CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

We all crave a world where $1000 software is given to us for free along with annual updates.
And, we'd gladly take a new camera and a few lenses since we're now here in paradise.

tommystrat Loc: Bigfork, Montana

Luminar 2018 - Good
Luminar 3.1 - Bad...very bad. Changed just about everything and now it is more of an image management program than an editor. It's kind of like changing PS and making it into Lightroom. I will stick with 2018 as a plugin to PS and dump 3.1 until they get it right...

lwerthe1mer Loc: Birmingham, Alabama

Me too!!!

Guzser02

I'm glad to see that I.m not the only one having problems with the Skylum support team. I own both Luminar and Aurora HDR, and both are crashing regularly. To me time is money and the Skylum folks are, in my opinion, lacking understanding of their software, and customer satisfaction in general. I have reverted to using the 2018 version of each respective program because their responses are untimely and do not betray the critical thinking needed to address these issues.

Photo One Loc: Clearwater Florida

By all means, go with ON1. You won't be sorry.


Kenny https://www.on1.com/account/dashboard/

Flyerace Loc: Mt Pleasant, WI

I grabbed Luminar immediately after offering. A few upgrades later, the software, which DID download, was incompatible with my slightly older computer. (Five years old is not ancient, even if youngsters who don't have to pay for them, think so) I don't know why the software would download if it was going to be incompatible. The response from the company was ridiculous. I would have to purchase a new computer or downgrade to the older version. This means that I never get an upgrade if I don't change out my PC. Well, that ended my relationship with Luminar. I don't feel quite so bad, since I didn't pay for anything, but they certainly didn't develop software that would be useful to the majority of users. Lazy programming, in my opinion. I'll stick with LR & Elements.

dwermske

Luminar 3.1 seems to be having problems according to some while others think it runs fine. This is a problem that I have found:
Launch Luminar 3.1 and then open a file and begin to edit. When through editing hit FILE > CLOSE and watch what happens. On my system the application shuts down. I am running an iMac 27" 1Gb ram, with a 1Tb SSD and 3 external 6Tb drives. Contacted Luminar support and got a ridiculous response. Was told that the program was supposed to "Close the Window". I responded very sharply saying that that is what the orange button in the upper left corner is for. They apologized and told me that the issue had been turned over to their developers. That was almost 2 weeks ago. I don't expect to see anything until the next maintenance release (6 months or more) if at all. As a matter of record, you don't even need to do anything after launching Luminar 3.1, just hit FILE > CLOSE. The program will close down. Other than that, I don't seem to be having any of the problems described by others. However, I agree, Luminar support is woefully lacking!

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

I am using a Windows 10 PC. I do not use an iMac at home, so I am not that familiar with them. With my Windows version of Luminar 3, When I click File, the very last item in the drop down menu is Exit. When I click Exit, the program closes. That is what it is supposed to do when you click Exit with the Windows version of the software. I would think that File > Close on a Mac would be the exact same process as File > Exit in Windows, and the program would then close.

I do understand that the Orange circle in the upper left corner closes a process on a Mac, but so does File > Close, or File > Exit on a PC. I don't understand where that is a problem at all as you are saying. It is doing what it is supposed to do, which is close the program.

lwerthe1mer Loc: Birmingham, Alabama

On my download of 3.1, the orange circle in the upper left corner is white and does nothing. I have to use “Force Quit” to exit the program. The program is totally unresponsive, doesn’t show the library of photos and doesn’t allow me to take any action whatsoever. I feel like I have a big problem.

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

There definitely seem to still be problems with Luminar 3 and its updates, even for Mac users. Seems like some users are having lots of issues, others are having some issues, and others still are not having any problems. Seems to me they still have some bugs to work out of this version.

I actually gave it another shot tonight, and didn't have any problems, but then again, I only used it on a couple of images, so take that for what its worth.

dwermske

The user interface on a Windows system and a Mac system are similar but different. The Mac has 3 colored buttons in the upper left of every window. Red will close the window, Orange will shrink the window to an icon on the bottom of the screen, Green will increase the window to full screen. There is a command line across the top of the screen that contains the name of the application that is currently in the open window. Click on that name, in this case "Luminar 3" and at the bottom of the drop down is "Quit Luminar" which actually shut down the program. On the command line there is another function, "File" which when clicked drops down a set of functions related directly to a specific file functions. Within that drop down there is the function "Close". This usually closes the current file and allows you to continue to work within the open application. It now functions the same a "Quit Luminar". The point is that "File > Close" should only close a file not the application. "Luminar 3 > Quit Luminar" shuts the application down. This is exactly what I had to explain to their support team. If you are going to support an application in both operating systems then you need that support team to understand how each system functions and the specific differences of each. Or you need a support team for each system.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Me, too! I rescinded the free Luminar 3 upgrade because I couldn’t get it to work.

JackB

Luminar can’t even roll out an update without screwing things up. Pitch it!

Bill P

The move to making the customer do the beta testing isn't just software. It's cars, cameras, and yes, Boeing airplanes.

But bear in mind that when I worked as a photographer for a major aircraft manufacturer in the late 70's and early 80's we always said "Don't buy an airplane in its first year on the market."

dwermske

Luminar is NOT in its first year. Are you suggesting that we should wait a least a year after a product is upgraded before we jump to it? If that's the case, we would be just in time for their next update and have to wait another year. This could be a never ending wait cycle. Or we could just expect the developer to their due diligence and provide a better tested and/or supported product before they release it. The market place will eventually weed out the "just good enough" from the "great" products. Luminar has a ways to go to get into the later category, which is a shame. If you're gonna swim with sharks you had better be a pod of killer whales.