Quick Tips and Tricks with Luminar AI Photo Editing Software

Recently, as a Skylum ambassador, I was part of a day long live event all about photo editing with Luminar AI. There were many great speakers and was honored to have been among them.

In my segment, I focused on a few quick tips and tricks that I’ve discovered when using Luminar AI. I use the software as a plugin for Lightroom and Photoshop and I love the creativity it offers. The best part is it’s really fun and easy to use.

In my opinion, Luminar AI is for you if:

• You are new to photography or photo editing and are not currently doing any processing on your images (Luminar AI is much easier for beginners).
• You are a Lightroom user and you want to do things like add a texture overlay, do a sky replacement or other creative effects that LR can’t do.
• You are a LR or PS user and want to speed up your workflow (watch my tips in the video on people photo editing).
• You are simply looking for inspiration and how to add more style and flair to your images.

Note: Skylum is about to release their newest image editing software Luminar Neo, with a release date of early 2022, possibly even March. Read my review of Luminar Neo here, and keep up to date with all the details. I’m also developing a Luminar Neo course to get new users up to speed as soon as possible. Is Luminar AI dead? Do you need both Luminar AI and the new Luminar Neo? Is it a replacement for Photoshop? Watch my initial run-through of the latest “technical build” and my thoughts on who Luminar Neo is FOR and who it’s NOT for.

I did things in Luminar AI that I couldn’t do in Lightroom like:

• Enlarged (opened) his eyes
• Toned down the shine on his skin
• Added face lighting (you can do that in LR but it’s not automated, you have to paint it in with the Adjustment Brush)
• Used the HSL panel to tone down the background. You can also do that in LR too but not as a local adjustment (applied to just part of the image) so it’s a lot more flexible.
• Softened this skin and remove any blemishes (again you can to that in LR manually but it takes longer)

Luminar AI Deep Dive – Quick Tips and Tricks

Check out the recording of my segment now and see if you can pick up some tips to help you with your photo editing.

Here is a quick summary of the tips I give in this video:

• How to use the Iris AI to brighten really dark eyes (a neat trick I think you’ll like).
• How to use the Face Light slider to add a custom vignette to your images.
• How to mask an effect and copy and paste it to another tool inside Luminar AI.
• How to save a look you like as a Template and apply it to other images.
• How to use the Structure AI tool to blur the background.
• How to do a realistic and appropriate sky replacement using the Relight sliders.

I hope you got some good tips that you can use in your photo editing workflow. If you don’t currently have Luminar AI I highly recommend adding it.

Not only does it speed up my editing process, especially for people photos, but it allows me to do more creative things that Lightroom can’t do. Yes I could do them in Photoshop but again that takes longer and more skills which not everyone possesses.

Introducing – Edit My Image!

I’m excited to announce a new event that will hopefully become a regular thing (weekly is the plan).

It’s called: Edit My Image and will be Livestreamed to the Digital Photo Mentor YouTube channel every Saturday afternoon (1 pm MDT).

You can submit up to two of your own images at a time and if yours are chosen, you’ll see me edit them live. Even if your images aren’t chosen one week, you’ll get lots of tips watching.

You’ll learn about my process of how I decide to edit an image from start to finish. When to do more editing, and when it’s too much and time to stop.

See how I use both Lightroom and Luminar AI in my workflow and when I use each. Occasionally I might even hop over into Photoshop for an advanced edit as needed.

Keep in mind you want to choose this kind of image:

• That are RAW files if possible (if not I want the original unedited JPG as it came out of the camera)
• That you are having a hard time editing
• That you aren’t sure how to edit or what style or look to apply
• That you were disappointed with how it came out of the camera (flat-looking not as punchy as you remember the scene being)
• That you shot yourself and for which you own the copyright

Please do NOT submit the following:

• NO mobile phone images
• NO drastically overexposed JPGs (I cannot fix images 2+ stop over exposed, they are a lost cause)
• Images that you did not shoot yourself and for which you do not own the copyright
• Stock photography images

So just click the button below to fill in the form and upload some of your images.

I look forward to seeing your images and what I can create from them. It will be a challenge and fun for me, and educational and inspirational for you!

You can also help me spread the word and help more beginners with their photo editing. Just share this with your friends and photography clubs or groups so we can get a wide variety of images from all over the world.

Let’s do this!

Cheers,