Borders for Luminar

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John Winter

• April 13, 2018 13:19

I really like the ability to add borders to my images destined for the Web offered in ON-1 Effects.

I'd love to be able to add them right in Luminar.  Any chance?

 

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  Julia Kot

  • April 13, 2018 14:11

  Hi John,

  Thanks for sharing this idea!

  We can't always add new features that are requested, but we do keep track of each one. This may be something we look into later on down the line.   

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  Nicole Young

  • April 14, 2018 18:09

  The problem is that Luminar does not handle .png files well. ON1 uses .png files for their borders so they're really not that complex (and I've done so as well with some of my preset packs).

  So, in theory you could use the Texture Overlay filter to add a border in Luminar, but when you add a .png file it ignores the transparency and gives it a white background.

  If you look at my example below, the thumbnail image inside of the Texture Overlay filter shows transparency, but the filter "flattens" the .png file:

  

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  Sherwood Botsford

  • April 29, 2018 04:27

  This is a a great idea for a 3rd party plugin.  
  
  Or give Luminar the ability to import another image as a layer.  (Does it now?) You need this for compositing anyway.
  This sounds pretty close to the functionality with the sky add-on.

   

  The API for this would need to 
  
  

  * Tell the plugin what the canvas size is.

  * Tell the plugin what the colour space is.
  * The plugin then builds the layer, and passes it back.

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  Julia Kot

  • April 29, 2018 11:42

  Hi Sherwood,

  Please note that "Add Image Layer" option is already presented in Luminar 2018. You can find it in the Layers menu.

  Also, there is also an option to use Texture Overlay filter, the one Nicole adviced.

  Also, on MacOS you can use FX Photo Studio CK as Luminar 2018 plugin. There is a collection of frames there.

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  Bob Shrader

  • July 07, 2018 12:11

  John, I agree with your suggestion. Luminar 2018 should include a simple border function. It should also include a simple tool for creating/adding watermarks.

  As others have noted, there are workarounds. Shutter Muse has a YouTube video on a convoluted way to add a watermark in Luminar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj-wgZf0q30

  Tonality CK is another MacOS app that works as a plugin in Luminar 2018. It, too, has a small collection of borders that can be used. But the CK apps are not available to Window users, and I was told by Skylum they are to be phased out.

  So, Skylum, please consider the needs of those of us who use borders and watermarks.

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  Henry Penna Jr.

  • August 26, 2018 21:37

  The only way I found to do this is to move my image to my iPhone (or android phone) and open in Snapseed for frames and then to another app for watermarks. It works, but I'd rather have these abilities within Luminar or presets.

   

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  Sherwood Botsford

  • August 27, 2018 13:36

  It should NOT include a simple border function.

  It should include a well defined API for other people to add functionality to SkyLum.  One reason photoshop is popular is that there are thousands of plugins for it.

  The api is simple:  

  AddLayer -- this adds a new layer to the image.  You can put another image in there, you can put a resizable border in there, you can put a custom watermark in there.  The layer is resizable, and if smaller than your image, pixels outside it are transparent, if larger than your image, it's clipped.

   

  EditLayer -- this allows you to change the layer you added -- remove it, edit it, swap it, invert it.  

   

  EditLayerWithExternalProgram  -- This allows you to make a round trip with some other program to edit it.

   

  ExportAsLayer -- This takes all currently visible layers, flattens them to a single layer, and exports as a loadable layer.

   

   

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  Sherwood Botsford

  • August 27, 2018 13:38

  The advantage of doing it this way is that Skylum itself then can make addons.  You charge some small fee for add ons, but after an major update or two, they are included in the basic package.  E.g.  You sell addons for Luminar 2019, but all the ones you sold for L19 are included in L22.
  
  But it also opens the door to other developers porting their add ons to Luminar.  For that reason, you want it to be compatible with Photoshop plugins.

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  Francis Mariani

  • April 22, 2019 02:07

  I did a search for Mac apps that add frames to images. One of the search results pointed to FX Photo Studio https://skylum.com/fxphotostudio. The information page states: "Add frames to highlight the style of your creations". Can I download a demo of this program? It seems I cannot. It appears Luminar superseded FX Photo Studio. Can Luminar do everything FX Photo Studio did? It seems it cannot. So, I don't agree with "It should NOT include a simple border function", unless I can try FX Photo Studio and use it as a plugin to Luminar.

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  Helena Carter

  • April 22, 2019 05:33

  Hi Francis,

  Fx Photo Studio is a legacy app, so we no longer support and sell it. But please, take a moment to contact support team retarding this case: https://skylum.com/support

   

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  Bob Shrader

  • April 22, 2019 17:07

  If Luminar supported PNG transparency, both borders and watermarks could be used via adding new layers. This is one of the reasons I now only use Luminar Flex as a plugin.

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  Kate Williams

  • April 23, 2019 07:29

  Hi Bob, 

  PNG transparency will be surely supported in the future. 

  For now, watermarks can be added via New Image Layer and, to remove the background color, you can experiment with different blending modes.

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  Miguel Campos

  • July 22, 2019 03:36
  • Edited

  I would love to be able to do a drop shadow bevel effects type of frame with a white border around it. Is this something that can be done yet?

  

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  Anna V

  • July 22, 2019 08:51

  Hi Miguel,

  For now, there is no such functionality but we will consider adding it in the future. 

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  Miguel Campos

  • July 23, 2019 01:56

  Thank you Anna,

  I have other ways to make my pictures look great with Luminar, I am enjoying using it very much. Keep up the good work.

  Miguel.

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  Trevor Waller

  • March 22, 2020 17:12

  A simple and very useful workflow is to add Affinity Photo.  It handles borders very easily, plus all the PS stuff you are ever likely to want.  I just export a tiff or jpeg and open in Affinity to finish off.  Cheap and effective.

   

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  Bob Shrader

  • March 22, 2020 17:36

  Trevor, I assume you are using the Windows version of Luminar 4, because on an iMac, L4 does not work in Affinity Photo. I resort to opening an image in the German photo editor PhotoLine, and then running Luminar 4 as a plugin, adding borders with other third-party plugins and watermarks with PL.

  Perhaps, one day, L4 will work as a plugin in the Mac version of Affinity Photo.

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  Trevor Waller

  • March 22, 2020 17:40

  No I seldom bother with getting programmes to talk to each other.

  I run Mac, export image to desktop, open in Affinity, export to final resting place.

   

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