Luminar Neo’s New Fall Update Brings Major Quality-of-Life and AI Tool Improvements

Sep 03, 2024

David Crewe

A scenic image of a mountain and forest reflected in a calm lake is divided vertically in half. The left side appears darker and has lower contrast, while the right side is brighter with higher contrast. An icon and logo reading "Luminar Neo" are positioned in the center.

Skylum has announced the latest and greatest updates coming to its flagship Luminar Neo photo editing software that features a massive improvement to the overall user experience as well as some impressive Artificial Intelligence enhancements driven by generative AI technology.

Full disclosure: This article is sponsored by Skylum.

The improvements coming in the Fall Update include many new features and quality-of-life improvements based on user feedback with the Luminar Neo community. These include things like Smart Searching, Color Transfer between images, targeted/object-specific color masking, Catalog Filtering, and many other massive catalog improvements designed to make the life of creatives leveraging the photo editing software all the more enjoyable and efficient an experience.

Color Transfer

An image editing interface shows a cityscape divided into "Before" and "After" sections to demonstrate color transfer effects. The adjustment panel on the right side displays various color transfer options, a slider for color smoothing, and a "Match Similar Objects' Colors" checkbox.

First up is a new AI-driven tool that is designed to allow users to select colors from a reference image and transfer its color palette to an image of their choice. Once selected, you can adjust the results and intensity of the applied colors using several sliders and apply them using the AI transfer feature to match colors between similar objects within the image, such as sky-to-sky, terrain-to-terrain, or transport-to-transport.

This new feature will help creatives quickly and easily make impressive color changes, giving them much more creative flexibility and precision with their edits so they can mimic the color palettes of their favorite movies, images, paintings, and more. This will allow for far greater control in achieving their desired color-aesthetic choices while editing their favorite photos.

A photo editing software interface is shown. A picture of a person standing on a sand dune, possibly holding a camera, is being edited. Various adjustment tools and settings such as crop, color transfer, and luminescence are visible on the right side of the screen.

Color Masking

A screenshot of the Luminar Neo software interface with the text "Color Masking" prominently displayed. Below the text is an image of a mountainous landscape with a tool panel on the right showing "Develop," "Adjustments," and "Masking" options.

The new Color Masking tool grants further control over a photographer’s image by allowing users to create precision masks based on specific colors in their pictures. The mask is created simply by using an eye dropper tool to select the color, and then the color range can be adjusted using a slider, allowing for far more precise control over the specific areas and objects within the image that are affected.

A computer screen displays a photo editing application. The main image is of a castle on a hill surrounded by trees with autumn foliage. The app interface shows various editing tools and options on the right side, including adjustments for color, masking, and others.

These improvements to the color selecting/masking tools were created to make it easier for photographers and retouchers to apply targeted and precision edits to their images to help save them time and energy and improve the overall experience of editing photographs using Luminar Neo.

A digital photo editing tool interface displaying an image of a large ice formation on the ocean. The editing tool windows include layers, presets, and adjustments. A "Click on the photo to sample color" tooltip is present in the middle of the image.

Smart Search

The new Smart Search feature in Luminar Neo is a Machine Learning (ML)-based search feature that is designed to help photographers find specific images not only by generic attributes like filename, file type, date, and extensions but also by content within the image such as objects, scenes, and people. These include trees, traffic signs, cars, bikes, subways, people smiling, and more.

The advanced search capabilities of the improved Luminar Neo will significantly enhance the user’s ability to locate incredibly specific images within their catalog, allowing for fast and easy navigation, organization, and selections.

A dimly lit computer screen displays a photo catalog application with a search bar showing the term "Lamb." Several nature photos, including lakes, mountains, forests, and a person standing in a wooded area, are visible in the gallery.

Catalog Improvements

Screenshot of Luminar Neo interface. The text "Enhanced Catalog" is prominently displayed in white. Below, there's a menu on the left and images with ratings on the right, illustrating cataloging and organizing features.

Based on user feedback, Luminar Neo’s new and improved catalog features are designed to provide a far more efficient and enjoyable user experience while working within the image editing application. These updates will provide an enhanced photo organization with filtering options available by camera model, focal length, shutter speed, ISO, rating, and aperture, as well as several other easy-to-navigate parameters that make it far easier for creatives to locate the exact photograph in their backlog they’re searching for.

