Review: Luminar 3 with library feature
Friday 21 December 2018, 16:32 by Michelle Peeters | 12,337 views | 5 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Luminar 3 with photo library is out and includes an important, long-awaited upgrade. The most noticeable change compared to Luminar 2018 is the addition of Libraries, a library where you can manage all your photos.
An import function for your Lightroom catalogue is not included yet, but will be added during 2019.
Luminar 3 uses artificial intelligence so that everyone can edit and improve digital images with intuitive and time-saving workflows. The programme is designed to make processing, managing and editing photos faster and easier than with conventional software packages.
The new Library panel is the result of years of research, analysis and interviews with a broad selection of photographers. Skylum developed the Library panel for speed and efficiency in response to photographers' long-standing complaints that existing libraries were cumbersome, unclear or user-unfriendly.
The new Luminar 3 will be available as a free update for all users of Luminar 2018 and will include several free updates, because an extensive range of photo tools has been developed and more time has been spent on artificial intelligence features.
Unique technologies
Luminar has professional options as standard, such as layers, masks and a blending mode, but also a number of unique technologies:
- Luminar Workspaces, which allow you to work in a streamlined way with filters that are ideal for a chosen genre, including landscapes, portraits, aerial photography and portrait photography;
- Luminar Looks with adaptive styles using LUTs, textures and AI-powered filters. A new style is applied with one click, but subtle adjustments are also possible with advanced controls;
- More than 50 filters are available, including AI Sky Enhancer, which uses artificial intelligence to select the sky automatically for precise adjustment. You can achieve the perfect look with just one slider. Other innovative filters include Accent AI and the Sunrays filter, which can be used to add sunrays selectively.;
Luminar versus Lightroom
When you compare Luminar with Lightroom, there are quite a few features that Lightroom does not have.
Here are a few: image layers, polarising filter, textures, workspaces, sunrays filter, soft glow and soft focus, remove colour cast, preset previews, matte filter, high-key filter, mist filter, enhance foliage, colour contrast filter, channel mixer filter and finally the Accent AI (artificial intelligence) filter.
And if you compare the price as well, you pay around 120 euros per year for Lightroom, while Luminar costs just 59 euros as a one-off payment.
Library feature
Luminar 3 is now able to organise your photos with the new Library feature. The Luminar library is a very flexible photo catalogue that makes browsing, rating and organising much easier.
Users can easily view an attractive image wall that works with existing folders on their hard drive, connected devices and synchronised cloud storage.
There is no need to import images again. When you select a folder, it is added to Luminar, where images can be viewed, given a colour label, rated and edited.
You can create multiple catalogues to organise only the photos you want to keep organised by adding folders from your computer, external hard drives and even cloud storage. You can even import files from a card reader and let Luminar 3 do the organising.
Automatic catalogue synchronisation
It is important that Luminar 3 matches your hard drive exactly. If you move files outside Luminar using Finder or Windows Explorer, Luminar knows about it and adjusts the catalogue accordingly.
The same applies when you rename files or folders. This is unlike Lightroom. If you move a file in Finder or Explorer in Lightroom, the programme has no idea where it has gone.
You can also use Luminar 3 to move, rename or delete files. Your files are then also moved, renamed or deleted in Finder or Explorer.
Adding photos to your catalogue is extremely fast. I was able to start browsing and rating my images after just a few minutes! Browsing your photos in thumbnail view is also quite fast.
Low-resolution thumbnails can be viewed immediately while you browse through a folder. Almost immediately, a sharper thumbnail preview is then generated.
Organisation by date
Libraries automatically organises your photos by date, making it very easy to search through your archives. You no longer have to scroll endlessly through hundreds of previews to find the image you want.
Changes are made in real time in the original folder, so files and the hard drive are organised as simply as possible.
After adding photos to your catalogue, Luminar 3 has some great shortcuts for finding them again. You can find photos directly by year, month and day and see at a glance how many photos there are in each category.
There is a shortcut to recently added and recently edited photos. There is also a shortcut to Quick Edits. Quick Edits are photos that you open directly in Luminar and that, for whatever reason, you do not want to add to your Luminar library.
Rating
Using a star rating, colour labels and the ability to tag your favourite photos makes your workflow even faster. You can give photos a rating of 1 to 5 stars. You can give them a 'selected' or 'rejected' tag and a colour label of 'none', red, yellow, green, blue or purple.
You can use all these tags to sort your images in the library for quick access. You can also sort your images by capture time, edit time, file name, type & size.
Albums
You can also create Albums. These are virtual albums that do not take up extra space on your hard drive. They are used to organise your photos more effectively.
You can add photos to and remove them from the albums you create as you wish, and your original files remain safe in their original locations.
Synchronising adjustments
You can synchronise your adjustments from your library. Any change to a single image can easily be applied to a selection of files, which is very useful for photos taken with similar settings or when a consistent style is desired.
Synchronisation works well thanks to the Accent AI and AI Sky Enhancer filters, which use artificial intelligence to analyse and solve image problems. These features allow several images to be adjusted at the same time, saving you time and effort.
Simply select and edit a photo, then select other photos whose adjustments you want to synchronise and all your adjustments will be applied to the other photos. This can save a huge amount of time!
