Luminar 4.....Really????
Answered
I am really surprised that Skylum is coming up with Luminar 4 and new AI Tools and other new functionalities without even having fixed the basic problems with Luminar 3, Flex or Photolemur.... additionally I did not see the information if it is a paid upgrade for Luminar 2018 and Luminar 3 Users.
But anyway I am extremely skeptical as the past experience shows that Skylum is only focusing on new tools and functionalities but not really solving the unsatisfying basic problems in Luminar 3
How is the Luminar 4 architecture? one of the major issues at Luminar 3 is the architecture that the software is not using all cores (for example lightroom does) this is one major issue for the performance, then also the architecture of the Luminar Looks where in every image change the thumps are loaded newly in the looks selection....is that solved? and what is with all the other problems reported by the users?
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@KateWilliams
So since no one answered my post above, what I understand from your latest post is that Flex is "merged" into Luminar 4 and that L4 will now function stand-alone and as a plug-in so we need only buy a single upgrade and do not have to choose between plug-in or stand alone as was previously stated when Flex 1.0 was released.
Is my understanding correct?
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Regrettably, Skylum has completely lost its way.
We are told the focus has "shifted" to "innovative features including AI technologies" and that the "promised Library enhancements" are now "in the long-term". As best we can tell from the spin, from Luminar 4, Flex (which was never on the product route map) will be folded back into core product and, in the meantime, it is hoped 20,000 L3 users will stump up $1,000,000 to keep the Skylum ship afloat.
However, I would be most surprised if Skylum survives another 12 months, maybe much less, and expect it will disappear from sight as just another sad case of inept business and product management. I've moved on.
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@RussCollins
What product(s) are you selecting to replace Luminar/Flex?
Forgetting about the Library "feature" I like the filter tools. I have used Skylum (Macphun) since the Creative Kit days and still like the original apps, especially Tonality and Snap Heal.
I would not be surprised, assuming Skylum survives, if the Library disappears from future versions.
You are totally correct: they have lost sight of the goals. They are great at making editing tools and have no expertise in DAM. If they do refocus on making great plug-in editing tools they could do OK.
Since I quit the Adobe CC world I am using the free Bridge for a file viewer and Affinity Photo as a PS replacement. Combined with the creative tools in Luminar that is enough for me.
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@Phil, Yes I was not impressed with ON1 earlier versions either. But the latest version really got my attention. I got so fed up with Adobe that I took another look at ON1 version 2019 and decided to switch over in March. I paid $69 on a special pricing. My only complaint is that it is slow rendering photos. But it has almost all the same features as LR/PS. AND it supports my new Z6. Their DAM uses you’re existing file folders so their is no huge library file.
It has has all of these features that are missing in Luminar:
A DAM that works
Lens correction data base with many many lenses included
Imports photos directly from camera
Pano stitching and HDR bracketing
Many different filters...not just presets which it has also has
Face recognition for portrait enhancements
Watermarking
Text layers
All of the same develop areas and sliders as LR...I did a RAW file comparison with LR by setting all of the sliders to the same values and the result in ON1 was identical.
AND you can send files into Luminar, Noiseless CK, Aurora, LR and PS for editing.
I tried lots of alternatives before settling on the newest Version of ON1 raw. They are such a professional company and they listen to their customers. They have a huge listing of enhancement suggestions that you
can vote on. They Do NOT over promise and under deliver. I just wish the photo rendering was faster but I am sure they are working on that as well.
So give it a try...It is not perfect but for the $ is a worthy alternative to LR/PS never mind Skylum.
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I'm using LR6 and CaptureOne and Luminar3, still looking and hoping for ONE replacement of LR. Luminar has some really nice developing tools, but the DAM is slow and buggy, not usable. I understand that the development of the software cost a lot of money and I am willing to pay for it. So I paid for the upgrade to Luminar 4 hoping the bugs and speed issues in the library and DAM are resolved also. I do not need any sky replacement tool at all, I paid for the upgrade hoping that Luminar gets a library wich works as good as LR or Capture One (even it was promised for Luminar3).
Using three softwares is painful, but Luminar has the opportunity to get THE one software. But it has to fix the issues in the DAM and library FIRST. Also the speed of exporting and also the feature of creating virtual copies!!!
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Yes, true. Maybe I paid for a feature I have no use for. I read all the comments here after I paid. My fault ;-)
My opinion is the same the most users have: FIRST a DAM and library wich works, and features like virtual copies and speed improvements! Then all the gimmicks like sky replacement!
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I want the DAM and other promised functionalities like metadata in Luminar. No sub-albums? Stupid! No keywords? Astonishingly inadequate. I don't care if it is v3 or v4 as long as it is SOON. Also, I don't know how to use Aurora HDR with Luminar and its DAM. It is not reasonable to live with a forked processing flow.
I agree that the AI sky replacement is unethical. I could not ever show a finished photo of mine with someone else's sky! That would only be a lie.
Then there are the bugs: Slow switching between photos in the 'Library'; Sometimes opening the wrong photo for edit; bother me the most.
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Warren, the lack of interoperability between Luminar 3 and Aurora HDR 2019 is simply unforgivable as far as I am concerned. I can select 3 x bracketed images in my current (free) image catalogue (XnViewMP) and send them to Aurora HDR 2019 but I can't do it with Luminar 3. That's simply just shoddy.
The way to do it from Luminar at the moment, is to select the 3 x bracketed images in Luminar and drag/drop them onto the Aurora dock icon. This will open the 3 images in Aurora for merging & editing. When in Aurora, you can use Luminar 3 for editing the merged file as a Plugin. However when you are happy with the end result, you have to either save the edit in propriaetry Skylum format or Export the image back to your file system.
