Recently I decided to try out Skylum Luminar, a new photo editing software that competes with, and may I say, possibly outperforms Adobe Lightroom.
As the name sort of implies, up until now, Macphun products have been for Mac only – but not anymore! This week they are releasing Luminar for Windows as well! So please keep reading and watch the videos below to see if this is the software for you.
Luminar stand-alone version
Macphun has two versions of Luminar available.
You can use it by itself as a stand-alone product, or as a plugin for Lightroom or Photoshop (or Aperture if you use that still). I will walk you through both to show you how they work.
Stand along photo editing with Luminar is for you if . . .
This version of the Luminar photo editor is for you if you can relate to any or all of the following:
- You currently aren’t editing your images at all.
- You do not have Lightroom or Photoshop.
- The Adobe subscription model drives you nuts and you refuse to participate in it.
- You’re looking to upgrade from a simple image processor like Apple Photos or Windows Photo Editor.
What Luminar can do for your images
In this first video, you will see the stand-alone version.
So, what do you think?
Pretty slick hey? So if you’re ready to give Luminar a try just head over to their site and buy it and dive right in.
Before and after images
Luminar as a plugin for Lightroom
You can also use Luminar as a plugin for Lightroom, Photoshop, Aperture, and even Apple Photos!
The plugin version of the Luminar photo editor is for you if . . .
This plugin version of Luminar is for you if you can relate to any or all of the following:
- You already use LR, PS, Aperture or Photos to process your images.
- Photoshop baffles you but you’re wondering if there is another level you can get to with your images.
- You like to play around and experiment with your photos, processing is half the fun.
What else Luminar can do for your images
In this video, you will see the plugin version in conjunction with Lightroom.
Before and after images
Overall thoughts about Luminar
I have tried quite a few plugins and other alternatives for photo editing, looking for something that I could recommend to you. None of them have stacked up, which is why you haven’t heard me talk about them. Until now that is with Luminar.
Overall I am really impressed with that you can do with this software.
It’s flexible, it works non-destructively so you never have to worry about ruining your original images, it’s fairly intuitive and easy to use (I think so anyway), and best of all – no subscription model and it’s under $100!
With a trial version available for download what have you got to lose?
Any cons or drawbacks?
- I did find the stand-alone version took a bit long to open raw files, but not ridiculously long.
- There isn’t currently a browser module for the stand-alone version but I understand that’s a future feature that will be added later.
- I haven’t perfected the texture overlay tool yet – but I think I need to find the right image and texture and play with it a bit more.
Bottom line here is that it’s still a fairly new product and there will always be bugs (expect a few in the Windows beta version – there was with Lightroom too so don’t hold that against Macphun). But the Macphun team are very responsive and listen to requests. I’m excited to see where they take Luminar and am glad I’m getting on the ground floor.
Your turn
So what are you waiting for? Go get Luminar Neo and try it out for yourself.
Please share your Luminar processed images in the comments below. If you have any questions about it I’ll try and answer them if I can – I’m new to using it to remember, but I’ll do my best or point you in the right direction for help.
Cheers,
