Luminar 4-Dismal performance in Windows
Answered
I am using an HP Envy Laptop with Intel Core i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70 GHz and 16GB RAM. The operating system is Windows 10-latest upgrade. Luminar 4 is painfully slow. It takes 20 seconds just to load a RAW image into the editor and the CPU usage goes to 100% at each image load. Normal resting CPU usage when the computer is idle with no program loaded is 2%. When Luminar 4 is loaded and the program is idle, the CPU usage is consistently 30%. This is not acceptable.
For comparison, Lightroom CC Classic shows a brief spike at 70% at program load. RAW images load instantaneously with a brief CPU spike at 70%. Usage at idle with Lightroom loaded is 2%.
Are any other Windows users seeing this kind of performance?
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Official comment
Hi Everyone,
Our Product Team is busy working on the next free performance update.
Fixing the reported crashes and issues is our top priority. We will not be able to improve every single bit of it with the next update, but we will put maximum effort to eliminate as many critical issues as possible.
Plus, you’ll get new features.Meanwhile, if you have experienced any issues with Luminar 4, please send us your PC/Mac info and more details about the issue via https://skylum.com/support.
This will make sure we have a record of it and add to the list of required fixes.Thanks!
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Hi Paul, Hi Stefan,
I definitely understand your concern. Please contact our support team https://skylum.com/support and we will do our best to take a closer look at what’s going on right away.
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Hi Everyone,
The initial Luminar 4 release is devoted to new tools and features. Nevertheless, please note that the next quarter we will be working on the Luminar 4 performance and we will do our best to deliver the best editing experience to our customers and release an update by the end of the year.
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I had the same problem with high idling CPU usage (around 25%) in Luminar Flex for Windows, but after contacting support they unfortunately had to decline assistance due to my PC not meeting minimum specs. I think this was due to my processor only being an Intel i3, 4 Cores @ 4.00 GHz.
However, I continued by myself (with limited PC tech skills) to try and locate and solve the problem. Weeks went by, and I almost gave up and accepted that I would have to live with the problem.
Then, by accident, I noticed that when using my DVB TV Tuner app (Sichbo PVR), and opening a photo in Flex, CPU usage for Flex dropped to 1.1% and stayed there. Edits, masking, everything worked much faster and smoother, even exports.
I now only use Flex with Sichbo PVR (Windows) open and minimised, and it works every time. No more excessive CPU usage!
Now, over to those of you who have tech software expertise, is there a clue as to what is happening here?
My limited knowledge leads me to a shared .dll file that Luminar cannot find ( hence the high CPU usage), but when woken up by this other software, Luminar can see it. Just my own logic at work here.
I really do hope this helps some of you out, who are experiencing the same problem, to come up with a similar solution.
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Everyone can save themselves some time and just go back and edit all your L3 complaints by changing L3 to L4. I hate to say it but anyone that paid for L4 knowing the disaster that L3 was is getting what they deserve. Given Skylum's track record it boggles the mind that people willingly throw money at this company based on their non-stop marketing speak (which has never been backed up with a product that works). The only people praising Skylum are the so-called ambassadors that are getting kickbacks for referrals and YouTube videos.
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Please try fully reinstalling drivers for all graphics cards on your system.
Make sure to fully uninstall your current graphics drivers before proceeding. How to uninstall drivers (click this text to open link). You'll need to do this for all devices under Display Adapters on your system.
Download and install drivers from the manufacturer's website:
- Intel (click this text to open link)
- AMD (click this text to open link)
- nVidia (click this text to open link)
After you have updated your graphics card drivers, make sure to set your discrete graphics card to run Luminar by default (usually this concerns laptops). Refer to your graphics card's manufacturer's website if you need help with that.
Let us know how it works.
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@Frank Fiorentino:
This is the best and most true comment I've read about the L4 update.
I think if we're honest, it hits the nail on the head. We all let the marketing machinery fool us and invested a lot of hope where there was no reason for hope.
And to defend Skylum, you also have to keep in mind that they didn't promise that at all. It was never promised that Luminar would now become faster, more stable or less cpu-hungry. Or also the basic functions demanded by myself were not promised for the update.
So we can't complain, except maybe about the changed workflow. -
Another great comment:
"The only people praising Skylum are the so-called ambassadors that are getting kickbacks for referrals and YouTube videos"
This is so true. Skylum boast that they have paid their affiliates nearly $5 million in commissions so far. See here:
No wonder Skylum have got a whole army of folks willing to fall over backwards to praise them when they can make up to $50,000 a year! Imagine what would have happened if Skylum kept that ~$5M and invested it in the development of Luminar, we might have a different story on our hands. I rarely watch/listen to anyone on You Tube if they have a Skylum affiliate link in their video description.
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I can confirm that the performance of Luminar is absolutely bad.
I have a high end notebook here (Gigabyte Aero 15x v8) and even simple settings take more than 5 seconds until the change is visible on the image. How do you want to edit pictures properly ? Unfortunately this is impossible !
You have really very good functions, but if the performance doesn't fit, you won't have a chance against Lightroom or other image editing programs -
Same here, even with one open image and an empty library, luminar app in idle mode constantly loads CPU by 30%.
But if i run google chrome browser, the luminar app CPU load immediately drops to 2%, after closing the google chrome browser, the load on the processor by luminar increases again.
Very strange behavior...
The type of graphics accelerator, whether integrated or discrete, choosed to run luminar 4, does not affect the CPU load.
