Skylum has announced a significant update for its photo editing program Luminar Neo coming this spring that will bring a whole new suite of “next-level” tools as well as an improved user interface (UI).
According to the company, the soon-to-be-released update includes six new key features built to improve and streamline the photo editing experience for its users.
In addition to these new features, the updated application will have an entirely refreshed look and feel designed to reflect better the company’s vision for the brand and ecosystem of services. This includes a redesigned logo, product icon, color palette, and several other subtle stylistic changes within the Luminar Neo desktop application.
This redesign even includes an entirely new Landscape category dedicated to landscape and non-portrait-based photography that will showcase all the essential tools creatives will need to enhance their landscape images in one place without unneeded and distracting tools to skip over.
The new features coming in the upcoming release include some of the following tools, starting with Twilight Enhancer, seen in the image at the top of this article, which will give photographers the ability to “replicate the ethereal ambiance of the blue and golden hours around dawn and dusk, enhancing your landscape and outdoor photographs with creative color effects. You can adjust a sunrise scene using a single slider to accentuate that mesmerizing pink-blue spectrum of light.”
The Water Enhancer AI tool will let users transform a muddy pond into a shimmering turquoise pool with just a few simple adjustments. The new tool will allow users to change the water’s color, modify the surface’s texture, and even adjust the depth with surprising ease.
Creatives will also be able to improve their HDR workflows by simultaneous batch processing using the new Batch HDR tool. This new feature will efficiently edit up to 1000 images using dynamic bracket creation and drag-and-drop organization.
Luminosity Masking will allow users to target specific areas of an image based on brightness levels, enabling selective adjustments to highlights, midtones, and shadows.
Next, the new Object Select tool will let users quickly create masks with a single click for specific subjects, objects, and details in images for precision edits and faster workflow. “Whether you want to brighten someone’s eyes in a portrait or enhance the details of a bird in flight, Object Select allows you to focus your edits anywhere in the photo with ease.”
Finally, the improved application will provide users with new Waiting Statuses (including animations), which keep you informed of how far along the app is during image loading and processing.
Pricing and Availability
These new features and UI improvements will be available on April 25, 2024, for all Luminar Neo customers at no additional cost. Batch HDR will be available to the owners of the HDR Merge Extension (either purchased separately in the past, as a part of a subscription, or as part of a Lifetime purchase starting from July 1, 2023).
Luminar Neo is available on Skylum’s website, as well as the Microsoft Store and Apple’s Mac App Store with prices ranging from $11.95 to $199. Learn more about pricing and subscription plans here.
Image credits: Skylum