool of Skylum Luminar. You can choose to move realistic sunbeams in different angles so they can improve your photo. You can also tweak your photo further using the software’s amount, overall look, and sunrays length advanced setting feature of the Sunrays tool.
Structure Slider
Skylum Luminar’s AI structure slider reveals the hidden beauty of your photos! This feature suggests areas that can look even better. What’s more is that it only enhances the background without affecting your face and skin, so you do not look extra enhanced.
You can make your photo look crystal clear using the AI structure slider that enhances your background without overprocessing your face. What’s even better is that it enhances your image without adding noise, halo, or other artifacts that can ruin your photo.
Accent Tool
Who knew that with just one swipe of your finger, you could get a picture-perfect photo? The AI accent tool gives you access to an array of tools to use. This goes together with the AI Sky Enhancer feature below.
Smart Contrast
If you want a more realistic-looking image, you recommend trying out the smart contrast tool that Skylum Luminar offers. How is it different from the regular contrast of most photo editing software, you ask? Well, the smart contrast preserved both the color and the texture of your photo, so the result is a realistic-looking photo.
Erase Tool
Even if you have the best photographer who plays around with angles, the view does not cooperate. How many times have you encountered a picture-perfect shot, but somehow, there are people in the background you want to erase. Guess what? Skylum Luminar offers a neat erase tool that you can use to erase noise in your background with just one click.
Landscape Enhancer
The landscape enhancer tool allows you to add more charm to your landscape photos. There are three features you can choose from. These are the following:
- Dehaze – restores depth and color to your photo.
- Golden Hour – adds warm sunlight, perfect for your landscape photos or outdoor portraits!
- Foliage Enhancer – improves the colors of objects in your photo. May this be plants, trees, flowers, name it, and it will breathe enhanced color into your photo.
Instant Looks
The Skylum Luminar also offers instant looks handcrafted by photo artists to add pizzazz to your photos. Sample instant look templates include Creative, Dark Moon, and Soft Color, but there are many other templates to choose from!
Denoise
You can remove any digital noise in your photo with the Denoise feature of Skylum Luminar. This means that even with the lousiest camera and shooting conditions, you can get professional photos. You can further enhance your photo through the Denoise special features like Luminosity Denoise and Color Denoise.
Details Enhancer
You can now create more dramatic shots through Skylum Luminar’s details enhancer feature! You can make your images appear crystal clear and enhance even the most minute details for image clarity.
One-Click Presets
Skylum Luminar also offers hundreds of presets that allow you to enhance your images quickly. Who knew that you could have a professional-looking photo that you can immediately upload to IG and all your other social media accounts?
Photo Filters
Skylum Luminar boasts of dozens of photo filters that you can use to edit, enhance, and fix your photos so they will come out looking brilliant and beautiful. You can choose photo filters from the array of filters that Skylum Luminar offers so your photo can stand out from the rest of the photos you see online.
Crop and Transform
This software also offers you the basics of photo editing tools such as crop and transform. You can do this easily with just a few clicks so that you can play around with the angles and the focus area of your photo.
Layers With Blend Modes
You can combine multiple elements in one project with the layers feature of Skylum Luminar. The layers you can work with can be photos, textures, and adjustments.
Non-Destructive Editing
The non-destructive editing tool of Skylum Luminar ensures that your original data is protected. You can also revisit the editing activities you did to your image using the history panel.
File Extension Support
Skylum Luminar supports over 1000 cameras and works with the most versatile file extensions like JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and even PDF format! This also includes RAW formats and many others.
Batch Processing
You can save so much time with the batch processing feature of Skylum Luminar. You can apply the same theme or adjustments to multiple photos using this feature. In this way, you are ensured that your photos are cohesive and have the same look and feel. This tool is also especially useful when photos are not shot in the same conditions.
Social Sharing
Once you have edited your photos to your heart’s content, a great feature of Skylum Luminar also allows you to share your photos on various social media platforms instantly!
Skylum Luminar Pros & Cons
We’ve tried out Skylum Luminar and listened to user reviews, and here’s a summary of what we like and don’t like about the software.
What We Like
- You get value for your money because Skylum Luminar offers a powerful set of photo-editing features for a one-time payment of less than $100!
- You can also save much time because Skylum Luminar is powered by only the latest and greatest technology of Artificial Intelligence. Say goodbye to manual photo-editing tweaks and say hello to more time invested in your creative story.
- Many user reviews have said that Skylum Luminar is so user-friendly with its simple interface. You do not need intensive training to use all its great features because it is so intuitive.
- Skylum Luminar also offers great integration capabilities with Windows and Mac Users. What’s more, is that it also boasts seamless integration with popular photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop.
What We Don’t Like
- There is no keyword tagging capability in Skylum Luminar.
- There is also no metadata management.
- Some of the users have noticed that there is a lag time when exporting big file sizes.
Skylum Luminar vs Other Photo Editors
Exposure X6
Expose X6 is a great alternative to Skylum Luminar. It offers gorgeous presets, unique tools, and an efficient workflow. While it is a great alternative, it also has limitations. While it supports adjustment layers, it offers no support for image layers and montages. It is also significantly more expensive as compared to its competitors. Lastly, there are issues with its RAW processing.
Capture One Pro
Capture One Pro boasts of excellent raw file conversion with a user-friendly interface. What’s more, is that it has a good photo adjustment toolset and a superior noise-reduction feature. However, users observed that this software does not have any online sharing features and no face recognition tool.
Is Skylum Luminar a Good Photo Editor?
You can get value for your money with Skylum Luminar. It uses only the most innovative and powerful photo editing tools that are guaranteed to make your photo look clean and professional. Apart from that, it also uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technology, so all the heavy lifting editing will be done by the software but still leaves room for you to have creative control.
