Thank you for concisely and rationally presenting information. I am SOOO tired of people being flashy, trying to be cool, and waving their hands all over the place and not simply presenting information effectively. Well done.
📌 Who Would Want These Luminar Neo Extensions Anyway? 👉 th-cam.com/video/N541HjAp-p4/w-d-xo.html My Luminar Neo Course: www.digitalphotomentor.com/luminar-neo-course/
Darlene you are the reason why I chose Iluminar neo. I also purchased your course which is also a very good decision on my part. I bought a lifetime license of Neo and I just purchased a bundle extension pack. I couldn’t feel better about my choice. Your videos are very helpful in making the transition from other editing programs. I’ve been on Lightroom user from way back. I decided for what I do I want something easier powerful enough to do advanced editing at a more reasonable price. Thanks again Darlene
Thanks so much for a hugely informative video. I’m buying all the ads ons & am excited about the future potential of the product. Also appreciated the tip about Picmonkey!
This is one of the best objective reviews I have seen a product. I have been using their products on my Mac when they sold Mac stand alone tools The biggest thing is the product is lacking and frustration is the lack of a undo ability. Some of the tools, I find very helpful, with multiple ways to do contrast, and their masking is pretty accurate and easy. Dodge and burn was a nice add on. Noiseless is very slow on my m1 Mac compared to others, even slower than topaz. HDR merge works better than photomatrix which was surprising
I agree with all that. Yes undo is a biggie. For hdr I haven't used Photomatix for years. I switched to LR when they added it. And Aurora HDR is really good too so I'm not surprised the HDR in Neo is as well
Darlene, I think you pretty much nailed the pros and cons of Neo (for where it is now) in a fair and unbiased fashion. I used Luminar4 as an occasional supplement to Adobe editors previously and bought Neo as soon as it was available. It was marketed in an unusual manner, kind of the promise of ‘jam tomorrow’ which required a degree of faith in Skylum. I don’t regret taking that gamble and after 12 months it’s becoming a fully fledged stand alone editor to challenge market leaders. Furthermore I took the plunge on the extension pack also.As a landscape photographer, I used Aurora previously so I knew it would work well. De-noise is also important to me, so these two alone make the pack price worthwhile. We already know upscale is coming and maybe focus stack, which will really put the cherry on top. I also believe Skylum will continue to evolve and improve existing tools. ….. Adobe should worry !
I don't think Adobe is worried they still have a huge share of the market. But Skylum and Luminar are sure doing many things right. Focus stacking is out in beta and I have an earlier test copy so I'll be doing a video soon for that
Great overview - thanks. I already have everything including your course 😊 As for the extensions I’m one of those who always want all the goodies so I went for the yearly subscription.
I started with L3, L4, AI and then NEO. Also have Aurora so I got the Merge extension. I also have Topaz DeNoise, Sharpen and Gigapixel so some of the other announced extensions would improve my workflow but are not necessary. More than a little frustrated with the new pricing models. Many of their products released in past years have hardly been functional, lacking features, slow (and I have a fast MacBook Pro with 64 GM Ram) and bug filled. Seems to take them a year to deliver what was promised and then, just as the program is working OK, they release a new program where the existing catalogue won’t work with the new release. I think I will sit this round of upgrades out. Use what I have and revisit things in a year. Really like your videos. Keep up the good work.
I like your comments Bruce. Skylum don't seem to have a long term plan for the development of Luminar and instead come out with altogether new apps that are often incompatible with previous versions. Then, to get the most out of these new apps, we users have to pay out more money for things like "Extensions" and "Luminar Insiders" etc. I do not like this company, but I have to admit that I do like their photo processing apps.
@@raylynch8419 Luminar Insiders is a free site you can join. You might be thinking of Luminar X which is where you get free assets like skies or LUTs sent to you each month. If you use those things then it's a good value for $5/month. If not, don't get it.
@@gordonhawtin2181 Yeah you said that but haven't said why. Never heard of that. Says that product no longer exists as per their website. It's also only for removing a blue or green screen background according to the marketing material. store.digitalanarchy.com/photoshop-plugins/158-primatte-photoshop.html
Been using Neo for a while now and like it. What I am struggling with is that I miss all the print options from lightroom as I can’t afford the monthly subscription from Adobe. Any ideas? Great content as always. Thank you.
How does the streamlined workflow and HDR compare compare to on1? I'm using LR and Photoshop (as an intermediate level user, and find it unnecessarily time consuming! Great video 👌😎
I've tried On1 twice and I really wanted to like it, but I just do not. You can find my review of it on my channel. So are you finding LR and PS too much? Luminar is definitely easier to use. I still use LR as my base program because it does more cataloging and can edit metadata, luminar can't do that
Hi Darlene, this video is so useful, thank you. I just purchased the 2-year Neo subscription to use as a standalone as I work with Topaz and Affinity, not photoshop nor Lightroom. I’m wondering what the upside is to install the Photos for macOS extension and if you recommend it. Thank you.
Glad my video was helpful. Personally I do NOT use nor recommend Mac Photos app. I find it hides the original files and does a lot of duplication. I don't care for it. But if you want more of a base for cataloging your images it could work for you along with Luminar.