Withe regard to the DAM being available in Luminar 3 or 4 (I note you don't care), I do care, very much. I purchased the original version of Luminar on the promise of a DAM and am not going keep paying Skylum for something gthey should have delivered a long time ago.
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@Warren,
We'll be gradually adding the promised functionalities in Luminar. You may check our Roadmap to see what's planned for the nearest future: https://skylum.com/luminar/roadmap
if you are on Windows, you'll be able to send the photo from Aurora HDR 2019 to Luminar 3, but not vice versa, for now. Once we launch third-party plugin support on Windows, that will be possible too.
Here's how you can 'link' two apps:
- Open a photo in Aurora.
- Click Plugins > Other > Open Plugin.
- Navigate to the folder where your copy of Luminar 3 is installed. By default it's C:\Program Files\Skylum\Luminar 3.
- Double-click Luminar3.8bf. Luminar 3 should open as a plugin in Aurora.
If you are on Mac, you'll be able to send an image from Luminar 3 to Aurora by right-clicking it and selecting "Open in...". In addition, you'll be able to invoke Luminar 3 as a plugin from Aurora, having linked both apps in the following way:
- Open Finder, click Go > Go to Folder and paste the following path: /Library/Application Support/MacPhun Software/Luminar3/Plug-Ins. There will be a bunch of files in there, the one you're interested in has .plugin extension.
- Copy the .plugin file somewhere where you can easily find it.
- In Aurora, click Plugins > Other > Open Plugin > point Aurora to the .plugin file you just copied. Luminar should open.
If you'd like us to take a closer look at the issues you are facing, please, get in touch with us at https://skylum.com/support
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Installed the update and followed the advice to add a plugin - however with all of these I still cannot round trip from Luminar 3. When I click open in Luminar it takes me to the “buy” web page. The advice allows me to open from aurora HDR to apply filters but not add the file to my Luminar catalogue. Am I doing something wrong?
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John, there is no interoperability between Luminar 3 & Aurora 2019, read my post.
If you want to be able to access the HDR image you have created in the Luminar DAM, then you have to EXPORT it from Aurora 2019 to the same folder where the original 3 images reside. After doing this, Aurora 2019 will ask you to SAVE the file and if you are happy with your efitd, then just say no to this.
Hope that helps
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@John, Phil's right, at the moment, you won't be able to send the file from Aurora directly into the DAM. The workaround mentioned above allows only to edit the picture in Luminar, and then get it back to Aurora.
Aurora HDR 2019 needs to be updated before it can fully support Luminar 3. However, unfortunately, there's no precise ETA for when the following update will be available.
Currently, we're focused on developing our main product - Luminar. Our team is working on Luminar 3 and Luminar Flex updates as well as on the development of Luminar 4 in order to deliver you the best product we can.However, once we have any news regarding Aurora HDR 2019 update, we'll inform our community immediately.
Would you be so kind as to clarify your question regarding versions?
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Dear all
somehow it makes me proud that i started with this thread one of the most commented in the Luminar Community, i hope it shows skylum that they are doing, acting and developing completely wrong, i liked the filters, the looks, worked with 1 or some few pictures, but with the size of my db skylum was not able to give me a satisfying answer or solution, Skylum cost me a lot of time, and as so, a lot of money. the customer support resulting in the customer experience is some of the worst i've ever seen. said so, i would like to say goodbye, thanks to skylum ripping off my money and not giving it back, thanks to skylum for promising bullshit. i did not like the adobe subscription, but since i switched back to adobe lightroom i am saving a tremendous amount of time, and especially nerves. Wish you all good luck waiting skylum delivering a working product.
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I have decided to migrate my 857 'test' images from Luminar 3 to an excellent DAM product called Mylio with which I have about 8,00 images stored. I like that Mylio can automatically manage archives on my Mac, IOS and even on flash memory. It also provides a photo viewer on my IOS devices with much greater search facilities than on Luminar 3 or on their 'roadmap'. Luminar's DAM simply is too difficult to use. Too simple. Too slow. Too unreliable. I cannot search my images by keyword, by location, by faces. Only search by the photo's rating oy by a color tag. What about album hierarchy? Nope.
Using Luminar 3 as a photo viewer is a cruel joke. No one wants to wait for each successive image to focus and to re-work the editing in front of them. They only wish to quickly move through the finished product. Just to add injury to insult,
When I reviewed my test images exported out of Luminar 3, I discovered that it had dropped about a third of my editing work - simply gone. What good is a great editor to me if it cannot remember my work? None. I generally take about 500 pix on any photo trip and the work flow using Luminar as an adjunct to the really good Mylio DAM is simply too arduous, too slow.
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Edit? I have about 8,000 images in the in the very fast and sophisticated DAM that I use. I am an amateur photographer. The Mylio DAM maintains an archive on a 256 GB thumb drive on my keychain so I have an 'off-site' backup wherever I go that is non-propriatory. Luminar should be able to do all this.
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I agree with the other posts. I've been a MacPhun client from the beginning, prior to the Skylum name change and the release of Luminar & Aurora. I own the Creative Kit Plus apps in addition to Aurora 2019 and all of the variations of Luminar up to v3. I've bought into Skylum and don't want to go to another editing program, HOWEVER, I feel I've helped Skylum by paying for all the other apps and upgrades over the years. Why should I pay for the Luminar 4 upgrade when we haven't received all the promised features in Luminar 3. I'm going to wait it out.
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