BruceT4891

After reading another thread of glowing reviews of Luminar on UHH, I am thinking of giving it a try. I have subscribed to Adobe’s Creative Cloud since May and use Lightroom Classic for photo organization and editing. (I haven’t really figured out how to use Photoshop.) I am very happy with Lightroom, but I wonder if there is something better out there.

My main problem with Lightroom is that while it has awesome photo editing capabilities, I spend a lot of time editing my photos. It appears that Luminar is much better at making auto adjustments.

My question to Luminar users is, what do you do in the way of photo organization and browsing sinceLuminar does not have this capability? They say it is coming in 2018, but they said it was coming in 2017 too. I already organize my photos into folders, but Lightroom allows me to tag my favorites and to put them into collections. What do you do since Luminar does not do those things?

What do you do about browsing through your photos? I’ve seen Fast Raw Viewer touted here, and I am thinking of using that, but I presume it will only show the photo before any post processing. If that is correct, how do you browse the finished photo?

Finally, what do you think about keeping Lightroom for the things Luminar doesn’t do? That seems like a lot of duplication since their capabilities overlap so much, but I could be convinced.

Edit: I am using a MacBook Pro right now and will probably buy a 27" iMac next year.

bikertut Loc: Kingsville, MO

I bought Luminar about 3 weeks ago and it is so simple to learn I used it to process some photos for my wife. Short story shorter, I made edits and had the photos printed to give my wife on Christmas. Other systems, I would still be trying to get usable pictures.

As far as photo organization, I use Photos on the iMac and keep backup copies in folders in the Pictures area. Looking forward to what will be added to Luminar.

I have never used Lightroom so I can’t compare, but I do know the learning curve for Luminar is easy for me. They have a 30 day free trial. Good Luck.

Leicaflex Loc: Cymru

I am using Luminar 2018, one off purchase, no subscriptions.
Already had one update from them, another due in January 2018.
Fine piece of software really going places.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

I have Lightroom/Photoshop and have also loaded Luminar 2018. I don't think I would dump LR for Luminar. Most of the time when I do an edit with Luminar it's just to see what will happen. I do have it on a MacBook Pro

ejrmaine Loc: South Carolina

Bruce, I've been using Luminar since June or so last year and love it. I currently use Lightroom Classic and Photoshop by subscription and use Lightroom for my organizer.

I'm very impressed with the way Macphun, (Skylum) has developed Luminar so that the 'Learning Curve' is so much easier than the combo of LR & PS. Luminar is well laid out and the Filters just makes sense.

I look forward to the release of their Organizer. I expect Adobe will loose many of their subscribers, and not because of any cost savings, but simply because Luminar is more user friendly and yet very powerful.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I have said this before but will repeat it once more. I bought Luminar in early November and a week later I was requesting a refund on my money.
I found Luminar 2018 VERY SLOW and the larger the size of the file the worst it was. I know there was an update and another is coming in 2018 but I do not really know if there has been an improvement in its speed.
I think it could be a good editor but its speed was a show stopper for me.

wmcy Loc: Charlotte

I requested a refund as well. I couldn’t get past the fact that Luminar required me to use another program since it has no browser. Really????

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

I also bought and requested a refund. Speed was barely okay nut the lack of ability to preserve edits as a file save, then resume later was an immediate showstopper. A subsequent update reportedly addressed the issue for Windows users, by then, I was gone and didn’t care.

wds0410 Loc: Nunya

I've been using Luminar for about 6 months now and would highly recommend it. I have not experienced the slow response that other people have, I suspect -- not really sure -- that it may have been the Windows version which I think I read had some issues. I have a Macbook Pro with 2.2 gz Intel core i7 and 16 gig of memory. Works reasonably fast and the presets are very helpful and mostly free. Good luck. (as an aside I saw Matt Granger on youtube say he was thinking of giving up on Lightroom to go to Luminar exclusively because Lightroom was too slow).

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

I have Luminar for Windows and did notice significant issues with the initial release. However, updates since then have fixed the problems and it now runs as well as any other program on my desktop. It's very powerful, and can produce stunning images. Why not try the trial version and see how you like it? BTW, I still pay for Photoshop and Lightroom, and think they're well worth the money. For me, Photoshop is irreplaceable.

Regarding DAMs, I never used the Lightroom catalog and have my own system for filing and tracking images.

Meemz

I have been using luminar since it came out. It’s very slow ! I really don’t like the 2018 version ... I use as a plug in with photoshop and that’s about it. I’d wait and see what the new nik collection is going to be like .

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

Regarding auto adjustments, Adobe just introduced an improved auto adjust function in LR.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

Using Luminar 2018, works well, with enough memory...16G RAM

LA Loc: Little Rock, AR

No one has mentioned it so I assume Luminar does NOT have the ability to import edits from LR. Right?

bertloomis Loc: Fort Worth, Texas

Luminar is a nice program and you can do a lot with it. The big disadvantage is that you load one photo at a time, edit it, then save it. If you are doing onesy twosies then no problem. If you are doing more, you will be at it forever. I use LR for 99% of my editing. If I want a certain effect not easily available in LR then I edit it in Luminar. Sunrays, for example.

Yes, LR can send photos to Luminar for editing with or without the LR changes. Load Luminar as a 'plug in' for LR.