I use On1 Photo Raw 2022 as my base (replacing Light Room). Send files to NEO for extra processing. My problem with NEO is that the individual extentions is almost the same price as upgrading (with discounts) to On1 Photo Raw 2023. The 2023 version has many of the NEO extentions capability.
Great video. I have been a Skylum user since day 1. IMO the single biggest request from Skylum would be…… They provide a road map for planned improvements to the base software. So many functions missing in comparison to say ON1. The extensions are great but they need to fix and improve the functionality and stability of the base software first. Transparency from Skylum in this regard is lacking and they will continue to have users who simply become frustrated and disappointed, who end up leaving. This could be avoided with transparency and a plan.
Although Macphun was originally founded in Kiev and still employs some developers there (now as Skylum), Skylum, resp. Shinyfields Limited is a Cyprus-registered company that operates out of the U.S. and employs most of its workers there, among other locations. It's quite a stretch to say that Skylum is a Ukrainian company, even though Skylum itself likes to market itself that way during the war to feed an emotional trigger.
Darlene, thank you for the "Pros and Cons" video. Your video was very helpful in giving me an understanding of where things are with Neo at the moment. As for me, I already have Neo and recently I bought the extensions. I bought the extensions not because I was convinced that they are worthwhile, but because, having invested in Neo, I though I might as well throw some more money at it and hopefully get a decent return on my investment eventually. I find it quite ironic that when Luminar was trying to gain a market share, the promise was that it was cheaper than the other processing apps and that you could buy the product outright and not have to pay on-going subscriptions. Now, as we know, Skylum have reneged on both these undertakings; the price has gone up dramatically (esp by the time you add in the "extensions" etc), and now there are subscriptions involved! I must say, I find Skylum to be a very frustrating, annoying and devious company to deal with. (And don't blame the war in Ukraine for this - I first started using Luminar long before the invasion started, and they were frustrating and annoying back then too!) One other gripe: I spent quite a bit of money buying "Looks" before Neo came out - now I find that those "Looks" do not work in Neo!! So all that money is wasted?? And still no clone tool and no "undo" tool?? Like I said, very frustrating ☹
@@DigitalPhotoMentor Hi Darlene, Thanks for your reply, much appreciated. Keep up the good work. Without you, I would have given up on Skylum / Luminar a long time ago. Cheers, Ray 🙂
Hi Darlene, You asked what I am using regarding NEO. I love the program. However, I have not bought the extensions because I already have Topaz products that do a good job, especially the new Topaz Photo AI. Thanks for the excellent video.
I haven't been able to get my hands on that new Topaz product yet to test it. Thanks for that info - I will do a review and comparison with Neo when I get it.
Nice review, the lifetime purchase and extension pack are too expensive $478 and that's on sale. I don't like that there is no option to show side by side images so you can see the changes to the original at the same time instead you can only change the image by clicking the before and after icon, for an image editing program this is not acceptable.
You want to see side by side edits? No other software that I use has that - just before and after. You mean the little slider? As for cost - if you go with the annual package it's only about $9/month
Hello, Darlene! Excellent summary of pros and cons. I really enjoyed it and I agree with your thoughts as presented. I also use Lightroom and Luminar as a plugin and that has worked quite well for me. Lightroom for cataloguing and some basic adjustments and Luminar Neo for stylizing and final touches. I was a bit disappointed when they got away from Luminar 4 and glad we have Luminar Neo. This is the first year of Luminar Neo and its extensions and I am excited to see where Skylum can take it from here. Happy shooting!
What a good video about Luminar Neo. I'm an owner of Neo (before 3 and AI too). I haven't invest much time for Luminar 3 or AI but more in Lightroom only. With Luminar Neo, and all this extension, that i bought, i'm motivated to move all my editing into Luminar Neo than Lightroom. Indeed i have canceled my Adobe subscription just for a not subscription with Luminar. It is more easy to use and has a low learning curve than both Lightroom and Photoshop. I didn't have used other editing like On1, Capture One and others. I have to say that Luminar is just growing up as editing photo and I hope this happens cause the developer are Ukraine and are working with a bad situation in it and the tool is really great with "AI" that are facilitating every workflow i did before with Lightroom just with a single slider.
Best video i’ve seen overviewing Luminar Neo, thanks! I’d agree with most of what you said. Quickly, here are some beefs. The powerline erase is useless to me. Unless the powerlines are very simple, it leaves far too much residue. The Mask AI is very frustrating and so many times very inaccurate. With no edge aware brush available to clean up the masks i stick with Photoshop. Neo renders my Fuji files horribly sometimes, especially if they are underexposed. Capture One, Lightroom, and ON1 are much better. I could go on but that’s a taste of my gripes. Overall, it can do a lot of things and i agree it is simple to use.
Steven, fair comments. I find it works just fine on my Fuji files though. But I am usually sending it a TIF from LR or PS. I use it for its strengths and how it fits into my workflow
@@DigitalPhotoMentor That’s a good point, sending as tiffs to Neo. I have been opening RAW files. One other thing I have found is making a mask from a radial or linear gradient, once closed and then brought back up again does not preserve the points. Instead you have to brush to revise the mask. Or is there something i am missing?
