Size of Photo file dramatically increases after saving in Luminar
Please help.
I use Luminar as a Photos extension. Most of my originals are iphone jpegs from an iphone X. When I make edits with the Luminar plugin and save the picture in Photos app, the size is huge. Typical example is the original photo at 3mb, and the edited photo at 48mb...too big to post on most sites. Photo dimensions remain the same for both.
My workaround is to export the luminar-edited photos as a smaller jpeg, but that defeats the purpose of having one spot for all my pictures.
Is there a way to solve this? Appreciate the assistance.
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Official comment
Hi Mark,
I have checked this info with our devs. There is definitely an issue. We will fix it in the future updates.
Thanks for your cooperation.
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Hi Mark, I'm a user and I also use Luminar as a Photos extension. Some pictures are from my iPhone 7s, but can't speak for an iPhone X.
However, when I process an iPhone jpeg of 5.2Mb, the result after processing using Luminar is 4.9Mb.
What processing do you do that makes the files so large?
I've had file size problems when running the software standalone and having History turned on - one file bloomed to 60 GB for some reason. Well, there was quite a bit of history as I was exploring.
I imaging it'll help the Skylum people (and users too) to know the sorts of things you are doing with your files.
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Hi Mark,
Sorry to hear you're having this issue! Let me help you get this sorted out.
Could you please upload the original JPEG image file from your iPhone to WeTransfer & send us shared for everyone link. Please send the edited photo at 48mb as well.
We would also appreciate if you send us more info about your Mac.
Please send us these files to support@skylum.com
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I think you'll find this is expected.
It happens when you convert from a lossy compressed format to a lossless or non-compressed format.
For example, most Raw files start off as lossless compressed files, but if you convert them to a non-compressed format, such as TIFF or PSD (is .lmnr format lossless compressed, or uncompressed?), then the file will end up being much larger (the true size of the file). My Nikon NEFs start out at about 15MB, and end up at 90MB as a 16-bit TIFF.
If you save to JPEG, that is a 'lossy' compressed format (even at the highest quality it still gets compressed), and can end up much smaller - typically 4-5MB. A JPEG can still end up much larger if you convert it to a lossless or uncompressed format (but will still have lost any data thrown away on the first compression), it won't be as big (as a Raw) though, as it'll only be an 8-bit image.
As a rule, you'll want to work in uncompressed or lossless formats for editing (eg. TIFF, lmnr, PSD or PNG), then save as a JPEG when you need to at the end of the process.
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Dear Julia Kot,
Thanks for the assistance. I did load the two files I mentioned in the original message on WeTransfer. Link is:
I noticed that the saved Luminar photo that is transferred back to Apple photos is no longer a JPEG, but a TIFF photo, which may be the cause. Not sure how to change that default setting when I use the Luminar plugin.
Dear Andrew Hewitt,
Thanks as well for the help. Per my comment to Julia, you were right about the non-compressed format being the culprit perhaps. That said, is there a way to have Luminar save the edited photo as a jpeg when using the plugin versus TIFF? Otherwise, I will always have to "export", which defeats the purpose of the plugin's ease of workflow. Thanks all!
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Just adding my +1 to this. I did not have this problem with older versions of Luminar. Now photos are too large to share from my iPhone, and sometimes I can't even share them from Photos to sites like Facebook. I understand that perhaps it's saving them non-lossy, but going from 4MB to 60MB sounds like there's no compression whatsoever going on, lossy or otherwise. I'm no longer able to share files after editing them unless I export them from Luminar, then copy them back to Photos, and then go to my phone and share *that* copy.
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I have the same issue with my RAW files in Luminar extension with Photos and have asked about this a number of times. I was told that Luminar saves the images back to Photos as Tiff files (even though Photos says they are jpegs) and that they do this to keep all of the data and do not plan on changing it. So, I am surprised to hear from Julia in the comment at the top that they are now saying it is an issue they will fix. I do hope that is the case as it would be nice to be able to upload to galleries and such from Photos instead of always having to export to a file first.
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I still don't think this is an issue, seems normal to me.
As a test, I just tried editing an iPhone JPEG (original size 2.55MB) in both Photoshop CC and Luminar 2018, you might be surprised. All I did was a simple 'Send Original', auto adjust round trip. Both returned as a TIFF, the Photoshop CC version came back at 69MB, the Luminar version came back at 34MB.
