levinton

I am wondering what the general feeling is about the Luminar photo editing program. I generally use photoshop and specifically the camera raw filter. Getting a bit tired about my monthly subscription bill and wonder if Luminar or another editor is the answer. Very much appreciate your input.
Jeff

rikhar Loc: Ct. shoreline

I don't usually do a lot of P.P. but when I do, I enjoy using Luminar 3

Rick

chevman Loc: Matthews, North Carolina

I have Luminar, and like it I also use Affinity Photo but the RAW processor leaves a lot to be desired. I think Luminar works well, but there are a couple of short comings such as edge aware in masking like Lightroom has. this may be resolved and looks promising when Luminar 4 is released as there will be some new “filters” that are “AI” doing away with certain forms of masking. Luminar does have layers, masking, blend modes, and is non destructive. It does not have selections like Photoshop. Affinity does. So basically Luminar can be used as a RAW processor and Affinity the pixel editor. Not quite as smooth a workflow but it works. By the way Luminar Flex supports Photoshop smart objects, and I imagine Luminar 4 will also. Affinity does not use smart objects theirs is called “live filters” You can try Luminar for free before you give up your subscription.

eadler

I've been using Luminar for two years and have been very satisfied. At a $69 flat fee you can't beat it. Some editors may have features that Luminar doesn't but the opposite is also true. If you've waited this long to buy, I'd wait a month or so for Luminar 4 to be released. Some of the features that have been announced seem really cool

martinhelene

Not familiar with Luminar; is it the same kind of Program as Photoshop Elements?

Bike guy Loc: Atlanta

Every time I think of saving $10/ month, I return to Lightroom. I have not found any program that can compare with its catalog functionality. Searching is easy, basic raw editing is easy, and other editing functions are fine. No layers, but usually for me not a problem.
I have a PC and Mac so can use it on both.
Unfortunately for me, I have SAS, Software Aquisition Syndrome.
I have purchased many different products. When I have a photo I really like and want to do a print, I will start in LR, the try for the look I want using the others. I have the time, since I am retired, and it is sort of a hobby. Currently I am learning Affinity.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

I started with Luminar 2018 on a Windows system. They made it for Mac first and then added the Windows version so 2018 for Windows had a lot of bugs that were inconvenient but I was able to work around them. Then they gave a free upgrade to 2018 owners for Luminar 3 which fixed most of the bugs and added a digital asset manager. I tried it but hated the DAM and missed the sidecar files that saved your edits in the 2018 version. Then they came out with the (also free to previous owners) Luminar Flex which was intended to be used as a plugin for other apps like Lightroom. Turns out it is Luminar 3 without the DAM, but with the 2018 sidecar files, so perfect for me and I use it as a standalone program. I like that version very much. Now they are about to release Luminar 4 which will be a paid upgrade. From what I can gather, the major changes will be in performance, new easy sky replacement capability, and new Ai functions such as portrait Ai.

Right now you can purchase Flex, Luminar 3, or Luminar 4 (special pre-order price) each for $69

bbrowner Loc: Chapel Hill, NC

I have both Lightroom and luminary’s 3. I basically rely on Lightroom HOWEVER... when I need to use an erase tool... luminar is ALWAYS my choice.

Barry

dhk

I have had success with Luminar 2018 both as a stand alone and as a LR plug in. I attempted Luminar 3 with no success using the catalog or DAM feature so for that I am still using LR. If the Luminar catalog is improved, I plan to use it as a stand alone

sv3noKin51E

Levinton, We've used Luminar 2, now 3, Aurora HDR, from Skylum. Luminar 3 has had a rough year, with bugs that took a while to sort out, and they bumped the video card requirements, which ruffled a few folk's feathers. Luminar 2 was doing OK until the upgrade to Luminar 3 arrived; IMO, it wasn't quite ready for prime time and needed at least 2 more months of beta testing before release. (Love Aurora HDR, despite the price, don't know if they'll have an upgrade though). Decided to go for the special $50 early bird upgrade to Luminar 4, just to see if they've pounded more bugs out, and finally fixed the offline installation routine for those of us old guys who have strictly offline workstations; am not really sure about all of the wonderful marketing hype over AI sky replacement, but who knows, they may get it done. It's a smallish company and they don't have the big bucks and backing others do, but they put their heart into the program. It seems at times that the MAC customers have fewer complaints or genuine issues with Luminar than the PC owners. Most of the time problems are based around how many and how much extraneous feldercarb (too many junk programs, poorly written drivers, as well as A/V, anti-spyware, anti-malware, (too much MS 'help') and firewall software that suspects everything, can sometimes make what should be a joy, into a pain). Something to be said for a non-tethered, offline station, that can't be hacked or contaminated; and, no web distractions. If one has a spare laptop or extra protected online machine, it's no trouble to 'sneaker-ware' your updates or work from the offline to the other machine, and back, after through scanning.