@@hVF8KZuQPeCc8u No you're not wrong about the masking, once it is applied you have to clear or fill it to apply the radial or graduated mask again, you can't edit it
Fantastic job laying it all out for those who might be looking to purchase Photo Editing Software and those of us who own Skylum Products. Gives me something to think about as a NEO Owner and I think my first order of business will be to move my library to an external drive, making it easier to have one catalog, instead or moving folders off my Mac.
Keep in mind your Neo catalog and your photos are not the same thing. So what do you mean by "library"? Always keep the catalog on your internal drive. Images can be on an external
@@DigitalPhotoMentor I wanted to move my photos to the external drive and I thought that if the catalog was not moved then I would get that pesky "?". So, can I just move the photos outside NEO or does it have to be done within the software?
@@WilliamWallaceRoss I've never attempted to move all my photos with Neo or from one drive to another. Yes you very well might get the lost edits warnings. I'd suggest try moving one small folder first and see what happens. No I don't think you can move folders from within Neo itself
So, in a few days, I'll be receiving my new computer that has overkill on all of the specs. I'm using Lightroom 6 on my present computer and I do a lot of panorama stitching, which even this version of Lr does a phenomenal, albeit slow, job at and I really need that function going forward. The extensions that they have so far are definitely ones that I would like to get, like focus stacking. Any idea when a panorama extension might be ready? You also mentioned star stacking, which I do 3-4 times a year - is there an update with regards to that? Should I wait for these extensions to come out before purchasing? Finally, the link to purchase in the section above, is that an affiliate link? You did not mention if it was or not. (I would be sure to use it if it is.)
Hi Coach Mike - yes it is an affiliate link and if you use my code you'll get 10% off the annual plans, if you want the extensions you need to get the PRO plan. I'd get it now because you can still use LR6 as your base and keep your catalog there and use Neo as a plugin for all the other stuff. Some of the extensions do require using Luminar Neo as a stand alone though like the HDR, Upscale, and Focus stacking ones. But that's what I'd do if I were you. As for pano and star trails they haven't announced anything like those yet - I was just speculating and wishful thinking LOL.
Im new to luminar Neo, and Im having problems. most of my photos after I edit them and export, then if I go back to my photos to look at them they are small and blurry and the size of a small thumbnail and at 100 percent. I have something set wrong and I think I heard you said something about that, a setting but I cant remember what. Please help if you can, Thanks
It looks great, but keywording and colour tagging is the most important feature we need, looking at dropping Adobe, this looks very interesting but if we cannot search for items, then it no Usero us.
This all sounds great, and I did consider getting a subscription just now. But: I found that if the subscription is ever cancelled, all work is lost, no more access to anything. How can this be acceptable to anyone? I won't subscribe, until this policy is changed, if ever.
No that is not true, where did you see that? That is true of Adobe, but pretty sure that is not the case with Skylum and Luminar. Can you tell me where you saw it (link?) so I can ask my contacts there?
Hi do love lumina used to have a1on my computer , but when it went wrong I sent it away to be fixed , when it come back lumina had been wiped off so I have lost, is there anyway of getting it back that you know off , also does lumina Neo do a good job on sharpness , or do I need a add on , I need really good sharpness , sorry about capital letters , my keyboard keeps going wrong. a1 or Neo which one ???
If you bought luminar you can just download it again from your account. Just go to skylum.com and login. As for AI versus Neo, I suggest Neo. AI is a dead product no more updates
Darlene, been following you since I started using Luminar. Unfortunately, I decided not to renew my Luminar Neo subscription. Great features BUT it is crashing non stop. Have a new AMD PC with with an NVIDIA 4080. CAN’T EVEN MAKE 1 edit. Other software like Resolve and Movavi are working great. Luminar NEO went from 5 stars to 0 for me. What other tool do you use?
I'm sorry to hear that. My other tools are Lightroom Classic and Photoshop. Sorry I've never even heard of Resolve and Movavi. I Google Resolve and found it belongs to the DaVinci package. Sure that one might be better but it's just as costly at $295 USD. Movavi I found also, it's for Windows only so that leaves me out. I haven't had issues with Neo crashing, I'm sorry to hear that. Have you reached out to Skylum support?
I wanted to buy Luminar Neo for its HDR merge but I found out that you have to pay extra for that! For me is no go because I already got Luminar AI and Aurora HDR 2018.
Hi Darlene. I found your channel today and really love your informative, no waffle style. You got another subscriber. I am on an M1-Max MBP 16" and had kissed Adobe good bye when LR went subscription only. Ended up buying licences for many alternatives and still can't standardise on one of them, but currently leaning towards ON1 with 2023 just around the corner. I would love to hear your summary points on these: - Photo Mechanic Plus - I use for cataloguing and culling and IPTC tagging - ON1 Photoraw 2022/2023 - Pixelmator Pro - Affinity Photo (and Publisher, Designer) - Apple Photos - Topaz photo suite - Luminar Neo (I have v4 licence) ps: Glad to see that you shoot on Fujifilm too. I have an H2 on pre-order.
