The Photographer's Guide to Luminar 4
By Jeff Carlson
()
About this ebook
In The Photographer’s Guide to Luminar 4, photographer Jeff Carlson helps you discover Skylum's Luminar 4’s best features to take full advantage of the program for all your photography needs.
Skylum’s Luminar 4 is a great solution for both professional and amateur photographers who want to quickly create stunning photos. Luminar’s advanced AI-based tools eliminate hours of traditional editing tasks, whether you’re applying automatic tone and color adjustments, replacing dreary skies with more dynamic ones, or retouching portraits to smooth skin, remove blemishes, and accentuate flattering facial features. For those who want to dig into editing, powerful tools give you full control over your RAW and JPEG images, including advanced features such as layers, masks, blend modes, and lens correction. Luminar also works as a plug-in for other applications, such as Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, and Apple Photos, allowing round-trip editing and seamless integration with workflows you may already have in place.
Luminar 4 is deceptively deep, and in The Photographer’s Guide to Luminar 4, photographer Jeff Carlson helps you discover Luminar 4’s best features to take full advantage of the program for all your photography needs. From importing your images to editing, managing, and exporting your files, Jeff showcases the power, precision, and control of Luminar while teaching you to work quickly and efficiently. In this book, he walks you through real-world landscape and portrait edits, and covers every tool and feature with the goal of helping you understand how to make Luminar improve your images.
In this book you’ll learn all about:
- AI editing: Luminar 4’s many AI-based tools eliminate hours of traditional editing tasks. Improve overall tone and color using just one slider, and enhance a sky using another without building masks or layers. Realistically replace the entire sky in one step, even when objects like buildings or trees intrude. Luminar identifies faces in photos, allowing you to smooth skin, sharpen eyes, brighten faces, and perform other portrait retouching tasks in minutes.
- Expert editing: Take advantage of Luminar’s many professional tools to bring out the best versions of your photos. Enhance the look using tone controls and curves, dodging and burning, and tools built for specific types of images, such as Landscape Enhancer, Adjustable Gradient, and B & W Conversion. The Erase and Clone & Stamp tools make it easy to remove unexpected objects and glitches such as lens dust spots. Luminar’s RAW editing engine includes real-time noise reduction and advanced color processing and sharpening tools, all completely non-destructive and with the ability to step back through the history of edits.
- Advanced editing: Use layers, masks, blend modes, and lens corrections to combine edits and effects.
- Creativity: Open your imagination with Luminar’s creative tools, which range from adding glow, texture, and dramatic looks to incorporating sunrays and objects into augmented skies.
- Presets and LUTs (Lookup Tables): Learn how to use Luminar Looks presets and LUTs to bring the look of simulated film stocks and creative color grades to your work.
- Luminar Library: Organize and manage your photos in a central library where your source images can reside where you want them, whether that’s on your hard disk, a network volume, or in local cloud services folders such as Dropbox or Google Drive for remote backup.
- Luminar plug-ins: If you already use other applications to organize your library or for photo editing, such as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom Classic, Luminar 4 also works as a plug-in that allows round-trip editing and seamless integration with the workflows you may already have in place.
- Sh
Jeff Carlson
Jeff Carlson was born on the day of the first manned moon landing and narrowly escaped being named Apollo, Armstrong, or Rocket. His father worked for NASA-Ames at the time. His granddad on his mother’s side was a sci fi fan whose library included autographed copies of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. Both men were strong, early influences—and in the high tech 21st Century, it’s easy to stand with one foot in reality and the other in thriller novels. Jeff is the internationally bestselling author of Interrupt, Plague Year, and The Frozen Sky, hailed by Publishers Weekly as “Pulse pounding.” To date, his writing has appeared in fifteen languages worldwide. Readers can find free fiction, videos, contests, and more on his web site at www.jverse.com.
Read more from Jeff Carlson
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The Photographer's Guide to Luminar 4 - Jeff Carlson
Jeff Carlson
The Photographer's Guide to Luminar 4
The Photographer's Guide to Luminar 4
Jeff Carlson
www.rockynook.com/the-photographers-guide-to-luminar/
Editor: Maggie Yates
Project manager: Lisa Brazieal
Marketing coordinator: Mercedes Murray
Layout and type: Jeff Carlson
Cover design: Aren Straiger
Proofreader: Julie Simpson
ISBN: 978-1-68198-404-9
1st Edition (1st printing, May 2020)
© 2020 Jeff Carlson
All images © Jeff Carlson unless otherwise noted
Rocky Nook Inc.