If you have a healthy amount of RAM, and a 4-8 core CPU, Luminar 3 and On1 Photo Raw 2019 should give you good responsiveness once you know your way around. The most recent update in August really helped to fix some issues that has plagued the program all year. It's much more stable, though depending on system load and number of photos int he library/catalog (the way you set yours up), it can be a touch slow starting up. Ours is a quite robust machine, so the current gripe for Luminar 3 is mainly slow startups. Skylum is working hard, catching their breath and putting all of their money and work into improvments. If you try and don't like it, they have a no-quibble 30-day refund policy, and you can trial it for 30-days free as long as you set up an account.

If Skylum can pull it off theie touted AI sky replacement gimmick (er, enhancement), and squash some more bugs, Luminar 4 will likely be worth the yearly price once more, unless you really want to pay by the month. If you purchase a new upgrade version each year, you own that version for life, (your life, life of your machine, life of the company etc), with free updates until the next major release. You receive up to 5 installations or 'seats' for Luminar on 5 different computers,. That's the same number of installations for registered owners that On1 Photo Raw 2019 offers. Skylum has plenty of material on it's site to help you learn to get around, and there are more Youtube videos from other users to help. Their PDF/online help file could be better, it's usually behind.

We use and Like On1 Photo Raw 2019 and 2019, probably more than Luminar, the yearly price is usually about the same, and their offline workstation install tends to be much easier than Luminar's, without having to worry about the program needing to phone home. If you want, either program can be connected online 24/7. Depending on their workload, On1's support sometimes seems slow/lackadaisical or even non-existent. If you have to wait more than two days to get a reply from a company your support, it tends to be really frustrating. Hard to say if support is based overseas, or if the company preference is for customers to just read the Fine Manual and entire website if you actually can't readily sort out something that has you stumped. Like the Luminar forum, most of the folks play nice, but some have no tact at all.

On1 Photo Raw 2018/2010 starts much more quickly than Luminar and seems very stable. Early on they had issues with updates 'disappearing' things, which is never cool no matter whose program it is. Once On1 links to the photos you want it to link to (depending on how one refers to libraries/catalogs/databases/folders/photographs), and as you learn how to set up the GUI and program preferences to suit your taste, it's a lot more fun than LR. You don't have to accept the stock look of the GUI, and can make Luminar or On1 appear as you want it to be. Not knocking LR, just finally feel we have a choice from vendors that don't dictate everything; 'choice-less' isn't cool no matter how great one feels the software is, sort of referring to the major companies who say, "We love you customers but either do things our way or we don't care, type of attitude." We still love and use LR 6 and a bit of Essentials 2018, which was the last year one could buy and install from physical media. There are many good programs such as Darktable, Digikam, GIMP, Irfanview (also PIE) and Fastone, which don't cost you anything to try, and if you don't like it, uninstall it; the price is; FREE! Hope this helps, happy shooting and editing.

David Martin Loc: Cary, NC

I tried Luminar, Affinity Photo, On1 and DxO as alternatives to Photoshop. I found Luminar the least useful, especially Luminar 3 which ran slow and crashed periodically.

I suggest you download the free trials of Luminar (wait for the upcoming version 4), Affinity Photo (very similar to Photoshop), on1 and DxO, as well as any others you can think of, and chose the one that works best for you.

djlouden Loc: Ocala, Florida

Like many I've been an Adobe disciple for many years. Started with Photoshop CS and Lightroom 1 but after several issues with their support I started looking for other venues. I have been using Luminar 3 on and off. There were some false starts with Luminar 2018 that they seem to have fixed with the latest version. I like the AI features but after waiting months and months and months for them to release an update that will render Canon's .cr3 files without results I'm done with them unless they fix this in the next release. I'm leaning towards fully using ON 1, they have tons of training videos and I find the interface suits my logic, skewed as it may be. Test the trial versions and see where it leads you.

Happy shooting

Rational1

Having Affinity, ACDsee, Luminar3, ON1Photo Raw 2019, Aurora HDR, and all Anthropics products (having spent 40 years developing software and hardware I buy software more than lenses) I would give my vote to Luminar or Affinity depending on how much control you want. Luminar is easier for someone who does not do a lot of post processing.

However, you should be forwarned that NOTHING is free, and the cost may come as a monthly charge, an version update charge, and annual charge, or a subscription "support" charge (as long as you want to keep up with the latest version.)

charlespkeith

Well, the quest for a better photo processor is always there. I have used all of those mentioned above plus several "open/free" programs. My go to is always Lightroom. It allows for an incredible amount of customization and tailoring for your specific needs. I have created brushes and brush sets as well as numerous templates for it so my processing time is quite speedy. I find annual discounts for the application fee so it is not so onerous as others have stated. I do have the NIK collection modules linked to LR as well as Portrait Pro, DXO, Photoshop, and Alien Skin Snap Art 4. I use these for specific circumstances or "looks" that I could get with LR but just easier to use the other software.

Semi-Amateur Loc: Central Indiana

I purchased luminar 3 about three months ago. I like it but it is a memory hog. I use the windows software on windows 10 with 8 gig of memory. It works for now, but I'll eventually have to upgrade my computer or hope luminar 4 is more efficient with memory use.