Skylum has just released the second update to Luminar AI, and this one contains quite a few changes, including one big new feature. The headline change is the addition of Sky AI 2. This had been shown during the pre-release period of Luminar AI, but never made it to the first release. It’s now here with update 2 and it’s quite impressive, but that’s not all that is included in this update.

New Features

Before I get to sky AI 2, here are some of the other new features and changes in this version:

Texture Overlays: You can now control texture and image overlays int he local masking tool including controls to transform texture and image overlays.
PNG Support in Overlays: You can now use PNG files with transparency in image overlays. Ideal for watermarks or other instances where you might want to add a logo.
Overlays in Templates: You can now save overlays as part of a template or sync across images.
Improved Template Browser: New features int he template browser include easier ways to find the template you want., faster template browsing, and direct integration with the Luminar market place. You can also now add templates by double clicking on the template file in the finder on the Mac, or windows explorer.

New Camera Support: Including the following cameras

Canon EOS R5, Canon EOS R6, EOS 850D, EOS-1D X Mark III (lossy compressed files)
- Fujifilm X-S10
- Leica M10-R, S3, SL2-S
- Nikon Z 5, Z 6 II, Z 7 II
- Olympus E-M10 Mark IV
- Panasonic DC-G100 / G110, DC-S5
- Sony ILCE-7C (A7C), ILCE-7SM3 (A7S III)
- Zeiss ZX1
New Formats
- Lossy compressed CR3 files
- Lossy compressed RAF files

Sky AI 2

The main new feature in this release is of course Sky AI 2.0. This new version of Luminar’s sky replacement technology adds what has been the most requested feature ever since sky replacement was added to Luminar 4, and that is reflections. Sky replacement will now let you add reflections when water is detected in the scene.

But that’s not all that’s changed. There are a few other tweaks to the tool also. These include:

Sky Browser - see a visual thumbnail of the sky
6 new included free skies
Easier to add your own skies and have them show up in the browser
Match new skies to the original photo with the new Grain slider

In Use

I’ve been trying out the new update over the past 24 hours and I have to say I’m impressed. One of the things that isn’t directly documented is the improved sky recognition. I had an image that I had tried the sky replacement on before the update, and it wasn’t a great mask. The sky had blessed into the bridge, and you could sort of fix it. When I updated the software, and the image reloaded, suddenly the sky replacement was almost perfect (see below).

Same image after update to the latest version - note the much improved masking. No tweaks to the settings!

I haven’t had a chance to try this on a huge range of images yet, but this is definitely an improvement, both in terms of the quality of the replacement, and the overall experience of using the feature. I’ve also been using the software on a new M1 MacBook Pro, and it’s a completely different experience to my old Mac Pro. While it isn’t native to Apple Silicon yet, it’s still much faster on the laptop, and much better than my old experience. It has crashed a few times though.

I was quite harsh in my original review of the software, and I suspect had I been using it on this at the time, I would have tempered my negativity a little (although, all of my gripes still stand - except for Sky AI2 which has now been addressed).

Availability

This update to Luminar AI is free to existing customers, and you can get it now by choosing the option to check for updates in the menu. For more details about this update see here. If you don’t already have Luminar, you can get it now from the Skylum store. You should be able to use my discount code: TFP10 to get 10% off.

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