New Luminar 4.2 Update: New Tools Turn Luminar Into a Creative Powerhouse
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Luminar continues to focus on the core of photo editing. We’ve added some new creative features, helping you to create amazing works of art! We always appreciate the feedback you give us, and Luminar 4.2 is a true reflection of that.
Luminar 4.2 new features and enhanced tools will help you to create one-of-a-kind photography composites, allowing you to express yourself in ways previously not possible.
What's new?
NEW AI Augmented Sky
Inside the Creative tab of Luminar 4.2, you’ll find a new tool called AI Augmented Sky. This tool lets artists choose objects from the curated Luminar collection or upload their own, and blend them seamlessly with the photograph's sky.
Here’s how it works. AI Augmented Sky detects your photo’s sky automatically and then places the chosen element directly into the sky area. Using content-aware technologies, foreground objects are recognized and taken into account, making the object blend naturally with your existing scene. You can drag the new element around the sky for ultimate control, yet retain those realistic qualities.
“We’re really excited to see how photographers and artists use AI Augmented Sky. Whether you’re creating a realistic composite or creating an out-of-this-world experience, AI Augmented Sky opens up a creative powerhouse of opportunities,” said Dima Sytnyk, Co-Founder and CPO of Skylum.
To celebrate the new AI Augmented Sky tool, Skylum is excited to announce the Luminar Featured Artist contest. Artists who make creative photos with Luminar, using the new AI Augmented Sky tool, are eligible for the contest. To enter, just post your photo on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #madewithLuminar and #creativeLuminar. In April, we’ll choose the most creative photo and place it on the welcome screen of a future Luminar update. You can find out more here.
Breakthrough Improvements to Portrait Tools
When Luminar 4 launched, we announced some new, groundbreaking tools to help you optimize your portraits. And so far, photographers have loved the enhanced controls and adjustments they can make to their portraits!
With today’s update, we’re introducing a new Face Features Detection Network, which enables us to give you even more accurate and realistic automation when it comes to enhancing portraits. This technology is trained to detect different faces no matter what position, angle or tilt they might be in. It even recognizes those badly lit or partially hidden faces, as well as those with heavy makeup. No matter what the skin color or age of the person, Luminar 4.2 will recognize faces — even if it’s a group photograph.
In the AI Skin Enhancement tool, you'll find a new Shine Removal Technology. It lets you reduce shine on a person’s forehead or cheeks, making for a more evenly-lit portrait. This technology restores the skin on the patches of the face where it was hit by excessive light, and automatically generates realistic-looking skin that blends in perfectly.
Improved Relight Scene in AI Sky Replacement
In addition to AI Augmented Sky and the enhancements to our portrait tools, you’ll also see a few other updates in Luminar 4.2.
We’re constantly improving one of our Luminar artists’ most-loved features — AI Sky Replacement. Relight Scene technology improvement lets you retain colors as you originally captured them in-camera. In previous versions, you might have seen a yellow and unrealistic glow on white objects. Improvement of the Relight Scene technology lets you avoid this problem.
Relight Scene Technology - Old ResultRelight Scene Technology - New Result
Other improvements you’ll see in Luminar 4.2
You’ll also see increased efficiency and speed of interaction with your machine’s processor, due to improvements we’ve made to the ML Cache system.
Finally, Windows users will also see three additional updates:
- Preview Preset Multithreading - For multi-core systems, generation of previews received a boost, making for faster and more comfortable viewing and usage.
- Third-party Plugin Implementation - Popular plugins can now be used. At this time, plugins for the Aurora HDR, DxO Nik Collection family, as well as the Topaz plugins collection, are supported.
Plus, we’ve gotten rid of some bugs!
As we continue to improve Luminar, the 4.2 release addresses multiple performance issues. Thanks to those customers who worked with our support team to identify issues and help us improve them!
For all users:
- We’ve resolved an issue where some vertical images were being stretched horizontally.
