Use Aurora HDR for free for 14 days.
Working with Luminar, you’ll access controls from three primary areas. The Top Toolbar contains general-purpose and frequently used functions of the software. The Side Panel is located to the right of the main image display; all adjustment tools, layers and the histogram can be found here. The Side Toolbar contains useful tools to edit your images. You can also save time with the Preset Panel which offers one-click presets at the bottom of the screen.
Top Toolbar
As you work with an image, the Top Toolbar contains many commands that you’ll frequently use. These are grouped logically for easier use and match Luminar 2018.
Open Button
The first buttons controls how files are opened, processed, and exported. Clicking the Open button reveals two choices.
Zoom Buttons
These next three buttons are used for changing your view of the image size in the canvas. If you go from left to right the buttons do the following.
Comparison Buttons
These buttons allow you to compare the original image with the original default image, so you can easily compare how your enhancements changes the original image.
Undo/History Buttons
The next two buttons control the Undo command as well as let you view an image’s History. These two buttons give you complete control over reverting to an earlier state of an image.
History states are also saved with an image when you store it in the native Luminar (.lmnr) file format. This allows for a nondestructive editing workflow and let’s you revert to an earlier version of the image.
Tools Menu
The Tools menu holds specialty tools that help you modify an image or layer. These tools will be explored in-depth later in this guide.
View Preset Panel/Side Panel Buttons
The next two buttons affect which controls are visible. You can choose to hide options like the Preset Panel and Side Panel to make a larger preview image.
Share Image Button
The last button in the top Toolbar is used to share image from the application to other applications. The same image can also be shared with other editing software from Skylum (and others) or uploaded directly to social networks and other online services.
Side Toolbar
The Side panel gives you access to three important sets of controls. The Histogram is a useful tool for judging exposure and details. Layers lets you work with multiple objects to create a composite image or to isolate effects or textures to their own place. The Filters section gives you precise control over each filter you’ve added to a layer.
Histogram /Layers / Info Buttons
At the top of the side panel are three buttons that provide advanced controls over your images. If you are just getting started with Luminar 2018, you might leave these three options deactivated. However, as you grow comfortable with editing tasks or are looking for the most flexibility and control, be sure to explore them.
Histogram
While color correcting or adjusting exposure, the histogram can be a great help. A histogram is a graphical representation of the tonal values of your image. This graph illustrates how the pixels in the image are distributed across brightness levels. In other words, it shows the amount of tones of particular brightness found in your photograph ranging from black (0% brightness) to white (100% brightness). Ideally, well balanced images will have tonal values across the entire range of the histogram.
To read a histogram, start at the left edge, which shows the shadow regions. The middle shows the midtones (where most adjustments to an image are made), and to the right are the highlights.
The histogram is able to display Red, Green, Blue channels separately or, by default, shows all of them at once. Click on the Histogram to switch between seeing a composite Histogram or just viewing details about the Red, Green, and Blue channels (which can be useful for spotting tint issues and color casts). You can also see a grayscale average for luminance.
Additionally, clicking the two small triangles in the upper left and upper right corners will show hot and cold pixels respectively. These are pixels that have shifted or exposed to become absolutely black or white pixels.
In both cases this can be problematic (especially for printing) as there is too much ink coverage for cold pixels and no details at all in the hot pixels. These indicators are a sign that you should adjust the exposure of the image. You may want to leave the Histogram panel open as you work, because it is an easy way to learn to read the graphical details of a digital image.
__________________________________________________
NOTE
The use of the Develop and RAW Develop filters are an excellent way to take control of the Black and White points as well as the Shadows and Highlights of an image. Pressing the J key will also toggle the clipping indicators On and Off if you want to see the pixels underneath.
Layers
Layers are a powerful way to “build up” your images, with different enhancements and use of blending modes on each layer. Using layers, you can apply corrections or enhancements on different layers, and experiment until you achieve exactly the look you’d like for your image.
Info
The Info Bar provides basic information about a photo. Some of this information is always visible and the rest can be toggled on or off. When the Info button is activated, this information is displayed from left to right:
Filters
Filters are how you can adjust the exposure, color, contrast, and style of your image in Luminar 2018. The proper use of filters can significantly improve your image. Each filter is designed to solve specific problems or enhance an image in a particular way. The Filters section of the side panel shows any filters you have applied or that are included in a workspace.