Try using Smart Layers in Photoshop CC if you want to see a file get really huge. I tried one the other day, and a 15Mb Raw ended up at 565MB as a TIFF. It's definitely normal to see a standard TIFF ending up at 90MB from a 15MB Raw. FWIW, PSDs are very similar.
What I tend to do is re-export and import the image as a JPEG if I'm happy with the result. I don't need fully pro level settings for most of my images, so archiving as JPEG is just fine for my needs. You can also convert to a lossy DNG in Lightroom, but they can be difficult to open on anything else (Photos doesn't like them for a start).
If you want to maintain 16-bit colours and lossless compression, PNG is becoming a good format to use instead (it's probably what JPEG200 should have become) - it's a shame that it's not used as a choice more (many of the open source apps use it).
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Reopening this thread.
I have the same issue. My original RAW file <80 MB, when I edit it from the Photos App in Luminar, the file gets saved at >250MB, which is just too much (See screenshot).
The document in Photos is saved as FullSizeRender.jpg
What should I change to avoid this?
Thanks and best
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Hi Marc. Please contact us via https://skylum.com/support and we will figure something out.
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Re-open and make this public please, following, all what is used as phtos app extension is blowing up file size to an unacceptable level. thanks god i not use phtos app for raw files
but if i have a image taken with an iphone, original size is 3.6MB, now the problems
Edited with Photolemur size on Phots app (OSX) 13-14 mb
same foto on photos app on (IOS) can not send by WhatsApp or Line because file is just too big, i try to send it by mail and there is see the size 69.8 MB
edited with luminar 69.8 MB
edited with Flex:
the same picture exported as original form the osx photos app: 13.3mb??????
so there we have the same file 2 times exported with ios photos app (lemur 69mb, flex 34mb) and the same lemur edited foto exported as original file from the OSX photos app with 13.3 MB, sorry skylum guys i really don't get it, do you test your software?
With the quality of Luminar 3, Lemur and Flex, that should be free software
the same is with Luminar FLEX (What should be a perfect extension based on Skylum Comments, and the same with the blowing up files is with Luminar 3.
as this is topic what is know to Skylum since over a year there should be a solution
honestly, can you imagine what amount of GB i need in the cloud thanks to this issue? and i guess skylum is not paying that
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Just as an update, i checke the Icloud files (as you know in the cloud are the original files, on the mac or phone should be the size optimized files)
in the cloud i have the huge files 34mb, 69mb, phone and mac are set to optimized files, but when i try to export (line, whatsapp, mail i have the huge skylum edit filesize) even the original jpeg foto from an iphone 7plus or iphone x is around 2.5-3.5mb
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Hi Mirco,
Please contact us at www.skylum.com/support about this issue and we will investigate it.
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Dear Skylum,
As the originator of this thread over 1 year ago, isn't there a better solution than to contact you directly? I did that and it did nothing to fix the problem. Still have it, even though I was told it would be resolved in a future update. BTW...that was with Luminar 2018. I upgraded to Luminar 3, and the problem still persists. PLEASE FIX THE SOFTWARE.
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@Angela,
i strongly hope you have a ticketing system, where you would see that i am already in contact with them. but have to say that the answer is really unsatisfying.
4. When you edit a photo with any of our apps as a Photos extension, you get a heavier file in your Photos library afterwards. This is done to preserve maximum quality. When you access your photos from the Photos library as usual, you'll be getting a file that is sized for web.
However, thanks to our storage system, if you ever need a high-quality image, you can export it from Photos as a TIFF and get the quality you need. We're going to keep things this way, since this provides significant benefits to our customers
if this is what you as skylum want, you have to mention this on your Homepage before customers as ME buy your product.