- The Dark Circles Removal technology in AI Portrait Enhancer is more accurate.
- We’ve eliminated color fringing that occurred in some images when using the Lens Distortion technology and the Free Transform tool.
- Improved performance when using the Lens & Geometry, Erase, and Sky Enhancer tools.
Windows users will also see several other bug fixes:
- Improved performance when loading Looks.
- We’ve solved crashed related to issues when filling masks or loading images with different color profiles.
- Improved compatibility for EXIF data for .CR3 files.
- Improved gallery previews when changing thumbnail size.
- Resolved creation date variance between Gallery View and in Info tab.
- Improved History panel display.
- Additional stability and performance improvements related to tools.
Finally, Mac users see a few bug fixes as well:
- Resolved occasional crashes when backing up a catalog file
- Improved access for third-party PSD plugins and Aurora HDR
- Fixed an issue that prevented the sliders in the Split Toning tool not to move
- Restored Undo/Redo menu commands from within the Luminar plugin
- Improved stability for the Light tool and Curves
- The DCP profile menu is reactivated in the Light tool for macOS 10.12 and 10.13.
How to Update?
Luminar 4.2 is a free update to current Luminar 4 users. On a Mac, click in the Top Menu Bar and choose Luminar 4 > Check for updates. On Windows, in the Top Menu Bar choose Help > Check for updates.
If you are running Luminar as a plugin with Photoshop, Lightroom Classic or Photoshop Elements, it’s also recommended you rerun the plugin installer.
An expanded user manual has also been added, making it easier than ever for you to search and find answers to questions they might have about the software.
We’re so excited to give you new features like AI Augmented Sky, improvements to our portrait tools, plus all the enhancements and bug fixes we’ve listed above. We hope you enjoy this free update to Luminar 4; we can’t wait to see what you create!
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Official comment
Hi Everyone,
If you're having trouble with the update, please try using one of the offline installers:
Windows:
https://downloads.skylum.com/luminar4/win/Luminar4Setup_offline.exe
Mac:
https://downloads.skylum.com/luminar4/mac/Luminar4.dmg
If that doesn't resolve your issue, please reach out to us at www.skylum.com/support so our techs can take a look at your particular case.
Please keep in mind that messages get buried/lost in long forum threads. This is why we ask that you contact us directly so we can better track and resolve any issues you might be experiencing. Thanks!!
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I appreciate the efforts of Skylum to bring a smile to our faces with this version and the free live webinars. Now I can put a giraffe in the sky - Luminar dropped it on the horizon and it looks great.
I would like the same desire to make Mac users smile by resolving the ongoing issue of Local Sky Images freezing Luminar 4 when trying to save the edited image to Apple Photos. I did manage to put a local image of a bus in the sky using 4.2 but subsequent attempts failed so it seems to have the same bug as the previous version.
Go on, really make me smile and fix this bug!
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Hi John. We are working around the clock to fix this issue! Please stay tuned.
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I have been getting this error from the time I installed ver4. Support kept telling me to remove it using App Cleaner then update. But that lost my libraries links. I then was given a link to use that is the same as the update link. Works that way. What is the latest version number for Mac version?
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Latest I see as of today is Version 4.2.0 (6124)
(FWIW I'm not using it as a plugin for Photos nor trying to insert a local image for sky. My reply regarding crashing was only in response to the 4.2 announcement update itself. One crash was during export to jpeg, another was when clicking on an image. Just random stuff I could successfully do again later--same task, same images later.)
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Forgive me for saying that I take Skylum's communication with a grain of salt (pinch of salt to the English). I paid for Luminar 4 in July 2019, so Skylum must have started work on the version by then, I took delivery of Version 4 in November 2019, and 4.2 this week. If any of my IT staff would have said they'd been "working around the clock to fix an issue" and hadn't fixed it after at least four months, I would have shown them the door.
I don't think Skylum's leaders are weak so presume over the last four months, the IT people have spent their time putting a giraffe on an English skyline. Quite an achievement. Neil Armstrong would be impressed. Skylum imagination at its best.
