#Luminar vs photoshop software#
#Luminar vs photoshop professional#

I love Lightroom’s organization features, and I still use my Lightroom catalogs to keep track of all my images, even when I’m doing editing in Luminar. It has ultra-useful collection options and a huge number of ways to filter your images (in case you’re after an elusive image buried somewhere deep in your catalog).

You see, Lightroom is carefully designed to catalog, group, and label your photos. Now it’s time to look at areas where Lightroom excels over Luminar, starting with Lightroom’s digital asset management capabilities. Lightroom offers far superior image organization options

#Luminar vs photoshop professional#

So while a professional probably wouldn’t balk at the Lightroom display, a beginner may feel far too out of their depth. There’s a huge number of editing panels, quite a few modules, and many sliders. Sure, it’s workable, but it’s not exactly simple, and it can feel overwhelming at times. Lightroom, on the other hand, is far less sleek, and a little bit messy. To do some quick editing, all you have to do is tap the Looks icon at the top, and a handy image carousel pops up: There’s a toolbar at the top that lets you access basic options, no matter the module you’re in, and the tool panels on the right are simple and uncluttered. Open up Luminar, and you can immediately tell that it’s great for beginners. The Luminar interface is streamlined, simple, and ridiculously easy to use. Here’s the third big area where Luminar dominates Lightroom in the Luminar vs Lightroom question: The Luminar editing interface is incredibly easy to work with Fortunately, as discussed in the section above, Luminar also has a handle on basic editing tools. On the other hand, layer-based editing can be a bit complex for newcomers. Personally, I’m a huge fan of layer-based editing, and I love that Skylum included it in their software. Features such as the Adjustment Brush.īut these aren’t quite as useful as true layer-based editing, not least because you can only apply some edits via the Adjustment Brush, whereas Luminar allows for almost every slider to be separated into a different layer and masked out (if you so choose). Now, Lightroom does offer some similar features, though they don’t technically use layers. You can also use Luminar’s Luminosity Mask tool to selectively adjust areas of your photos based on their underlying brightness. Then you can selectively apply these adjustments by masking out different areas of the layer, ensuring that only part of the photo is enhanced by a slider or corrected by a tool. In Luminar, you can make adjustments on different layers. If you’ve ever used Photoshop, then you’ll know that one of its most powerful features is layer-based edits.īecause with layers, you can stack edits on top of one another, selectively delete edits, mask out certain edits, and more.Īnd while Lightroom doesn’t offer layer-based editing… Luminar offers useful layer-based editing So if quick editing is your thing, then Luminar is a great choice. With a couple of clicks, you can take a boring sky and turn it into something eye-catching (an edit that could previously only be pulled off by a Photoshop expert). These one-click options include the Orton Effect (which gives your photos a soft glow), to the Sunrays tool (which adds surprisingly realistic sun rays to your photos), to the Fog tool (which adds, well, fog).Įven more impressive, some of Luminar’s best editing features are powered by artificial intelligence.įor instance, Luminar’s AI Enhance tool offers an AI Accent slider that often looks quite good it makes your photo pop with some carefully applied color and tonal adjustments, among others.Īnd the Luminar AI Sky Replacement is nothing short of amazing. This is ideal for photographers who don’t feel comfortable doing advanced edits in a program like Lightroom, or who simply don’t have time to carefully edit every photo.

#Luminar vs photoshop software#

You see, Luminar offers a modern approach to editing, where you tap a few buttons and the software does most of the editing for you. When dealing with the question of Luminar vs Lightroom, I always recommend you take a look at the biggest feature Luminar offers: Luminar offers one-click features for quick edits Let’s dive right in, starting with the biggest reason to choose Luminar: 1. Are you struggling to decide whether you should be working in Luminar vs Lightroom? Do you want to know how these two post-processing powerhouses match up?īecause this article will give you three ways Luminar excels over Lightroom, followed by two areas where Lightroom dominates.Īnd it’ll help you decide which option is best for your needs.