In this video, we will just take a quick look at the new Luminar AI menus and features without going into any details.
We will look at what is new and similar to Luminar 4 which should give a better idea as to what Luminar AI offers over Luminar 4.
So…Let’s get to the AI…
If like me, you got the Luminar AI package on release and installed it, you would have noticed that the Lightroom plugins for Luminar AI do not work as expected.
Luminar has released an online update which fixes the issues, but, leaves the older, non-functional plugins in place. This can be very irritating at best.
Let us take a look at how to update the plugins and remove the non-functional ones…
Skylum just released an update for Luminar 4 and hopefully, it fixes the issues with Big Sur.
Since I downgraded back to Catalina, I cannot really comment on if it does fix the export issue on Mac OS 11.
Although Luminar has no built-in support for watermarking, we can work around this limitation in a couple of steps.
There is one caveat though…The watermark image has to be black and white to work across all images.
Although we can use colours, but, that would require adjusting the watermark for every image.
Also, since Luminar does not save layers in Looks, we cannot save this process as a Look and apply it across images.
Let’s see how we can watermark images in Luminar…
I spent quite a few hours trying to figure out how to integrate the Luminar backup with my existing setup and found some very interesting issues.
Since Luminar does not use sidecar files, I have to transfer the Luminar catalog to my other system. No, it does not stop there…I have to copy the Luminar catalog along with the History folder.
There is some major issue here since Luminar is not storing the edits in the catalog!!!
You cannot simply copy the catalog. In fact, if I delete the History folder on a working system, all edits are lost!
Unless you backup the catalog from Luminar and restore it using Luminar, all edits are lost.
There is no way out it seems since Luminar refuses to restore from any file in its Backup folder. In short, unless you manually create a catalog backup from Luminar, you will lose your edits!
Let’s see what happens and how you can backup the catalog…
Although we discussed this issue in an earlier video, this time, we will look at how we can work-around the issue in Luminar itself.
In case you do not have Lightroom or Photoshop installed, you might not see the additional camera profiles. To fix that, just install the free DNG converter from Adobe.
There are visible performance improvements in this update!
The changelog is as follows…
Luminar 4.3: Better performance and extra convenience
We’ve been working hard to bring you the best version of Luminar 4 to date. Take a look at what’s new in the 4.3 update.
FEATURES & IMPROVEMENTS
NEW Search tool
Located in the top menu bar in the Gallery view, Luminar’s Search tool allows you to effortlessly find images in your library and accelerates your editing workflow. Quickly and easily find images by name, folder, date, or extension for straightforward library management.
Performance improvements
Raw files now open faster (depending on your computer’s specifications), and all tools including AI Augmented Sky have been greatly optimized to work twice as fast – or three times as fast in the case of Accent AI.* As a result of decreased memory use, sliders are more responsive and there’s less lag when using multiple tools.
* Note: Speed improvements depend on computer hardware.
500px integration
In the Export menu there’s now an option to share your photos to the global 500px online photo sharing community. Conveniently add a title, description, and keywords – and even mark NSFW content – prior to uploading.
AI Augmented Sky improvements
If you want to deliver a cosmic feel to your photographs, check out the new Space Shuttle 1 object. Also, you can now easily flip and position sky objects.
Instant Looks previews
Just hover your mouse over a Look to see a live preview. You can also quickly return a photo to its unedited state with the new Reset Adjustments button.
Other improvements in Luminar 4.3
In addition to the changes mentioned above, you’ll find many other convenient improvements throughout the software. We hope you enjoy them!
Optimized Crop & Rotate workflow and faster access to this tool
Comfortable access to folders with custom skies in AI Sky Replacement and sky objects in AI Augmented Sky
Optimized masking tool workflow for pleasant and fast editing
Support for more cameras
Improved translations for all supported languages
Better Magic Mouse workflow
BUG FIXES
Thanks to feedback from Luminar Artists, we’ve greatly improved Luminar’s performance. We’ve fixed over 10 major bugs for Mac that could lead to crashes or unexpected results. You can find more information on these fixes here.
That’s all for now! We’re sending you lots of love, and we hope you enjoy this update. Please share the images you create with Luminar 4.3 on 500px and on social media. And don’t forget to use the hashtag #madewithluminars
If you are like me, you probably store your presets along with the Lightroom catalog for an easier, automated backup.
Unfortunately, applications like Nik Plugins, ON1, Luminar and more will put their plugin data into the default Lightroom folders which are different from the catalog folder.
So, if you are not seeing all the edit options in Lightroom, then, it is a simple fix.
Just copy the following folder:
/Users/<Your Name>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/External Editor Presets
To
<Your Lightroom Catalog Folder>/Lightroom Settings/External Editor Presets
Just make sure Lightroom is not running when you copy the folder. That’s it. Done.
Let’s see how this is done in the following video.
Now when you start Lightroom, you will see all the edit options.
#Lightroom #Luminar #Nik #Post #Photography
To my way of thinking, working with layers implies the ability to precisely mask areas or subjects and apply effects based on the selections or masks.
This is exactly what makes the Luminar 4 layers practically useless. The implementation of the masks/selections is similar to using a paintbrush app vs something like Photoshop.
In Luminar, you only have the fixed brush and gradient tools for the masking. There is no option of something like an edge/tonal detection auto-mask (as in LR) or the perfect brush in ON1 Photo Raw 2020.
This means that you cannot really do clean masking or selection of any subject. Since you cannot make a clean mask, the whole purpose of layers is defeated.
Although there is a luminosity mask in Luminar 4, the same issue makes it practically useless. There is no control over the luminosity mask as in LR (which is not great) or ON1 (which is far better than LR).
While Luminar 4 remains a choice over LR and ON1 for noise reduction and the AI-based image enhancement features, the layers can be ignored almost completely.
The only place you can use layers is when you have shots where you can apply one of the blending modes in Luminar 4 and achieve the effect you want. Other than that, forget layers in Luminar till they have better masking tools.
#Photography #Luminar #Post
This is just a followup after the previous video where Luminar could not detect the sky when it was very obvious in the image. Even the “trick” I tried did not work within Luminar.
This is just one of the bugs and nuances of Luminar 4. If I export the same file as a raster (JPG, TIF etc) it works, but, you cannot process the image as you would a raw file.
Interestingly, if you export from Lightroom as a DNG raw file, even though the image looks exactly the same as the one Luminar 4 could not replace the sky on, it does so on the DNG file. There are, perhaps, issues that go deeper than just this…
For now, you can use this workaround to use the Luminar 4 AI power. If you do not have Lightroom or similar, Adobe has a free DNG converter at https://helpx.adobe.com/in/photoshop/using/adobe-dng-converter.html
My advice would be to edit the DNG in Luminar instead of a JPG/TIF.
#Photography #Nikon #Luminar #Birding #Landscape
Nitin Chandra's Blog 