Still, family and friends are amused by my image of a very large giraffe guarding what's left of Knaresborough Castle (Yorkshire, England). The giraffe is now bathed in Rainbow 2 from Augmented Sky. And they do like satire!
I can work around the Apple Photos extension problem for now. But Skylum's credibility is on a downward spiral.
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Angela, I thought I was the only one with the error when trying to update, and I guess I was wrong. It is time that this problem be addressed. I am thankful the link to download the latest is available. Now if it wasn't for the email about the new release I would never know, as the app in my case doesn't notify me.
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Hi,
The new function "AI Augmentend Sky" was very successful. However, the performance has become significantly worse compared to version 4.1. On my iMac (3.2 GHz i5, 8GB RAM, Radeon Pro 560 4GB, 1TB Fusion Drive) all filters run very tough, the "AI Augmentend Sky" very jerky.
In addition, I had hoped that in a new version the German name in the filter "Vignetting - Select topic" would be renamed to "Vignetting - Place center".
I hope for a quickly delivered version 4.2.1, which runs much faster.Uwe
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Die neue Funktion "AI Augmentend Sky" ist sehr gut gelungen. Allerdings ist die Performance gegenüber der Version 4.1 deutlich schlechter geworden. Auf meinem iMac (3,2 GHz i5, 8GB RAM, Radeon Pro 560 4GB, 1TB Fusion Drive) laufen alle Filter sehr zäh, das "AI Augmentend Sky" sehr ruckelig.
Zudem hatte ich gehofft, dass in einer neuen Version die deutsche Bezeichnung im Filter "Vignetierung - Thema auswählen" in "Vignetierung - Mittelpunkt platzieren" umgenannt wird.
Ich hoffe auf eine zügig nachgelieferte Version 4.2.1, die deutlich schneller läuft.Uwe
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I updated to 4.2 on my iMac, OS Sierra. Until today I have never had problems with any version of Luminar. I have them all. But I am having a ton of problems. I am using Lightroom 6. At first Luminar 4.2 wouldn’t open a file from Lightroom or directly into L4 not as a plug-in. I finally got files to open. I worked on a photo in L4 and when applied, it went into Lightroom, but when I went to export it to mail, the photo reverted back to the original even though I was on the fixed photo.
I have a much newer Mac Book Pro, but I am afraid to update to L4.2 on it after my experience on my old Mac.
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Uwe,
Please find the offline installers for Luminar 4.1.1. below:
For MacOS: https://downloads.skylum.com/luminar4/mac/Luminar4_411.dmg
For Windows:https://downloads.skylum.com/luminar4/win/Luminar4Setup_offline_411.exe
Myra,
We need to be able to take a deeper look at the issue you have experienced. It would help if you could provide us with a screen recording of the issue.
Here's how to record a screen on Mac:
https://support.apple.com/guide/quicktime-player/record-your-screen-qtp97b08e666/mac
Here's how you can send us the file:
- Visit https://wetransfer.com/
- If it's your first time visiting this website, it might ask you to purchase a subscription. Simply select to proceed with the free version.
- Click Add your files.
- Select the file(s) on your computer.
- After you see all the files you need to send appear in the list, click the icon to the left of the Transfer button (the icon looks like a circle with three dots in it).
- In Send As select Link.
- Click Transfer.
- After the files have finished uploading, click Copy Link and paste it into the support request here: https://skylum.com/support
Hope to hear from you soon.
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I appreciate Skylums sense of humor: “Luminar continues to focus on the core of photo editing”.” In my view that is the only thing Skylum hasn’t done for a very long time. I give up now, i have paid for it every time you asked for money for an upgrade. When 4.0 was relased I paid again. Even though I found the direction a bit wrong (Read: very). Now 4.2 is out and you are continuing down that path. Calling it “focus on core photo editing” couldn’t be further from the truth. I know this is just my opinion. But it is also my money. It seems like you will never be the substitute for Lightroom I had hoped for. Lightroom is no speed devil, but compared to Luminar it seems lightning fast at least on my quad core iMac.