A dark-themed software interface displaying a photo management application with various pictures displayed as thumbnails. Text above reads: "Better user experience: Sort, find and view photos with ease. Plus, enjoy a lot of improvements to your editing workflow, including a film strip in edit view, virtual copies, and catalog filtering. These improvements will be available for free for all users.

The new update allows users to see an improved display of filename extensions within the EXIF panel, add/remove star ratings, and provide a more structured “detailed” view that displays filenames, ratings, and favorite/reject flags at the same time. Additionally, this new feature includes intuitive contoured grid views for easy image dragging, an updated view for “File not Found” scenarios, and several other minor UI improvements that include some redesigned icons in the Photo Action Panel to enhance the user’s experience managing and navigating within their photo catalog.

A dark-themed photo cataloging software interface is displayed. Filter options for camera type and other criteria are open on the left, while detailed image information is shown on the right. The window includes buttons for exporting and moving between different photo collections.

Filtering Catalog

A dark-themed slide showcasing Luminar Neo's catalog features: star ratings, virtual copies, a new gallery view, folders and albums sorting, and new filtering. Each feature is accompanied by a representative icon or screenshot.

Diving deeper into the catalog improvements bundled into the Fall Update for Luminar Neo includes some significant enhancements to the Filtering features. These give users the ability to filter their catalogs using a variety of new and improved parameters from the metadata in their files, as well as basic image attributes such as camera model, focal length, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, rating, and much more. Using these filters will provide users with an extensive and robust filtering option that allows them to efficiently narrow down their searches within their catalogs, making it far easier to find specific images based on detailed criteria.

Virtual Copies

A photo editing software interface displays a serene coastal scene at dusk with a small boat on calm water. The right sidebar lists editing tools, while a context menu in the center offers options like exporting the image. The bottom bar shows thumbnail previews of images.

A much-beloved feature among photographers has finally arrived at Luminar Neo, and that’s the addition of creating Virtual Copies of their images, allowing for multiple edit versions of the same file. These virtual copies can be created multiple times, duplicating the original file and allowing creatives to experiment with different editing styles, crops, or adjustments while preserving the original file(s), allowing for a lot of wild edits and creative visions. This new feature allows users a safe space to foster creative experimentation without any risk of losing the original “safe” edited file.

Sort Folders and Albums

A computer screen displays a photo management software. The interface shows various landscape and portrait photos organized in a grid, with options for metadata and editing tools on the right side of the screen. Icons for browsing categories are on the left sidebar.

Added to the already massive update is the ability to sort folders and albums within the Luminar Neo Catalog. This new feature is designed to allow photographers to sort their image folders and collections by a variety of different attributes, making it far easier to manage large photo collections, while simplifying the process of finding and accessing specific albums and folders.

Filmstrip in Edit

Screenshot of Luminar Neo photo editing software interface, showcasing a landscape photograph with a waterfall. The text "Filmstrip in Presets and Edit" is visible at the top, highlighting the filmstrip feature in the editing and presets panel.

Finally, the new Fall Update for Luminar Neo will include a Filmstrip in the Edit Tab that gives users the ability to switch quickly between images without having to exit the catalog mode. This improvement to the quality of life will help photographers maintain their focus on image editing and allow for quick synchronization across all images within the folder, effectively streamlining the editing workflow and enhancing your overall productivity.

Pricing and Availability

These new features and UI/Catalog improvements will be available at no additional cost for all Luminar Neo customers this October. A public beta will also be available near the end of September.

Lifetime purchasers will have access to the Catalog improvements and the Filmstrip in Edit Mode. To receive all features and enhancements from the Fall Upgrade 2024, the Spring Update 2025, eight pro-level tools to keep permanently, and three generative features with access valid until January 1, 2026, users can purchase the one-time Upgrade Pass 2024/25. Lifetime purchasers who acquire their licenses between July 1, 2024, and August 15, 2024, will automatically receive the Upgrade Pass 2024/25 at no extra charge.

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. All updates are included for users on subscription plans. Comprehensive information about pricing and subscription plans is available on Skylum’s website. For a limited time, Petapixel readers can get a 15% discount using the code PETAPIXEL15.

Full disclosure: This article is sponsored by Skylum.

Image credits: Photographs by Skylum