Thanks for subscribing! Of those options, I'd say stick with Photo Mechanic for what you use it for now. I have personally tried ON1 Photoraw (the 2021 version) and did NOT like it. You can find my review here on my channel. I have heard 2022 is better, but it's the overall interface and how it works that wasn't for me. - Affinity is like PS Elements - I wasn't a huge fan of it and you can do most of what it does with Luminar Neo. - Apple photo - trash it! It is uninstalled and banned from all my Mac computers. It's just bad. - Topaz photo suite, they make some really good products (I use DeNoise and Sharpen AI) but I found their raw editor not so great - Luminar Neo - this is my main editor besides Lightroom and Photoshop. I use it ALL THE TIME as a plugin for both. You could easily do your metadata stuff in Photo Mechanic and edit with Luminar Neo. I have a full course on how to use it available as well. See my review here: th-cam.com/video/PaIaWML2CBY/w-d-xo.html Hope that helps
@@DigitalPhotoMentor Many thanks for your detailed reply. I had already pre-ordered ON1 2023, so I will see how it stacks up against Luminar Neo (trial version).
@@DigitalPhotoMentor I've been intrigued by Luminar; I even gave AI a shot. But I fall much more in the "purist" camp you had mentioned. I like to shoot far more editorial, documentary, reality styles. I've discovered that my shots need a great deal less editing than most people do these days. So...Photoshop still suits the vast majority of my needs. :)
@@DigitalPhotoMentor You inspired me to give AI another shot, and I have been enjoying it. HOWEVER, I just purchased 30 new LUTS and they have to be manually selected one by one to even SEE what the LUTS looks like. And they can't even be easily added to the LUTS library so that they simply work like all the others. That is way beyond unacceptable. Truly unbelievable.
@@michaelyolch79 I believe this is something they will amend in a future update. We could do that with Luminar AI so I see no reason why they won't add those options for Neo.
I have just been offered a new form of payment for Luminar Neo. The price for the monthly subscription exceeds the fee for the Adobe photo plan. A beta program for the price of a high-end product!!!😂
The photos lose their quality and this software is very slow, I take RAW photos with a Canon 5dsr 50 MP to be able to edit the photos and the photos do not lose their quality but this software does not help at all and the photos when I transfer or print them do not they look good, I have studied some software and this has advantages of forming a photo in a fake way but to edit a very professional photo like a wedding I do not recommend it and better is DXO Photolab
If Skylum is a risk in the Ukraine, it would be more reassuring if they had a branch in a stable country where they could smoothly transition too. Optimism has sunk a lot of ships.
When did you buy it? There is a 30-day refund policy. Just contact Skylum. If it's more than 30 days not sure they will refund. Their policy is on their site and 30 days is a fair amount of time.
Thank you for concisely and rationally presenting information. I am SOOO tired of people being flashy, trying to be cool, and waving their hands all over
the place and not simply presenting information effectively. Well done.
LOL thanks. People do that?
📌 Who Would Want These Luminar Neo Extensions Anyway? 👉 th-cam.com/video/N541HjAp-p4/w-d-xo.html
My Luminar Neo Course: www.digitalphotomentor.com/luminar-neo-course/
Darlene you are the reason why I chose Iluminar neo. I also purchased your course which is also a very good decision on my part.
I bought a lifetime license of Neo and I just purchased a bundle extension pack. I couldn’t feel better about my choice. Your videos are very helpful in making the transition from other editing programs. I’ve been on Lightroom user from way back. I decided for what I do I want something easier powerful enough to do advanced editing at a more reasonable price. Thanks again Darlene
I appreciate it! Thanks so much
Awesome!!! Like the sky replacement the most!! Well delivered information in a easy to understand format.
Glad you liked it!
Thanks so much for a hugely informative video. I’m buying all the ads ons & am excited about the future potential of the product.
Also appreciated the tip about Picmonkey!
You're most welcome!
That’s an excellent, thorough introduction to Luminar Neo. The best I’ve seen. Many thanks. Subbed.
Thanks so much
thank you for explaining luminar neo . i've been looking for a easier way to edit my photos.
I am sold! thank you again!
Awesome happy to help. I have a whole course on using it too if you're interested. There is a link in the video description
This is one of the best objective reviews I have seen a product. I have been using their products on my Mac when they sold Mac stand alone tools
The biggest thing is the product is lacking and frustration is the lack of a undo ability.
Some of the tools, I find very helpful, with multiple ways to do contrast, and their masking is pretty accurate and easy. Dodge and burn was a nice add on.
Noiseless is very slow on my m1 Mac compared to others, even slower than topaz.
HDR merge works better than photomatrix which was surprising
I agree with all that. Yes undo is a biggie. For hdr I haven't used Photomatix for years. I switched to LR when they added it. And Aurora HDR is really good too so I'm not surprised the HDR in Neo is as well
Thanks for taking the time to do this review, very thorough & I really enjoyed it. It made up my mind to purchase it & give it a go 👍
Awesome glad it helped you.
