You may have read our previous reviews on Skylum Software’s powerful (and inexpensive) Luminar application. Well, the folks over at Skylum are launching a new version called Luminar AI and we have a bit of a preview for you in this post.
The Luminar AI preview shows us a software suite that has significantly increased editing capabilities.
Portrait Editing
The new version of Luminar looks to help make portrait editing super simple with AI tools to adjust and enhance your subject’s bodies, faces, eyes, skin, and even the bokeh of the background.
Here are a few before and after comparisons.
The editing tools of Luminar AI allow for the quick, easy addition of bokeh effects to this image as well as dramatically highlighting the subject’s eyes.
This is the most dramatic of the sample portrait edits. Changing the shape of the face, the eye color, smoothing the skin, and popping the lip color might seem like drastic changes but the end result does not look unrealistic.
The final portrait sample edit shows the most realistic edit of those provided, recovering significant detail from shadows while boosting lip color and brightening the eyes.
Landscape Editing
Luminar AI also boasts new tools for landscapes as well. With artificial intelligence tools to add ‘atmosphere’, replace the sky, and enhance details, Luminar AI seeks to make the process easier by eliminating the manual selection process of many other photo editors.
Here’s a before and after of the ‘atmosphere’ feature:
My Thoughts on the Luminar AI Preview
Based on the preview images, it does not look like the new AI features make a HUGE difference in the landscape editing capabilities over Luminar 4.
Personally, the “atmosphere” feature almost seems like adding a feature that I don’t think people were looking for. Were there people looking to add dust clouds to their images?
However, when you go to the website there are some additional non-AI features called mood, supercontrast, and color harmony that look very interesting.
The editing features for portraits look like a significant step up from an already impressive portrait editing suite. Luminar makes it easy for even novice photographers to make significant edits without doing extensive selecting or having to watch hours of tutorials.
Intuitive Editing
What the developers at Skylum are striving towards is a more intuitive form of editing that does not require the user to spend lots of time making selections or performing normally time consumptive tasks.
Luminar Live
If you would like to learn more about Luminar AI and listen to discussions about the future of photography and photo editing in general, check out Luminar Live!
Luminar Live is a free online event taking place on December 10th, 2020 at 10 AM EST.
The event will feature “Jessica Kobeissi, Elia Locardi, Manny Ortiz, Lucy Martin and many other amazing creators to bring you the latest insights on the state of innovation in visual storytelling. From creative trends to the power of AI, Luminar Live discussions are centered around the future of photography and preparing you to embrace the many opportunities it presents.”
You can register for Luminar Live for free. What have you got to lose?
Pre-Order Luminar AI
If you want to pre-order Luminar AI, or upgrade your current version of Luminar, just click here to go to the website and see more of the new feature.
You can also save $10 with the discount code NERDYPHOTO!
Editor’s Note: This article contains affiliate links. Yes, we make a small amount of money if you make a purchase. That’s how we keep the website running!