I am sorry but this is the end of line for me. I had such big hope for this. I hope others find it enjoyable. But I am not into fake photos or photo art or augmented reality, or sky replacement, I do believe that AI can help. But more in the Topaz way of AI.
I have never liked the DAM implementation. I am not sure what is wrong, but it doesn’t feel right, it is like it is implemented by someone that doesn’t use DAM on a daily basis, which is probably not right.
I have started from scratch on every new release, to be sure I worked the “Skylum” way and spent quite sim time trying to recreate the images I had. After a while, I have given up. Good luck -
Now back to 4.1.1 ... which will not read a 4.2 catalog.
Every edit I've made since moving to v 4 last month is gone: None of my raws shows any history nor edits performed to them. Luminar doesn't recognize previous backups, either. And that makes them entirely pointless.
Thankfully I had regularly exported to jpeg for what I wanted as I went along. But this situation is just wrong and amazingly poorly thought out.
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We need to be able to take a deeper look at the issue you have experienced. It would help if you could send us you catalog folder, which you cannot open.
Here's how you can send us the folder:
- Visit https://wetransfer.com/
- If it's your first time visiting this website, it might ask you to purchase a subscription. Simply select to proceed with the free version.
- Click Add your files.
- Select the file(s) on your computer.
- After you see all the files you need to send appear in the list, click the icon to the left of the Transfer button (the icon looks like a circle with three dots in it).
- In Send As select Link.
- Click Transfer.
- After the files have finished uploading, click Copy Link and paste it into the support request here: https://skylum.com/support
Hope to hear from you soon.
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Elena,
Nah, in all the moving around and hiding/trashing of folders and files necessary to get it to run, my original 4.1 and last-working 4.2 history is gone except for the jpegs I'd created from the edits prior to the last crash.
But as an exercise I did update a fresh 4.1 catalog with version 4.2 and then go back and re-install 4.1.
It did read the 4.2 backup, but of course not the 4.2 catalog file. So I'd suspect Skylum to already realize that, making your suggestion curious at best. After all, when updating to 4.2 there's literally a dialog that says, "The database will be updated."
I'm OK for now, despite having a History folder that reveals the last-edited file edits clearly preceding 4.2 but none of the edit history within Luminar itself ... live and learn.
And although I can't update to 4.2 in good conscience (4.1 has become quite expensive for me as a result) I can still work in 4.1 until I move on to something else that runs properly. Thanks!
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Consider me another of the lucky winners of the "an error occurred in retrieving the update information, please try again later" contest. This also happened to me in version 4.1. this is frustrating and makes me not want to spend more of my dollars on this software the next time they come out with another paid upgrade. Please advise.
Randy / Social Distancing Expert
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Did you try the alternative installers provided in this thread?
Here they are:
Windows:
https://downloads.skylum.com/luminar4/win/Luminar4Setup_offline.exe
Mac:
https://downloads.skylum.com/luminar4/mac/Luminar4.dmg
Your anti-virus software and firewall may be the issue such an error.
We recommend trying the following:
- Reboot your computer.
- Turn off firewall
- Either turn off your anti-virus or add Luminar to its list of exclusions. Consult your anti-virus manual for help.
- If your router has a firewall, temporarily disable it as well. (N.B. If your router has AI Protection, try disabling it as well).
- Try an alternative Internet Connection, if possible - your Internet provider may be blocking the connection to our servers.
For instance, you may share your mobile data to see whether the issue is not network-related:
Here's the instruction for iOS: https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/share-your-iphone-internet-connection-iph45447ca6/ios
The instruction for Android: https://www.lifewire.com/use-your-android-phone-as-a-portable-wi-fi-hotspot-2377915
If the issue persists even after all of the steps above, please, contact us at https://skylum.com/support
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