Absolutely great review. 😊
Thanks!
Darlene, I think you pretty much nailed the pros and cons of Neo (for where it is now) in a fair and unbiased fashion.
I used Luminar4 as an occasional supplement to Adobe editors previously and bought Neo as soon as it was available. It was marketed in an unusual manner, kind of the promise of ‘jam tomorrow’ which required a degree of faith in Skylum. I don’t regret taking that gamble and after 12 months it’s becoming a fully fledged stand alone editor to challenge market leaders. Furthermore I took the plunge on the extension pack also.As a landscape photographer, I used Aurora previously so I knew it would work well. De-noise is also important to me, so these two alone make the pack price worthwhile. We already know upscale is coming and maybe focus stack, which will really put the cherry on top. I also believe Skylum will continue to evolve and improve existing tools.
….. Adobe should worry !
I don't think Adobe is worried they still have a huge share of the market. But Skylum and Luminar are sure doing many things right. Focus stacking is out in beta and I have an earlier test copy so I'll be doing a video soon for that
Great overview - thanks. I already have everything including your course 😊 As for the extensions I’m one of those who always want all the goodies so I went for the yearly subscription.
He he no worries. Each person has to choose the right plan for them
Darlene, will your Neo course be discounted on Black Friday?
Sorry no we usually don't do a Black Friday sale. Perhaps one at Christmas
I started with L3, L4, AI and then NEO. Also have Aurora so I got the Merge extension. I also have Topaz DeNoise, Sharpen and Gigapixel so some of the other announced extensions would improve my workflow but are not necessary. More than a little frustrated with the new pricing models. Many of their products released in past years have hardly been functional, lacking features, slow (and I have a fast MacBook Pro with 64 GM Ram) and bug filled. Seems to take them a year to deliver what was promised and then, just as the program is working OK, they release a new program where the existing catalogue won’t work with the new release.
I think I will sit this round of upgrades out. Use what I have and revisit things in a year.
Really like your videos. Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much.
I like your comments Bruce. Skylum don't seem to have a long term plan for the development of Luminar and instead come out with altogether new apps that are often incompatible with previous versions. Then, to get the most out of these new apps, we users have to pay out more money for things like "Extensions" and "Luminar Insiders" etc. I do not like this company, but I have to admit that I do like their photo processing apps.
@@raylynch8419 Luminar Insiders is a free site you can join. You might be thinking of Luminar X which is where you get free assets like skies or LUTs sent to you each month. If you use those things then it's a good value for $5/month. If not, don't get it.
@@DigitalPhotoMentor Thanks for the correction Darlene. 🙂
Very good video-- clear, lots of substance, very helpful. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
I have Lumina Neo. lots of good things come with it, but it back ground removal is worst then crap!
How so? I find it works pretty good. Have you watched my new video on how to use it? th-cam.com/video/vpKh7kejxjs/w-d-xo.html
@@DigitalPhotoMentor I repeat its crap. Digital Anarchy Primate is a millions times better
@@gordonhawtin2181 Yeah you said that but haven't said why. Never heard of that. Says that product no longer exists as per their website. It's also only for removing a blue or green screen background according to the marketing material. store.digitalanarchy.com/photoshop-plugins/158-primatte-photoshop.html
Been using Neo for a while now and like it. What I am struggling with is that I miss all the print options from lightroom as I can’t afford the monthly subscription from Adobe. Any ideas?
Great content as always. Thank you.
What kind of print options? Like layouts? Yeah just use Canva free version
How does the streamlined workflow and HDR compare compare to on1? I'm using LR and Photoshop (as an intermediate level user, and find it unnecessarily time consuming! Great video 👌😎
I've tried On1 twice and I really wanted to like it, but I just do not. You can find my review of it on my channel. So are you finding LR and PS too much? Luminar is definitely easier to use. I still use LR as my base program because it does more cataloging and can edit metadata, luminar can't do that
Good review and hope that Luminar do correct the basic shortfalls Ctrl Z and masking or they wil be left behind.
Me too!
Hi Darlene, this video is so useful, thank you.
I just purchased the 2-year Neo subscription to use as a standalone as I work with Topaz and Affinity, not photoshop nor Lightroom.
I’m wondering what the upside is to install the Photos for macOS extension and if you recommend it.
Thank you.
Glad my video was helpful. Personally I do NOT use nor recommend Mac Photos app. I find it hides the original files and does a lot of duplication. I don't care for it. But if you want more of a base for cataloging your images it could work for you along with Luminar.
I use On1 Photo Raw 2022 as my base (replacing Light Room). Send files to NEO for extra processing. My problem with NEO is that the individual extentions is almost the same price as upgrading (with discounts) to On1 Photo Raw 2023. The 2023 version has many of the NEO extentions capability.
Right. So pick one editor and go with it
Great video. I have been a Skylum user since day 1.
IMO the single biggest request from Skylum would be……
They provide a road map for planned improvements to the base software. So many functions missing in comparison to say ON1.
The extensions are great but they need to fix and improve the functionality and stability of the base software first.