Upgrade, uninstall completely, reinstall video card drivers, no effect on CPU load
(win 10 1909, core i5, 8gb ram, ssd)
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Basically I'm surprised that nobody here questions why Skylum delivered Luminar 4 in this bad state. It can't be that these problems are not known to Skylum. There is too much negative feedback from completely different configurations here and in other forums. And it would be negligent if Skylum only tests with absolute high end devices (although apparently it doesn't go that much faster).
Maybe this is a particularly successful marketing strategy, if the users give so much feedback, no matter if it is negative or positive, the main thing is a lot of commitment and traffic.
Only very few people want their money back.
But my fear is that they can't do it better, which would be a real shame, because - as I've written before - the software has potential. Maybe Skylum should hire better developers.
If so, the update was only there to flush money into the empty cash box after the fiasco with Luminar 3. And we fell for it.
I still keep the software because it contains some tools that are better than other programs. -
Maybe we are also test subjects of a big experiment, in which it is tested, how high the pain threshold is with the buyers of a badly functioning software :-)
But that's not possible either: Microsoft has already carried out this experiment with us.
When I think of the huge marketing slogans of Skylum before the release of Luminar 3: they allegedly talked intensively with professional photographers for 2 years. This is really a joke. -
@Kirk Osborn
" ... try fully reinstalling drivers for all graphics cards on your system."
"...release an update by the end of the year."
Is that a joke ... I hope not, because if I have to wait until the end of the year for an issue that was already known in Luminar 3, then I want my money back.
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Ich habe Luminar 4 zum ersten Mal gekauft, die Software gefällt mir von den Entwicklungs Möglichkeiten, wollte von LR wechseln. Aber was mir da an Leistung geboten wird ist absolut untauglich. i7 Core, SSD Festplatte und 16 GB Ram. CPU bei 90%. Es gibt ja die 30 Tage zurück Garantie. Wenn bis dahin kein Update das arbeiten verbessert, dann geht sie halt zurück und ich erfreue mich weiter an der Leistung von LR. Traurig finde ich von den Entwicklern immer wieder diese Hinweise auf neueste Treiber, das ist für mich ein hilfloser, für die Firma Zeit gewinnender Hinweis, den sehr viele kennen. Es werden ja nun nicht alle die diese Probleme haben, veraltete Treiber haben, ich jedenfalls nicht. Also wenn Hilfe, dann die das Problem wirklich beheben!
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@Helena Carter. Again, with respect, this is the same advice someone at Skylum gave me over 9 months ago when I was having issues with Luminar 3. Several smaller catalogs is not a viable solution, even if it's a temporary one.
It is clear Skylum have known about the performance issues for months and have chosen not to do anything. There has been too much focus on new AI filters and not enough on core performance, stability and functionality. It's as if you've dusted off the Luminar 3 playbook, scratched out the 3 and added 4 i.e. release a sub-par, sub-beta grade product then promise performance enhancements in the future that when they arrive, don't have the impact they should. Judging by the responses here in this Community, customers are wising up to this - so I suggest Skylum change their approach quickly. Until I see this, and above all a vast improvement with Luminar, I will not be handing over any more money to Skylum.
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But I can only recommend to everyone: Buy a Mac Mini from 2012 and L4 will run smoothly and without crashes, see comments from Guy Gadbois in the following article:
https://www.fujirumors.com/luminar-4-is-here-free-7-day-trial-available-now/
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@ Helena Carter, das ist sehr erfreulich zu hören, aber ich werde nicht länger warten, da dann meine 30 Tage abgelaufen sind. Ich habe nur einen kleinen Katalog mit Bildern, jedes einzelne Bild braucht ewig bis es zum bearbeiten freigegeben wird in der Software, es dauert bis ich überhaupt die Regler benutzen kann, die Looks erscheinen nur als Text, auch da dauert es bis das Bild als Anwendung zur Verfügung steht. Ich habe erst ca 1 Std. mit dem Programm seit Montag Abend verbracht, aber aus Frust abgebrochen. Es macht keinen Spaß. Tut mir leid, ich überlege jetzt es zurück zu geben. Das ist mir das Geld nicht wert!!
Finde ich sehr sehr schade, hätte es wirklich gerne als Ersatz für LR. Aber arbeiten wollte ich schon damit können.
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Hello everybody,
I must say, as far as the functions of Luminar are concerned, I like it quite well. But unfortunately I have to agree with most of the other comments here that the performance is just poor. Even saving! images usually takes a miserably long time. The same is also true for many other functions.
It doesn't matter if I send the pictures from Lightroom or Photoshop over to Luminar or open them directly in Luminar. I find this very unfortunate and sometimes extremely frustrating. Especially if you have a lot of pictures to edit and not just one.A configuration like this should be enough for image editing:
- I7-8700K
- 32 GB Ram
- Nvidia RTX 2060 (6GB)
- nvme ssd for the application and operating system
- separate nvme ssd for the dataEven a complete new installation with only Luminar, Lightroom, Photoshop and Microsoft Office installed I have these performance bottlenecks. Even with the virus scanner turned off (which is not acceptable for me at all, outside a test situation) there is no improvement.
Since I have been working in the IT sector for 20 years, I am confident that I can install a system correctly. I don't think that's the reason.
Lightroom isn't always a rocket either (although I have to say that it's much better), but Luminar is more of a nice toy in its current state of development than a serious alternative or addition to Lightroom. I'd like to stress again that I think this is a pity, because I like the idea very much.
I sincerely hope that patches will be released in the near future to fix this problem and not put you off for the next version, which you can buy again. Of course with homeopathic discounts for updating a software that never worked properly. Unfortunately I have to say, if the quality stays that way, no Youtube mercenaries will be able to help you in the future. Word gets around and I'm already annoyed about the product policy.
In this sense, we hope for the best.
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