1010 B Street, Suite 350
San Rafael, CA 94901
USA
www.rockynook.com
Distributed in the U.S. by Ingram Publisher Services
Distributed in the UK and Europe by Publishers Group UK
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018932976
All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.
Many of the designations in this book used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks of their respective companies. Where those designations appear in this book, and Rocky Nook was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps. All product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. They are not intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.
While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein or from the use of the discs or programs that may accompany it.
Printed in Korea
For my father, Larry Carlson.
About the Author
Author and photographer Jeff Carlson writes for publications such as DPReview and Macworld, and is a contributing editor at TidBITS. He is the author of the books Take Control of Your Digital Photos and Take Control of Your Digital Storage, among many other titles. He co-hosts the podcast PhotoActive and leads photo workshops in the Pacific Northwest. He believes there’s never enough coffee, and does his best to test that theory.
Web: jeffcarlson.com
Instagram: @jeffcarlson
Twitter: @jeffcarlson
Table of Contents
Introduction
How to Read This Book
1The Luminar Studio
The Sidebar
Edit Tools
The Histogram
Quick Preview and Compare
Hide/Show All Panels and Full Screen Preview
The Looks Panel
Zoom
The Canvas Panel
History
The Library
The Info Panel
Change the Background Color
2The Paths to Luminar
Edit a Single Image
Edit a Photo from Another Application
Edit a Photo in the Luminar Library
Add New Photos to the Library
3Landscape Walkthrough
Evaluate the Photo
Get Luminar’s Opinion
Adjust Exposure
Adjust White Balance
Punch Up the Foliage
Draw Attention Away from the Rocks
Adjust the Waterfalls
Add Effects and Final Touches
Enhance Details
Remove the Person
Before and After
4Portrait Walkthrough
Evaluate the First Photo
Edit Tone and Color
Enhance the Skin
Enhance the Face
Apply Spot Touch-Ups
First Photo Before and After
Evaluate the Second Photo
Let Luminar Do (Much of) the Work
Enhance the Skin and Face
Brighten the Subject
Correct Skin Tones
Fix the Eye Reflection and Apply Touch-ups
Second Photo Before and After
5Editing Tools
Editing Tool Fundamentals
Understand the Histogram
Essentials Tools
Creative Tools
Portrait Tools
Professional Tools
Deprecated Tools
6Canvas Tools
Crop & Rotate
Erase
Clone & Stamp
Lens & Geometry
7Luminar Looks
Apply Looks
Create Your Own Looks
Export and Import Looks
8Layers
Layers Fundamentals
Work with Layers
Blend Modes
Layer Transform
Blend Modes and Layer Transform: Add a Watermark
9Advanced Editing
Masking
Layer Compositing
Sync Adjustments
Deal with Sky Reflections in AI Sky Replacement
Automating with Photoshop Actions
Strategies for Speeding Up Luminar
10Luminar Library
Use Library Shortcuts
Rate and Flag Photos
Sort Photos
Filter Photos
Work with Albums
Remove Photos from the Library
Locate Missing Folders and Edits
Back Up and Restore the Catalog
Work with Multiple Catalogs
11Sharing Photos
Export to Image
Share to Services
Open in Other Applications (macOS)
Batch Process Multiple Photos
Introduction
This doesn’t seem like something one would say in polite company, but let’s get the truth out of the way: a lot of people came to Luminar from Lightroom or Photoshop as a result of Adobe switching to a subscription pricing model. Perhaps they didn’t think the ongoing cost was worth the switch, or maybe they object to subscriptions in general. Heaven knows we all have more than enough subscriptions now, from music streaming to video services to cloud storage.
But moving to a different photo application, and paying for it outright, isn’t something one just casually does.
As you’ve no doubt discovered, Luminar isn’t some backwater alternate to Adobe’s tools. It’s a comprehensive image editor and library manager, but it also has ambition. Skylum saw a future where it could deliver the tools and quality that photographers of all stripes demand—on the company’s own terms.
I’ve worked with people from both Adobe and Skylum, and they’re all focused on making great tools for photographers, resolving the pain points that disrupt workflows, and doing what they can to help you enjoy your images.