Filters can be stacked in any order to change their order of operations. You can also add masks to filters to control their results. Filters can also have other properties like their blending mode and visibility adjusted.
You’ll learn more about each filter in the chapter “Using Filters.”
Workspace Switcher
Luminar offers workspaces to streamline your approach to editing. Each workspace is a customized group of filters designed for a particular style of editing. Luminar offers pre-built workspaces that have been designed for particular tasks. You’ll find that using Luminar’s purpose-built workspaces offer uniquely tailored tools which achieve great results quickly.
Preset Panel
The Preset Panel contains all of the one-click Presets available in Luminar 2018. These presets can be applied to any open image or to a new Adjustment layer. To apply a preset, simply click on its thumbnail. To adjust the intensity of the effect, use the Amount slider to blend the adjustment. We’ll explore presets in depth in the next chapter.
Mac Touch Bar
If your Mac offers a Touch Bar, you can take advantage of it for easy access to specific tools while editing. The Touch Bar will change which controls are shown based on what you are currently doing inside the application.
Standard Touch Bar
The standard toolbar gives you controls similar to the top toolbar.
Commit Touch Bar
This toolbar is shown when certain tools are activated (such as Crop and Free Transform).
Brush Touch Bar
If working with a brush tool, you can quickly adjust the size of the brush from the Touch Bar.
Clone & Stamp Touch Bar
If working with the Clone & Stamp tool, you can modify its essential controls from the Touch Bar.
Eraser Touch Bar
If working with the Eraser tool, you can also modify its essential controls from the Touch Bar.
Download the full Luminar 2018 User Guide for Mac in PDF Format
Thank you for downloading
Aurora HDR
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Step 1
Find & Open
Aurora HDR Installer
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Aurora HDR
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading
Aurora HDR
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Step 1
Find & Open
Aurora HDR Installer
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Aurora HDR
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading Luminar 4
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Run the
Luminar 4 installer
Click the downloaded file at the
bottom left corner of your screen
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Luminar
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading Luminar 4
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Run the
Luminar 4 installer
Click the downloaded file at the
bottom left corner of your screen
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Luminar
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading Luminar 4
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Run the
Luminar 4 installer
Click the downloaded file at the
bottom left corner of your screen
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Luminar
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading Luminar 4
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Run the
Luminar 4 installer
Click the downloaded file at the
bottom left corner of your screen
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Luminar
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading Luminar 4
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Run the
Luminar 4 installer
Click the downloaded file at the
bottom left corner of your screen
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Luminar
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading Luminar 4
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Run the
Luminar 4 installer
Click the downloaded file at the
bottom left corner of your screen
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Luminar
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading Luminar 4
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Run the
Luminar 4 installer
Click the downloaded file at the
bottom left corner of your screen
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Luminar
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading Luminar 4
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Run the
Luminar 4 installer
Click the downloaded file at the
bottom left corner of your screen
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Luminar
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Luminar Flex
Use Luminar Flex for free for 30 days.
Success
Please check your inbox.
We've sent you a copy via email.
Sorry
Looks like you're subscribed already
Error
This is sad. Looks like you’ve earlier unsubscribed from Skylum emails. Please resubscribe here.
Thank you for downloading Luminar Flex
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Step 1
Find & Open
Luminar Flex Installer
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Luminar Flex
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading Luminar Flex
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Step 1
Find & Open
Luminar Flex Installer
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install Luminar Flex
Step 3
Step 3
Enjoy new photo
editing experience
Thank you for downloading AirMagic
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Step 1
Find & Open
AirMagic Installer
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install AirMagic
Step 3
Step 3
Launch AirMagic
and start enhancing your images.
Thank you for downloading AirMagic
Preparing your download...
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Oops! Something went wrong. Don't worry, just click here to try again.
Did your download not start?
Dont worry, just click here to try again.
Step 1
Step 1
Find & Open
AirMagic Installer
Step 2
Step 2
Follow the instructions
to install AirMagic
Step 3
Step 3
Launch AirMagic
and start enhancing your images.