Previously, you would have had to create a Preset for this, now called a Look in Luminar 3, and then apply that Preset to the other files you want to adjust using Batch Processing.
All your photo edits are non-destructive and every edit you make is saved in the catalogue. You do not need to select a button to save. There is also the option to have multiple catalogues and an easy way to back them up.
Windows improvements
Windows users will be pleased with some new improvements, which I was not able to test myself as a Mac user. Skylum mentions the following improvements: improvements in colour management and problems fixed.
Colour management now works properly between Luminar, monitor and third-party devices. Speed improvements have also been made, along with more controls for filters.
Prices and availability
Skylum Luminar 3 runs on Mac OS 10.10. 5 or higher and on Windows 7, 8 and 10. You can download the package from the website for 59 euros.
The programme will be available as a free update for all users of Luminar 2018 and will include several free updates, because an extensive range of photo tools has been developed and more time has been spent on artificial intelligence features. For 149 euros, you can also combine Luminar with Aurora HDR.
Conclusion
I was already very enthusiastic about Luminar's qualities as a great image editing tool, and it has only got better over time. Development continues, and the AI (Artificial Intelligence) features in particular are getting better and take a lot of work off your hands.
Among the 51 filters currently in Luminar, there are a few that simply do not exist anywhere else and that I now use regularly. I will not be turning my back on Luminar any time soon, but neither will I turn my back on Lightroom...
Whether photographers will leave Lightroom and switch to Luminar 3 with libraries, I still doubt somewhat. Especially if you already have catalogues in Lightroom and depend on keywords and captions.
But once the import function for your Lightroom catalogue has been built in, which will be added during 2019 and perhaps accompanied by other updates for keywords and captions, this could persuade quite a few die-hard Lightroom users to switch.
Because although you cannot yet search the library with a simple keyword search for, say, all your dog photos, you can still navigate through a folder structure to find the relevant photos. You can then add new star ratings to them and edit them in Luminar.
If you have never organised your photos before or simply do not have many photos, which need to be organised so you can find them again, you will probably already be very enthusiastic about the new libraries in Luminar 3.
Adjustment synchronisation and super-fast importing are definite advantages. Once you have organised some photos, it is quite simple to switch back and forth between the library and editing mode. Despite some delays here and there, it really does speed up your workflow!
The programme may not yet be completely perfect for what you want, but you can wait for the improvements that will undoubtedly arrive soon!
And finally, when you look at the price, this is a free upgrade for Luminar 2018 users! And the normal price of Luminar 3 with libraries is just 59 euros!
Given the price and the features still in development, I cannot imagine anyone who would not want to use Luminar. The editing options alone are worth at least three times the price it is currently being sold for.
About the author
Michelle Peeters is fotografe en oprichter van DeuxBleus Fotografie. Michelle herkent het bijzondere in het gewone en het gewone in het bijzondere. Ze heeft zich nooit willen specialiseren en is daardoor van alle markten thuis.
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5 comments
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Demeyere Ph wrote on Tuesday 25 December 2018 at 11:45 | replyHello and thanks for this intro, the price is today 25/12/18 69 eur on the Luminar website.
Translated from Dutch.
Regards and happy end-of-year celebrations everyone -
H.D. Jesterhoudt wrote on Tuesday 25 December 2018 at 13:33 | replyMichelle, what strikes me is that almost all photographers who review L3 are incredibly enthusiastic.
Translated from Dutch.
Maybe because the pros also use heavier devices. Fortunately, I was able to update the program myself with little effort and some help from earlier installers.
But since the 18th I have been receiving a lot of mail every day from others who are not so happy.
There still seems to be a lot wrong with it.
And, judging by all these emails, I myself would not buy the program at this point, but would happily wait until it has been updated.
I read that an update is already coming at the end of December and then another one at the end of January, beginning of February.
So I would definitely wait until everything has been adjusted.
I am just a hobby photographer and quite happy with Lum.2018, but if you buy it now, I fear disappointment is inevitable. -
Michelle Peeters wrote on Tuesday 25 December 2018 at 13:41
| reply
@H.D. Jersterhoudt: I have also seen the more negative experiences of (in my opinion) mainly Windows users, yes. I have recently become a beta tester and with the first versions I also suffered from a number of crashes (even on my fairly well-equipped iMac). With the first versions you often have problems that are, incidentally, often fixed quickly. But you can indeed also play it safe and wait until all the teething problems are out. Or use Luminar 2018 in parallel!
Translated from Dutch. -
guest wrote on Tuesday 25 December 2018 at 16:42 | replyLumina 3 is promising, but seems to me to have been thrown onto the market too early! It isn't tuned for Windows10 and before long your RAM is filled to 100 pct. Removing the tmp files helps for a very short while.. but I'll stick with LR until the next releases of L3 ..it will become a good product but as customers we're also in the prereleases..
Translated from Dutch. -
Frans van Vugt wrote on Wednesday 26 December 2018 at 09:31 | replyLumina 3 promising, yes. Try it out, but don't select too many folders yet, otherwise startup takes a very long time. Luckily, I can use Luminar 2018 alongside it without any problems. They don't interfere with each other.
Translated from Dutch.
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