There are a few essential ingredients wrapped up in that statement. Skylum has invested heavily in building AI (artificial intelligence) tools that understand the content of a photo to best apply edits to specific areas. The application also includes the Luminar Libraries feature, a long–wished-for component that adds library management to the application. I can’t stress enough how convenient it is to have editing and organizing under the same roof. You end up spending more time and focus on enjoying and working with your images, instead of managing files on disk and between applications. If you already use something like Lightroom or Apple Photos to organize your photo collection, Luminar also works as a full-featured plug-in that lets you make round-trip edits without disrupting your current organization scheme.
Whether you’re here as a result of Adobe’s subscription model, or you were drawn to Luminar’s many photographer-focused features, this book will help you coax (or sometimes prod) the best versions of your photos to appear.
How to Read This Book
Editing photos is rarely a linear process. Some images demand tonal corrections before you can think about adjusting color, while others need the opposite approach. Adding a vignette could prompt you to boost saturation a bit or bring up the shadows to compensate for the darker edges of the frame. There’s not a single editing path to follow.
Luminar’s many tools and controls are also non-linear. That’s a creative advantage! However, it also leads to situations where features overlap, an especially annoying trait when someone like me is putting it all in a linear medium such as a book.
Don’t be surprised to find yourself skipping around between sections, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish. For example, in Chapter 5 I cover Luminar’s many editing controls. As you work, however, you may want to edit on adjustment layers, which are covered in Chapter 8, and apply masks, which are covered in Chapter 9. In fact, you may prefer to start with Chapters 8 and 9, and then refer back to Chapter 5 to learn how to use specific tools. (If you’re thinking you’ve stepped into a time-bending Christopher Nolan movie, stick with me here.)
I do retain some linearity in terms of complexity. To wit:
•In Chapter 1, I share what I think are the most important controls and features that demand your attention right away.
•Chapter 2 details the variety of ways to get photos into Luminar, from importing them directly to using Luminar as a plug-in for other applications such as Lightroom Classic or Apple Photos.
•Chapters 3 and 4 walk you through editing a landscape and two portrait photos to give you an overview of a typical Luminar workflow. If you’d like to download the images and follow along in Luminar, go to https://rockynook.com/luminar/walkthrough/.
•Chapters 5 and 6 build a foundation to understand how the editing and canvas tools work.
•Chapter 7 jumps into applying the presets that the software calls Luminar Looks. Technically, Looks are much easier to understand than individual tools, but knowing how a Look manipulates the tools’ controls gives you more power over adjusting those settings.
•After all that, you’ll be in a better position to understand the sometimes unique ways Luminar uses layers in Chapter 8.
•And then, in Chapter 9, I cover masks, blend modes, and other advanced editing topics.
•Chapter 10 is devoted to the Luminar Library, detailing how to organize photos, create albums, and work with files on disk.
•Chapter 11 is probably the most logically placed section, because when you’re done editing, it’s natural that you’d want to learn how to share your awesome creations.
So, what I’m saying is that you don’t need—and I’m not expecting you—to read the book front-to-back, but there is some progression to be found as you encounter the topics. Besides, I fully expect you to read a little, edit some photos in Luminar, refer back to the book for details, and edit some more. The whole point of this book, and Luminar in general, is to help you develop your images into the photos you want them to be.
1 The Luminar Studio
In a lot of books, this is the chapter you’re likely to skim over, or outright skip, so you can jump right to editing. I’m not judging! I’ve done the same thing. Touring an application’s interface sometimes feels like getting stuck behind a slow driver on an expressway.
That said, think of Luminar as a photo studio (or your photo bag when you’re in the field): when you know where everything is, you can easily grab the lens or filter you need and get the shot you want. If you’re fumbling around trying to locate the right piece of equipment, you can get frustrated and lose focus on the image you’re capturing or editing.
As you’ll soon discover, Luminar has a lot of working parts, such as the Library, which organizes your photo collection, and tools for making edits. Many of those parts aren’t visible at times.
Instead, let’s take a slightly different approach. I’m going to point out the essential tools and areas that will soon become second nature to you, in what I believe to be their order of importance.
If you’ve used Lightroom, Photoshop, or most other image-editing applications in the past, you should feel immediately comfortable with Luminar. When viewing or editing, the image is nice and large in the frame, with editing tools in a sidebar to the right, and a toolbar up top. The Looks panel runs along the bottom, offering pre-made, one-click looks.
