My Favorite Tools in Luminar Neo
It’s pretty obvious that I love using Luminar Neo, and that I use it a lot. And yeah, I make quite a few videos about it as well. When it comes to editing, I find that there are certain tools that I use the most and that have essentially become my favorites. These are the tools I depend on more than any others when editing in Luminar.
Luminar is full of amazing tools, and just because I list some as my faves doesn’t mean you have to use them, or that they are the “best” (whatever that means), or that I don’t use other tools at times. I actually use a lot of different tools in Luminar, depending on the image. But I definitely have a short list of tools (ok, it’s not that short LOL) that I return to again and again, and that’s what this list is all about.
So I guess technically this list is both my favorite tools and my most used tools. It’s sort of the same thing in a way.
And just to clarify, these are not listed in any particular order. It’s not a stack rank - just a list - which I wrote down as I thought of them (and then looked at Luminar to make sure I didn’t miss any, LOL).
One interesting thing about Luminar is that you can “favorite” a tool, and then it appears at the top of the stack. This is sort of like creating a custom workspace in Luminar for your most-used tools. I have done this and that makes my editing a bit more efficient, because I don’t have to go hunting for the tool - it’s right there waiting for me.
Here’s the list:
Develop Raw/Develop - I always start my edit here, and it has all the essential tools to get my edit going in the right direction - light, temperature, contrast, plus vertical corrections and more - you name it, and it’s here
Accent AI - with the power of up to a dozen different tools, it’s hard to not love this little guy - and yes, it’s best when applied with a mask so you don’t overpower the image, because this tool does a LOT
Structure AI - sort of like texture and clarity, this tool gives me the perfect amount of crunchiness in an image, or lets me smooth it out if I want to remove detail - and yes I also apply this with a mask
Supercontrast - the perfect complement to Develop Raw, and thus the tool I always use second (ater Develop RAW), it helps me refine the light very well
Golden Hour - make those sunsets come to life! (and it works great with a luminosity mask)
Twilight Enhancer AI - ooh, this is such a cool tool that I made a preset pack based on it
Toning - I love color tools and this one is very handy, especially for sunsets and blue hours
Mystical - the ability to add some soft contrast, shadow and mood is unmatched
Color Harmony - you just can’t get a better tool for adjusting colors - if you haven’t mastered this one yet, it’s well worth spending your time on
Vignette - I end my edit on this tool most often, and Inner Light is just the perfect way to finish an edit
Color - HSL specifically is my favorite part of this tool, so I can control Hue to really fine tune colors and get creative when I want to
HDR Merge - my favorite “extension” and one that I still use all the time, for both single exposures and bracket sets
All the masking tools 😀- you just have to learn masking to make your photos stand out, and to take control over the edit
A few more tools that deserve an Honorable Mention, because they are awesome too:
Magic Light AI - I just love to apply these little sparkles to streetlights
Noiseless AI - especially for my street photos taken at night, this is super useful
Sky AI - the original and still the best, I love to replace skies when I’m feeling the creative urge
Water Enhancer AI - this tool saves me so much work, because I used to create this effect manually and it was time-consuming
Color Transfer - such a cool idea, and it inspired this reference image pack
I think I better stop there, because I am close to naming everything in Luminar! 🤣 But the truth is, there are some fantastic tools available to us, and it’s well worth learning how to use them.
What are your favorite tools in Luminar Neo?
