Luminar Flex: advanced plug-in for photo editing

Monday 15 June 2020, 11:18 by Michelle Peeters | 10,282 views | 5 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Luminar Flex by Skylum is a plug-in for Lightroom and Photoshop. We have written about Luminar before. The program offers a very innovative way to quickly edit and/or improve your photos.

The possibilities of Luminar Flex are explained in the video below:

By using AI (artificial intelligence) and the way it works with filters, you can quickly achieve beautiful results in an innovative way. However, it is not quite a true Lightroom killer yet, because the library function only performs moderately when compared with Lightroom's capabilities.

But if you would like to use Luminar's convenient and fast editing options, you can use Luminar Flex, a plug-in for both Lightroom and Photoshop.

Stay in Lightroom with Luminar Flex

I have taken an extensive look at Luminar and I am very enthusiastic about it. Yet I remain loyal to Lightroom because my photos are so well organised there with my keywords and collections. Creating a good library function is not that easy, which is why many users still stick with Lightroom.

With the Luminar Flex plug-in, you can now keep your edited photos in your own Lightroom library while still making use of Luminar's 'innovative' editing options.

Luminar Flex works the same as other editing plug-ins in Lightroom. You install it using Skylum's installer. Right-click a photo you want to edit in Luminar Flex and choose Edit in Luminar Flex from the pop-up menu that appears.

You will then see a dialogue box where you can specify how the photo to be edited should be rendered. Raw files are converted into a new file.

The best setting is TIFF, 16-bit and ProPhoto RGB. Once Lightroom has generated the file, with the adjustments you have already made in Lightroom, switch to Luminar Flex, where you can make all your AI adjustments. Once you have made the adjustments, choose Apply and return to Lightroom.

Filters with artificial intelligence

Luminar's options for improving your photos with artificial intelligence are usually useful and sometimes even impressive.

Luminar Flex may well be what finally makes Luminar break through. As long as they have not quite got the library function in order, you can work perfectly well with Luminar Flex from Lightroom.

Luminar Flex is available for 59 euros. If you already have a licence for Luminar 3, you can find a serial number for Flex under My Software in your Skylum Account, so you do not need to buy it.

Want to know more?

If you would like to know more about working with Luminar Flex, you can take an online course by Piet van den Eynde at Photofacts Academy. He shows the possibilities of the programme and how to work with it.

Dit artikel is voor het laatst bijgewerkt op 15 juni 2020.
De eerste publicatiedatum is woensdag 17 april 2019, 15:30.

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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

Bart wrote on Tuesday 23 April 2019 at 16:21 | reply
I recently purchased Luminar Flex from you and installed it as a plug-in in LR. The Cancel and Apply buttons are missing for me. I notice I'm not the only one on the Internet. What do I need to do to get those essential buttons on my screen. I have a Windows (10) computer
Translated from Dutch.

Michelle Peeters wrote on Tuesday 23 April 2019 at 16:57 | reply
@Bart: I'll ask Slylum about it.
Translated from Dutch.

Joseph Verbinnen wrote on Tuesday 23 April 2019 at 20:34 | reply
I have the same problem - I have been in extensive contact with the SUPPORT of SKYLUM. They know about it. It is actually a bug that only occurs with LR.

You can export to LUMINAR via LR by right-clicking on the photo and then looking in the list for EXPORT - next to it LUMINAR FLEX with underneath: Open Source Files and Edit a Copy With Lightroom Adjustments. This does work.

" I am sorry for the confusion but the only way to that we recommend is the Export option my colleague sent you before.
It is not greyed out. You have to choose one of the given options: Open Source Files or Edit a Copy With Lightroom Adjustments"

and :
"This is a know issue that occurs only in Lightroom, and as a temporary solution we recommend to use Export button."

or: FILE / PLUGIN EXTRAS / LUMINAR FLEX / EXPORT TO LUMINAR FLEX - also works.
Translated from Dutch.

2019$5527$P wrote on Thursday 25 April 2019 at 11:49 | reply
Of course you can still export. But you don't automatically return to LR. That's the reason you use a plug-in. To get it back into LR, you have to import the edited photo again. That's far too labor-intensive.
Translated from Dutch.

Joseph Verbinnen wrote on Thursday 25 April 2019 at 13:01 | reply
Normally with the plug-in LUMINAR FLEX you should be able to send your photo to the plug-in via : Photo / Edit in Luminar Flex. The photo then opens in LUMINAR FLEX and then you see the buttons on the right : "cancel" and "apply".
When you are finished with your adjustments, click on "apply" and then the edited photo returns to LR as a TIFF.

The problem we discussed was that via PHOTO etc. you don't get to see any apply or cancel buttons. This is indeed a bug in LUMINAR FLEX at the moment.

See also Piet's videos where it does work - by the way, in PS it does work - in LR it doesn't. It will probably be fixed in the next upgrade....
Translated from Dutch.

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