The Sidebar
Sidebar
seems like a bland moniker for the portion of Luminar that will get most of your focus, but I appreciate that Skylum didn’t try to jazz it up for crazy marketing reasons. In addition to the Library panel, the sidebar includes the Edit panel, with all the tools for adjusting a photo, the Layers controls, and the all-important Histogram (Figure 1-1). The sidebar also includes the Info View.
FIGURE 1-1: Nearly all of the editing tools are tucked away in the sidebar, leaving plenty of room for you to work on your image.
If you want to eke out some more screen space, you can hide the sidebar by choosing View > Sidebar > Hide. That hides all the tools you need, though, so it’s not something I recommend doing. A better way to get a less cluttered view of a photo is to choose View > Hide/Show Filmstrip to remove the images at the left side of the window. Or, for quick checks, press the tab key (or choose Hide/Show All Panels).
Edit Tools
I cover editing tools in much more depth in Chapter 5, so here I want to introduce the mechanics of how they work.
When you activate the Edit panel, a few tools are already visible, such as the Essentials group, which includes tools such as Light (for adjusting exposure and white balance) and AI Enhance (which does wonders with just two sliders) (Figure 1-2).
FIGURE 1-2: All of the tools for making adjustments reside in the Edit view.
Just below the group name is the current layer, which in most cases is the image’s file name. As you’ll learn in Chapter 8, each layer can have its own combination of adjustments, so this tiny detail helps orient you as you work.
Click a tool’s heading to hide or show the sliders for applying that tool’s edits. Only one tool’s controls are available at a time (Figure 1-3).
FIGURE 1-3: To streamline the editing interface, only the active tool will be visible.
With so many tools available, it would be madness to include them all in a long sidebar list; you’d fall asleep while scrolling. Instead, they’re organized into five main groups: Essentials, Creative, Portrait, Pro, and Deprecated. The last one appears only when you open an image that was edited using tools from earlier versions of Luminar that are no longer current; they still work, but aren’t normally visible.
No More Work for Workspaces
Luminar 3 and earlier used a clever method of working with tools—referred to then as filters—called workspaces. Instead of grouping tools into several main categories, as in Luminar 4, filters could be mixed, matched, swapped, and swiped between workspaces. It was wonderfully configurable—and quite complicated. Several of the filters duplicated tools from other filters as the software evolved.
Skylum streamlined tools significantly in version 4 to remove all that complexity and to be friendlier to folks who just want to get in, edit their photos, and move on to the next thing.
The Histogram
For a long time I ignored histograms—I can see a photo with my own two eyes, after all! But was I really seeing it? After consistently underexposing my photos, both in camera and during editing, I realized that the histogram is more than a fancy colorful representation of the data in the image. Now, I keep the histogram visible at all times. If it’s not already visible, click the More button at the bottom of the sidebar ( ) and then choose Show Histogram, or choose View > Hide/Show Histogram (Figure 1-4).
FIGURE 1-4: Learn to love the histogram, because it can get you out of some bad editing situations.
In addition to showing how color and tone are distributed in a photo, the histogram can reveal clipped areas that are blown out to white or darkened to complete black. Click the triangles that appear when you move the pointer over the histogram to view those areas. (For more, see Chapter 5.)
Compare and Quick Preview
Like the options for hiding toolbars and viewing the photo full-screen, these two options get used a lot. I’m listing the keyboard shortcuts first because I find it’s so much easier to use them than to click the toolbar buttons with your cursor.
•Compare: Press the semicolon (;) key or click the Compare button ( ) in the toolbar to view a split-screen display of the photo (Figure 1-5). Drag the middle divider to expose the Before and After versions of the image.
FIGURE 1-5: View a quick before-and-after comparison of your photo.
•Quick Preview: Press the backslash (\) key or click the Quick Preview button ( ) in the toolbar to reveal the unedited version of your photo for comparison’s sake. (It’s oddly named, since what you’re doing is viewing the old version, not previewing the edited version, but you get the idea.)
Hide/Show All Panels and Full Screen Preview
These commands are really just different ways to view your photo, but you’ll find yourself using them all the time as you edit—which is why I’m including them so high in the list of importance.
•Hide/Show All Panels