Transparency from Skylum in this regard is lacking and they will continue to have users who simply become frustrated and disappointed, who end up leaving.
This could be avoided with transparency and a plan.
Fair enough
Although Macphun was originally founded in Kiev and still employs some developers there (now as Skylum), Skylum, resp. Shinyfields Limited is a Cyprus-registered company that operates out of the U.S. and employs most of its workers there, among other locations.
It's quite a stretch to say that Skylum is a Ukrainian company, even though Skylum itself likes to market itself that way during the war to feed an emotional trigger.
I can't speak to that, all I know is that every single person on the team I have ever worked with or talked to is Ukrainian.
Is it good for digital arts? Like changing instantly the colors on a pattern?
Yes sure!
Oh great! Can you do a tutorial. I’ve been struggling with editing patterns and vectors I can’t seem to figure out.
@@tenk6282 Sorry no, that's beyond my scope of experience - not something I do
Darlene, thank you for the "Pros and Cons" video. Your video was very helpful in giving me an understanding of where things are with Neo at the moment.
As for me, I already have Neo and recently I bought the extensions. I bought the extensions not because I was convinced that they are worthwhile, but because, having invested in Neo, I though I might as well throw some more money at it and hopefully get a decent return on my investment eventually.
I find it quite ironic that when Luminar was trying to gain a market share, the promise was that it was cheaper than the other processing apps and that you could buy the product outright and not have to pay on-going subscriptions. Now, as we know, Skylum have reneged on both these undertakings; the price has gone up dramatically (esp by the time you add in the "extensions" etc), and now there are subscriptions involved!
I must say, I find Skylum to be a very frustrating, annoying and devious company to deal with. (And don't blame the war in Ukraine for this - I first started using Luminar long before the invasion started, and they were frustrating and annoying back then too!)
One other gripe: I spent quite a bit of money buying "Looks" before Neo came out - now I find that those "Looks" do not work in Neo!! So all that money is wasted??
And still no clone tool and no "undo" tool??
Like I said, very frustrating ☹
That's a lot yes. Clone tool is available now, just install the update. As for the rest, I can't really argue.
@@DigitalPhotoMentor
Hi Darlene,
Thanks for your reply, much appreciated.
Keep up the good work. Without you, I would have given up on Skylum / Luminar a long time ago.
Cheers,
Ray
🙂
Hi Darlene,
You asked what I am using regarding NEO. I love the program. However, I have not bought the extensions because I already have Topaz products that do a good job, especially the new Topaz Photo AI. Thanks for the excellent video.
I haven't been able to get my hands on that new Topaz product yet to test it. Thanks for that info - I will do a review and comparison with Neo when I get it.
Nice review, the lifetime purchase and extension pack are too expensive $478 and that's on sale. I don't like that there is no option to show side by side images so you can see the changes to the original at the same time instead you can only change the image by clicking the before and after icon, for an image editing program this is not acceptable.
You want to see side by side edits? No other software that I use has that - just before and after. You mean the little slider? As for cost - if you go with the annual package it's only about $9/month
Hello, Darlene! Excellent summary of pros and cons. I really enjoyed it and I agree with your thoughts as presented. I also use Lightroom and Luminar as a plugin and that has worked quite well for me. Lightroom for cataloguing and some basic adjustments and Luminar Neo for stylizing and final touches. I was a bit disappointed when they got away from Luminar 4 and glad we have Luminar Neo. This is the first year of Luminar Neo and its extensions and I am excited to see where Skylum can take it from here. Happy shooting!
Thanks glad you liked the video
What a good video about Luminar Neo. I'm an owner of Neo (before 3 and AI too). I haven't invest much time for Luminar 3 or AI but more in Lightroom only. With Luminar Neo, and all this extension, that i bought, i'm motivated to move all my editing into Luminar Neo than Lightroom. Indeed i have canceled my Adobe subscription just for a not subscription with Luminar. It is more easy to use and has a low learning curve than both Lightroom and Photoshop. I didn't have used other editing like On1, Capture One and others. I have to say that Luminar is just growing up as editing photo and I hope this happens cause the developer are Ukraine and are working with a bad situation in it and the tool is really great with "AI" that are facilitating every workflow i did before with Lightroom just with a single slider.
I'm glad you liked the video. Yes it is indeed much easer to learn and to use Luminar Neo. It's about finding the right tool for your, so well done.
May Ask? Why I can't open my Luminar neo? When I open it. It can only open about 5 seconds then it will disappear.. what should I do?
Contact Skylum support, they make the software. skylum.com/support
Best video i’ve seen overviewing Luminar Neo, thanks! I’d agree with most of what you said. Quickly, here are some beefs. The powerline erase is useless to me. Unless the powerlines are very simple, it leaves far too much residue. The Mask AI is very frustrating and so many times very inaccurate. With no edge aware brush available to clean up the masks i stick with Photoshop. Neo renders my Fuji files horribly sometimes, especially if they are underexposed. Capture One, Lightroom, and ON1 are much better. I could go on but that’s a taste of my gripes. Overall, it can do a lot of things and i agree it is simple to use.
