Luminar Neo has been my favorite photo editing program for many years. It is powerful, fun to use, and is constantly updated by Skylum. It offers a vast choice of tools for traditional color grading and several creative functionalities
I have received a beta version of the upcoming fall update to be released in November. In this video, I will show you the new tools that will be added, as well as the details of the super-convenient black Friday promotion available at the moment
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Light Depth
The pre-release marketing campaign announced a tool named Volume, but the name has been changed to the more apt Light Depth. It is not simply a new functionality, but a revolutionary way to control the depth of the light in images containing elements on different layers
Previous versions contain a tool named Relight to adjust the light in areas at different distances from the point of view. The idea is interesting, but something is missing. This functionality has been massively improved with the depth map capabilities of Light Depth, a true game-changer
Let’s move to Paris to show you how it works. In this image of Place de la Concorde, we have four layers:
- The front of the fountain
- The center of the fountain with the statues
- The buildings with columns behind
- The sky behind the building, which I prefer to have blacked out, as it was a very foggy night with a few raindrops on the lens, as you can see if I add light to the background
The image looks already quite nice as it is, but it is an excellent one to show how Light Depth works to add light to specific elements based on their distance from the camera
If we open the tool, we notice that the software has created a mask with a shape similar to the central part of the fountain, which has been detected as the main element of the image
As in a luminosity mask, the white part reveals and the black part conceals, so if I add light using the Amount slider, only that specific part of the image is affected
Notice how the light remains constant in the buildings behind, even though they are on the same horizontal plane. This indicates that this is not a simple linear mask, but rather works by mapping the distance of the elements compared to the camera
The mask can be modified by holding and dragging the white icon vertically. Only the elements on the same layer are affected by the extra light
We can also modify the height of the mask using the two cursors above and below the white icon. Notice how we draw attention to the central part of the fountain by dragging the amount slider to the right
Further down, we have other sliders
Softness expands the edge of the mask. The effect is very subtle, and it is generally better to increase its value. Warmth shifts the color scheme towards blue or yellow
In the panel Advanced Settings, we can independently adjust the luminosity and the White Balance for the elements in the foreground and background
For more complex images, other tools can be used before or after the Light Depth Tool. This image is quite complex, as it was taken at sunset against the sun, partially covered by clouds
We can start by opening the Enhance tool and using the Accent and Sky Enhance sliders to adjust the overall luminosity
With the Structure tool, we can very gently increase the Amount and fine-tune the Boost slider
When we open Light Depth, the monastery is recognized as the focal point of the image, and the map has been created accordingly
After adjusting the different sliders, we can move to the Supercontrast Tool to adjust the contrast in the midtones and the shadows
We can then check the result before and after the different tools have been applied
Restoration
Restoration is a tool to be used only with specific images. It does an astonishing job in adjusting old photos, repairing scratches, flares, and other issues in only a few seconds. If you have an archive of old images to bring back to life, this is the tool for you
Let’s start with this portrait with horrible scratches. With a traditional photo editor, it would take hours to repair it, and achieving a satisfying result would be challenging
All we need to do is drag the image from the catalogue to the Restoration window on the right. Three options are proposed:
- Full
- Color
- Scratches
Let’s start with Full, which takes care of the scratches and also colorizes the image. After hitting Restore, the AI-based algorithm analyzes the image, and in less than a minute, saves the processed image in a folder named Photo Restoration
The result is astonishing. I would simply fine-tune the colors using Color Harmony to obtain an excellent rendition in less than a couple of minutes
This photo has a strong flare in the lower part, which is very difficult to eliminate. This time, let’s try the Scratches option, which adjusts the image without colorizing it. Once again, the result is excellent
The third option is Color, which colorizes the image without repairing the artifacts. I would not use it very often, maybe in this old photo without evident artifacts, but badly overexposed. The result is acceptable considering the state of the original
Ecosystem
The November update will also introduce the Luminar Ecosystem, a multidevice editing platform
Photos taken and edited on a mobile phone or tablet will automatically be saved to the cloud. It will then be possible to access the edited images on a desktop, allowing for an uninterrupted workflow
This first phase of the Ecosystem will only work from mobile devices to computers, but not the other way around. This makes sense as the mobile version does not include all the functionalities of the desktop one
The images can be shared with clients or friends, or published on social media using the tool Gallery
Black Friday Deals
Skylum is currently offering an extremely convenient black Friday offer. There are two separate pricing structures:
- A cross-device one for users who rely on a smartphone to shoot and edit photos
- Another for desktop users only
There are different purchasing options for new users, existing users, and legacy user
Check here the different options with the updated prices. Through this link, you can get a 10% discount using the code VicVideoPic. It is an affiliate link, so in case of purchase, I get a small commission, which helps this blog