Luminar Tip: The Perfect Finish to Any Edit

There are a lot of great editing tools in Luminar, but despite them, I sometimes get to the end of an edit and feel like something is missing. Nothing big, just a little push to get it over the finish line. Do you ever feel like this?

It’s usually that the subject needs a little extra punch to really draw the viewers attention. A good way to tell if this is the case is to look at the thumbnail, not the fullscreen image. If it’s hard to tell in a thumbnail, it may need a little extra work to bring it to life.

When this happens to me, I have a trick I like to use: Accent AI with a Radial Mask.

Accent AI is a GREAT tool and one I use on nearly every photo. But, it has a huge impact on an image and can really push things too far if you are not careful. So I always recommend using it with a mask to control where it impacts the image.

The finishing touch that I prefer is to use a radial mask and then apply Accent AI. This gives your subject a nice pop without impacting the rest of the photo. Accent AI impacts a lot of things in a photo: contrast, light, color, saturation and more. It’s like a super tool for editing. So the mask keeps it in check and contains it to the masked area only.

A key tip here is to make sure you use a generous gradient with the radial mask. You want the adjustment to fade into the photo and blend nicely, which is what the gradient edge accomplishes for you. Otherwise, it’s an abrupt change which is very noticeable and does not look good. So fade it over a wide area and ensure a smooth transition, and a very pleasing final product!

Check out the video below which outlines this approach with several examples: