The folks at Luminar Neo have released another major update to Luminar Neo, 1.21, and we’re reviewing it today! In particular, we are especially excited to see some major new features being added: Color Transfer, Color Masking, and Smart Search.
There’s much more, but we want to highlight these new tools because they really showcase the company’s dedication to everyone who has purchased the software. (We’ll talk later about the subscription VS lifetime perpetual license.)
With that said, let’s dive into this review! The previous Luminar Neo updates offered some major updates and new features that harness the incredible power of AI, so we’re excited to see what else is in store for us this fall!
Luminar Neo | Color Transfer
This is a very unique new feature, out of all the image editing apps that we’ve ever reviewed! The Luminar Neo Color Transfer tool allows you to use a reference image and transfer the color palette from it to the main image you’re editing.
To enhance the effectiveness of this tool even more, there is a “Match Similar Objects / Colors” option, which as you can guess, does what it says: If there are any such similarities between the source image and the working image, Luminar Neo will transfer color hues between those subjects. (We’re assuming it is using AI to do this, since AI is usually used for subject/object detection & identification these days.)
I used this feature to apply the same classic look as some of my favorite film “looks”, to my latest digital imagery, and the results are really amazing!
Color Masking
Color masking is another very useful tool for all kinds of artists, whether you’re a photographer, or a digital artist of any kind. The way the Luminar Neo Color Mask tool works is, it’s basically luminosity masking but with specific colors.
If you want to change or simply enhance a particular color in an image, you might already be familiar with the HSL (Hue, Saturation, Luminance) tools. This tool takes that editing technique to a whole new level by allowing you to specifically target any color you want in an image, and create a mask for that color so that you can adjust it with great precision.
To put it simply, in our testing, the tool really works quite well! It works as advertised and can be incredibly useful for any artist who is looking to take full mastery of their image editing process.
Smart Search | Easily Find Images In Your Catalog
This tool is less on the creative, visual side of things, but we are honestly just as excited about it because it’s going to save so much time! Especially if you have been a photographer for many years, and have an archive of so many different photos. If you’ve ever searched through your catalog for “that one photo” that you just can’t seem to find, you’ll appreciate the Luminar Neo Smart Search.
Once again, we are reaping the benefits of machine learning here, (essentially what most people call AI) to go far beyond the file search tools we have had in the past. Instead of only being able to search through your images by file name, date, or maybe keyword, (which you likely didn’t apply to ALL of your photos, if you’re anything like me over the last 20+ years!)
Now, you can search for actual subjects or other things in your image, and Luminar Neo will use its ML (machine learning) to search the images themselves (as opposed to just the metadata/EXIF) to find what you’re looking for!
Additional New Features In Luminar Neo | Fall 2024
Those are the three new flagship features in Luminar Neo, in the fall of 2024, but of course there are a whole lot more things that have been done since the last major update earlier this year! Let’s briefly go over them so that you can take full advantage of the latest software improvements.
Water Enhancer
This was a cool new tool that was released a short while ago, and it does what it says; it enhances water! Once again Luminar Neo is harnessing its AI to understand, quite simply, what water itself looks like, so that your complicated enhancements can be turned into a much more simple slider process.
Instead of having to worry about making complex adjustments to curves, or trying to decide whether to use a “Clarity” slider or a “Texture” slider, the process is now very simple: You have sliders to adjust the color, as well as the contrast and luminance, of the water in your images.
Twilight Enhancer
Similarly to the Water Enhancer feature, this new tool does what it says, too. It allows you to enhance twilight images! Whether you have captured a beautifully sunlit scene during golden hour, or a serene, calm landscape during blue hour, the Twilight Enhancer feature allows you to enhance your images using a single slider, if desired.
Of course, you do have a lot more control than a single slider, if you desire. There are options to control your skies specifically, tools for temperature & tint, brightness, etc.
Also, the feature includes some presets to simulate various “looks” or specific times of day. This makes the creative process highly intuitive and seamless!
Substantial Catalog Improvements
Back to the technical side of things, Luminar Neo has continued to receive many improvements to its catalog system all throughout 2024. The filtering tool has been improved in quite a few ways, making it more powerful for those who like to use things like star ratings or virtual albums.
Speaking of “virtual”, you can now also create Virtual Copies of your images in Luminar Neo as well. This is a much welcome feature for creatives who want to “try something new” for an image, without harming their existing hard work that they may have already applied. Or, of course, if you frequently want to make a B&W version of a lot of your color photos, for example.
Lastly, the whole interface itself has been streamlined to speed up your workflow. You can now use the filmstrip in the Edit and Presets tabs.
Conclusion
All in all, we are continually impressed by the various new features and improvements the folks at Luminar Neo have been delivering. It is very refreshing to see a photo editing software that actually stays at the cutting edge of what is possible, using AI and also simply being unique and thoughtful in general.
You can learn more about this particular Luminar Neo update here, or you can click here to view their pricing options. A 12-month subscription to Luminar Neo costs just $69, currently, and a lifetime perpetual license is priced at just $99!
