About Thomas Fitzgerald

Thomas is a professional fine art photographer and writer specialising in photography related instructional books as well as travel writing and street photography. 

Luminar News

Luminar News

Thomas Fitzgerald
Luminar

There’s been a few bits of Luminar news coming out recently, and I wanted to try and get it into one single post. There is an update to Luminar 3 and there’s also been some confusion regarding what’s happening with Luminar 4, Luminar Flex and so on. I’ll do my best to answer some of these as best I can with the information that I have.

Luminar 3.1.3

A new version of Luminar 3 has been released. This includes a few bug fixes and new features. Here’s a quick overview of what’s new:

  • Lost Edits Album: If for some reason you can’t find your edits (because an image was renamed or moved to another folder, for instance), just go to the Lost Edits Album.
  • Hotkeys: more hotkeys and improved cross platform hotkeys
  • Faster importing from SSD to Library: Improves speed when importing from an SSD.

This is just a quick overview. There’s more details in a blog post on the Luminar website.

Sky Replacement in Action

When Luminar 4 was pre-announced earlier this month, the first feature they showed was the new Sky Replacement AI filter. The first article on this only shows before and after and some screenshots, but they’ve released a new video which shows it in action.

There’s more information about Luminar 4 here and you can register to receive new information.

Luminar 4 and Luminar Flex

When Luminar 4 was first announced, I received a few emails and comments from readers wondering what was happening with the roadmap, as it had disappeared, and also what is happening to Luminar Flex. Here’s what I know at the moment…

Luminar Flex will be part of Luminar 4. They are rolling the software back into one package. So when you get Luminar 4 you will get the option to use it in three ways, basically an amalgamation of the previous versions.

  1. As a plug-in - so basically the current version of Luminar Flex, including all of the Flex optimisations.
  2. As a Stand-alone editor - so similar to the way Luminar 2018 worked - without using the DAM side of the software
  3. As an editor with the Library feature, so similar to Luminar 3.

This is a change from what has come before, and I understand that this is confusing. I’m confused too. I’m sure anyone who bought Luminar Flex is scratching their heads (or cursing at the screen). The upside is that once 4 is launched, way both versions will be kept in sync, because it’s basically the same application. Here’s the official response:

What do Flex users get after Luminar 4 release?

With Luminar 4, we can offer a single solution that satisfies all users. It can be used as a photo organizer, it works as a plug-in to other photo applications, or as a standalone editor without the library.

And definitely, we will still support Flex. If Flex users want new features, they will be able to upgrade to Luminar 4 once it's released easily. Luminar 4 will have everything each type of user needs without confusing the other user types.

We believe that current plug-in users will find Luminar 4 as comfortable to use as Flex (better even, IMHO). When a plug-in user installs Luminar 4, it will automatically be added as a plug-in into their primary photo-editing software. There's no need to use Luminar Libraries, and they'll get even more great filters and tools to enhance their images.

The separate versions were confusing to some people, so I appreciate them simplifying it back to one product. I never really got the point of separating them in the first place. I understand that some people will be a bit miffed over this, especially considering it hasn’t been that long since the software has launched, and I totally sympathise.

From what I understand, there will be an upgrade offer for Flex owners coming to registered users. If you have flex and are wondering what is happening, or what price it will be for you, they recommend that you contact support.

There is more information on this blog post on the Luminar website. I recommend you read it if you are confused. They have also posted an updated roadmap.

There are also pre-order offers with a discounted price for anyone pre-ordering or upgrading. The earlier you pre-order the better the discount (in other words, the closer to the launch date, the more it will cost - apparently)

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