If i use Luminar 3 as Standalone and export fotos with 4-5 MB quality is good, if i export higher quality the jpg is 10-12 mb, and the quality is good. Basis is a file of 25-30 MB RAW.
but Photolemur i use as quick and dirty solution for my mobile phone fotos, or Flex only as extension for Photos app, i have no choice to select what quality i want. it blows up the file from 2.5MB to 69 MB, try to share a 69mb File in media or imagine now how much extra space i had to buy in ICloud? And to be honest, especially photolemur, is good for boosting coloring but the magic results are very far from what i file with 69MB should have
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I try to visualize for you what i mean based on a test with PhotoLemur and an Mobile Phone image with an original size of 2.4MB1. Performed with Photolemur Standalone, the modified Image after export is 1.7MB, even smaller than the original Size
The magic happens nowi take the same un-eidted image in Photos app and perform the edit with the Photolemur extension
now i go to the iCloud where the original files are stored and download it from there
and here is the magic, File Size after PhotoLemur edit 59.9MB
If exported from photos app with maximum quality and size i get 10.5MB
and as you know how mac software works, the edited images are shared trough iCloud on all devices, so i have then for the image on all devices the size of 59.9MB and can you explain me how i can share such a sized image from my phone with any app?as said, if i perform it with Luminar Standalone i get 1.7MB, if i perform it as an photos app extension i get for the same image 59.9MBso i guess your statement from the previous mail : 4. When you edit a photo with any of our apps as a Photos extension, you get a heavier file in your Photos library afterwards. This is done to preserve maximum quality. When you access your photos from the Photos library as usual, you'll be getting a file that is sized for web. However, thanks to our storage system, if you ever need a high-quality image, you can export it from Photos as a TIFF and get the quality you need. We're going to keep things this way, since this provides significant benefits to our customers , is wrong, as if your statement should be correct then explain me why the standalone edit results in an acceptable file size of 1.7MB?i hope i stated now clearly what the problem is with PhotoLemur or probably with your code for your software to work as an extension (as the problem is the same with Luminar 2018, Luminar 3 and Flex)But saying that you keep it this way, since this provides significant benefits to your customers (hey, i am a customer too!!!) is not that smart, As the standalone Photolemur shows a completely different result compared to Photolemur as an extension, i guess that you have tremendous problems integrating your software as extension to other applications and this issue has absolutely nothing to do with QualitybrMirco -
Skylum apps send pictures back to photos as uncompressed tiff files, even if the extension of output file is jpg
You can easily check it if you open the edited image (in photos library/resources/media/versions) with an information app like Invisor.
I thought I found a solution to Luminar 3 issues with Flex, but this bug makes Flex unusable too.
Now both Luminar 3 and Flex are In the trash bin... Wasted my money with Skylum, and I'm very disappointed because Luminar editing would be great
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Giorgio, this are just bullshit answers, they say its optimized for WEB, who the heck adds 60MB pictures on his Website? imagine how long the user need until the page is loaded, but this seems to be a skylum fetish, loving non performing tools and in this case also websites.
when i build websites, or deliver pictures for web to my customers they are even not 3MB big, for performance reasons. and that they save the files in the library as tiff is just another major mistake
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Well, this happens to me even with the standalone versions of Luminar 3 and Photolemur 3. I tested a file that was originally a 24MB Nikon NEF file edited in Lightroom CC and exported as an 8.2MB JPEG, which I imported to Apple Photos for a permanent archive.
I then processed it in standalone Luminar 3 (because Skylum products don't run as plugins in Apple Photos after macOS Catalina). When I exported it to put it back in Apple Photos, the result was a 35MB JPEG.
I did the same with Photolemur 3 as a standalone and the result was a 23.6MB JPEG.
Wow. Impressive. Both look great though. :-)
However, this really plays havoc with my workflow. Aside from the inconvenience, I load my photos into Lightroom CC as raw files and then edit and process them to export as much smaller JPEGs to keep in Apple Photos or share on the web, email, etc. Since Adobe provides its own cloud storage (at a price, of course), I leave the NEF (raw) files in Lightroom CC. But if I need to store 30+MB photos edited with Skylum products, one can only hope that the cost of storage continues to come down and the power of personal computers continues to increase - both trends I do expect to continue.
But for those who complain that we can't post such file sizes to the web, don't social media sites re-size anyway, and email gives you a choice of file size, at least Apple Mail does. Still, like everyone here, it would be nice to end up with smaller file sizes.
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Hi everyone and the Skylum team,
Of course I do have exactly the same problem with Luminar 2018. As this version will not be supported by Catalina, and before I have to upgrade , I want to be sure that this issue is fixed in Luminar 4, or not, for "quality" reasons. Otherwise, there will be no other choice than unfortunately move to another editor !
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