Steven, fair comments. I find it works just fine on my Fuji files though. But I am usually sending it a TIF from LR or PS. I use it for its strengths and how it fits into my workflow
@@DigitalPhotoMentor That’s a good point, sending as tiffs to Neo. I have been opening RAW files. One other thing I have found is making a mask from a radial or linear gradient, once closed and then brought back up again does not preserve the points. Instead you have to brush to revise the mask. Or is there something i am missing?
@@hVF8KZuQPeCc8u No you're not wrong about the masking, once it is applied you have to clear or fill it to apply the radial or graduated mask again, you can't edit it
Fantastic job laying it all out for those who might be looking to purchase Photo Editing Software and those of us who own Skylum Products. Gives me something to think about as a NEO Owner and I think my first order of business will be to move my library to an external drive, making it easier to have one catalog, instead or moving folders off my Mac.
Keep in mind your Neo catalog and your photos are not the same thing. So what do you mean by "library"?
Always keep the catalog on your internal drive. Images can be on an external
@@DigitalPhotoMentor I wanted to move my photos to the external drive and I thought that if the catalog was not moved then I would get that pesky "?". So, can I just move the photos outside NEO or does it have to be done within the software?
@@WilliamWallaceRoss I've never attempted to move all my photos with Neo or from one drive to another. Yes you very well might get the lost edits warnings. I'd suggest try moving one small folder first and see what happens. No I don't think you can move folders from within Neo itself
So, in a few days, I'll be receiving my new computer that has overkill on all of the specs. I'm using Lightroom 6 on my present computer and I do a lot of panorama stitching, which even this version of Lr does a phenomenal, albeit slow, job at and I really need that function going forward. The extensions that they have so far are definitely ones that I would like to get, like focus stacking. Any idea when a panorama extension might be ready? You also mentioned star stacking, which I do 3-4 times a year - is there an update with regards to that? Should I wait for these extensions to come out before purchasing? Finally, the link to purchase in the section above, is that an affiliate link? You did not mention if it was or not. (I would be sure to use it if it is.)
Hi Coach Mike - yes it is an affiliate link and if you use my code you'll get 10% off the annual plans, if you want the extensions you need to get the PRO plan.
I'd get it now because you can still use LR6 as your base and keep your catalog there and use Neo as a plugin for all the other stuff. Some of the extensions do require using Luminar Neo as a stand alone though like the HDR, Upscale, and Focus stacking ones. But that's what I'd do if I were you.
As for pano and star trails they haven't announced anything like those yet - I was just speculating and wishful thinking LOL.
@@DigitalPhotoMentor Thanks for the response - I'll be sure to use the link.
Great review
Thanks
Darlene Does Luminar Neo offer a free trial..??
Not currently no but there is a 30-day refund available so it's risk free. www.digitalphotomentor.com/luminar-neo
Im new to luminar Neo, and Im having problems. most of my photos after I edit them and export, then if I go back to my photos to look at them they are small and blurry and the size of a small thumbnail and at 100 percent. I have something set wrong and I think I heard you said something about that, a setting but I cant remember what. Please help if you can, Thanks
Check your export settings. Make sure you don't have resize checked off
It looks great, but keywording and colour tagging is the most important feature we need, looking at dropping Adobe, this looks very interesting but if we cannot search for items, then it no Usero us.
I'm looking into using Excire with to do those things
This all sounds great, and I did consider getting a subscription just now. But: I found that if the subscription is ever cancelled, all work is lost, no more access to anything. How can this be acceptable to anyone? I won't subscribe, until this policy is changed, if ever.
No that is not true, where did you see that? That is true of Adobe, but pretty sure that is not the case with Skylum and Luminar. Can you tell me where you saw it (link?) so I can ask my contacts there?
Hi do love lumina used to have a1on my computer , but when it went wrong I sent it away to be fixed , when it come back lumina had been wiped off so I have lost, is there anyway of getting it back that you know off , also does lumina Neo do a good job on sharpness , or do I need a add on , I need really good sharpness , sorry about capital letters , my keyboard keeps going wrong. a1 or Neo which one ???
If you bought luminar you can just download it again from your account. Just go to skylum.com and login. As for AI versus Neo, I suggest Neo. AI is a dead product no more updates
This was excellent, many tanks!
Thank you!
Truly genius!
Thanks
Darlene, been following you since I started using Luminar. Unfortunately, I decided not to renew my Luminar Neo subscription. Great features BUT it is crashing non stop. Have a new AMD PC with with an NVIDIA 4080. CAN’T EVEN MAKE 1 edit. Other software like Resolve and Movavi are working great. Luminar NEO went from 5 stars to 0 for me. What other tool do you use?
I'm sorry to hear that. My other tools are Lightroom Classic and Photoshop. Sorry I've never even heard of Resolve and Movavi. I Google Resolve and found it belongs to the DaVinci package. Sure that one might be better but it's just as costly at $295 USD.
Movavi I found also, it's for Windows only so that leaves me out. I haven't had issues with Neo crashing, I'm sorry to hear that. Have you reached out to Skylum support?
I wanted to buy Luminar Neo for its HDR merge but I found out that you have to pay extra for that! For me is no go because I already got Luminar AI and Aurora HDR 2018.
Then if you buy Luminar Neo you get the HDR merge for free if you already own Aurora HDR
@@DigitalPhotoMentor unfortunately it only applies to Aurora 2019 and above!
I would prefer to be able to buy the extensions I really need as opposed to buying an extension package.
I believe you will be able to do that once all 7 have been released. But don't quote me on that as things change
Hi Darlene. I found your channel today and really love your informative, no waffle style. You got another subscriber.
I am on an M1-Max MBP 16" and had kissed Adobe good bye when LR went subscription only. Ended up buying licences for many alternatives and still can't standardise on one of them, but currently leaning towards ON1 with 2023 just around the corner. I would love to hear your summary points on these:
- Photo Mechanic Plus - I use for cataloguing and culling and IPTC tagging
- ON1 Photoraw 2022/2023
- Pixelmator Pro
- Affinity Photo (and Publisher, Designer)
- Apple Photos
- Topaz photo suite
- Luminar Neo (I have v4 licence)
ps: Glad to see that you shoot on Fujifilm too. I have an H2 on pre-order.
Thanks for subscribing! Of those options, I'd say stick with Photo Mechanic for what you use it for now. I have personally tried ON1 Photoraw (the 2021 version) and did NOT like it. You can find my review here on my channel. I have heard 2022 is better, but it's the overall interface and how it works that wasn't for me.
- Affinity is like PS Elements - I wasn't a huge fan of it and you can do most of what it does with Luminar Neo.
- Apple photo - trash it! It is uninstalled and banned from all my Mac computers. It's just bad.
- Topaz photo suite, they make some really good products (I use DeNoise and Sharpen AI) but I found their raw editor not so great
- Luminar Neo - this is my main editor besides Lightroom and Photoshop. I use it ALL THE TIME as a plugin for both. You could easily do your metadata stuff in Photo Mechanic and edit with Luminar Neo. I have a full course on how to use it available as well.
See my review here: th-cam.com/video/PaIaWML2CBY/w-d-xo.html
Hope that helps
@@DigitalPhotoMentor Many thanks for your detailed reply. I had already pre-ordered ON1 2023, so I will see how it stacks up against Luminar Neo (trial version).
Thanks
Welcome
Like luminar neo, great tools but it’s still too slow on Apple M1 chips. We really need faster performance.
Still slow on M1? What are the other specs of your computer? How much RAM? How much space on the hard drive is left?
@@DigitalPhotoMentor 16gb ram and +100gb hd space. While not impressive, these specs are no issue for Lightroom or Affinity Photo.
@@dexterslabmi That should be plenty yes. What is the size of your hard drive? If it is more than about 75% full all your programs will slow down
I got the extension bundle.
Excellent!
NEO was simply not ready for prime time at its release. I'd estimate that it's between 1-2 years away from being what it should have been.
It's been 11 months now. Have you tried it lately? All features are now finished and several extensions.
@@DigitalPhotoMentor I've been intrigued by Luminar; I even gave AI a shot. But I fall much more in the "purist" camp you had mentioned. I like to shoot far more editorial, documentary, reality styles.
I've discovered that my shots need a great deal less editing than most people do these days. So...Photoshop still suits the vast majority of my needs. :)
@@michaelyolch79 No worries. However, Luminar makes that even simpler. You can use Accent AI or a Preset and be done in 2 or 3 clicks.
@@DigitalPhotoMentor You inspired me to give AI another shot, and I have been enjoying it. HOWEVER, I just purchased 30 new LUTS and they have to be manually selected one by one to even SEE what the LUTS looks like.
And they can't even be easily added to the LUTS library so that they simply work like all the others. That is way beyond unacceptable. Truly unbelievable.
@@michaelyolch79 I believe this is something they will amend in a future update. We could do that with Luminar AI so I see no reason why they won't add those options for Neo.
I have just been offered a new form of payment for Luminar Neo. The price for the monthly subscription exceeds the fee for the Adobe photo plan. A beta program for the price of a high-end product!!!😂
Yes I understand that. The monthly or annual plan is still optional. You can still just pay for it outright.
The photos lose their quality and this software is very slow, I take RAW photos with a Canon 5dsr 50 MP to be able to edit the photos and the photos do not lose their quality but this software does not help at all and the photos when I transfer or print them do not they look good, I have studied some software and this has advantages of forming a photo in a fake way but to edit a very professional photo like a wedding I do not recommend it and better is DXO Photolab
Not sure what you mean by they lose quality. I've had no issues with finished images using it.
If Skylum is a risk in the Ukraine, it would be more reassuring if they had a branch in a stable country where they could smoothly transition too. Optimism has sunk a lot of ships.
It IS more reassuring...
Not sure wha you mean. They do have some team members in the US and other places in Europe
I regretted, just wish I can refund
When did you buy it? There is a 30-day refund policy. Just contact Skylum. If it's more than 30 days not sure they will refund. Their policy is on their site and 30 days is a fair amount of time.