Big Luminar photo editor update embraces AI but is designed to “put human talent first”

Luminar screenshot showing the 2026 Fall Update
(Image credit: Skylum / Luminar)
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Skylum’s flagship photo-editing software Luminar (formerly Luminar Neo) has just launched its biggest update of the year, intent on boosting some of its most prominent AI-infused tools: Enhance, Atmosphere, Crop, and AI Assistant.

The update comes following a Skylum study, which included more than 1,300 participants, on whether or not photographers wanted more AI. And, according to the Kyiv and New York-based company: “They Said No.”

And yet, the same study revealed that more than half of the participants see AI as an important part of their editing routine. Skylum’s aim, with this latest update, is to continue to deliver automated tools, without forcing the user to relinquish creative control. Here’s what’s been added…

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Luminar Fall Update: Changes

Luminar screenshot showing the 2026 Fall Update

(Image credit: Skylum / Luminar)

Enhance AI: Luminar’s one-stop editing solution can transform an image via a single slider, boosting eight tonal parameters affecting exposure and color. The tool functions as it did before, with a main Accent slider and a Sky Enhancer AI slider. However, in the update, it has been tweaked in a bid to produce more natural results.

Luminar screenshot showing the 2026 Fall Update

(Image credit: Skylum / Luminar)

Atmosphere AI: Skylum has completely revamped this tool, used to add 3D volumetric fog to images. It now generates a 3D map of the image in question, allowing users to precisely overlay fog, with controls for depth, height, and density.

Luminar screenshot showing the 2026 Fall Update

(Image credit: Skylum / Luminar)

Smart Compositions: This new addition to the Crop AI tool could prove a great learning resource for novice photographers. It provides multiple automated cropping options that follow compositional rules such as the rule of thirds or the golden ratio.

Luminar Fall Update screenshot

(Image credit: Skylum / Luminar)

AI Assistant: Luminar’s AI Assistant is now able to respond to more prompts than before. For example, you can now ask: “What do you think of this photo?” And the AI Assistant will evaluate the image and suggest improvements.

Luminar screenshot showing the 2026 Fall Update

(Image credit: Skylum / Luminar)

Signature Printing: Instead of a small print window, Luminar now includes a dedicated Print interface. Not only does this include a large preview of the image in question, but it also allows users to create and position a signature/watermark.

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Mike Harris
How To Editor

Mike studied photography at college, honing his Adobe Photoshop skills and learning to work in the studio and darkroom. After a few years writing for various publications, he headed to the ‘Big Smoke’ to work on Wex Photo Video’s award-winning content team, before transitioning back to print as Technique Editor (later Deputy Editor) on N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine.

With bylines in Digital Camera, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, Practical Photography, Digital Photographer, iMore, and TechRadar, he’s a fountain of photography and consumer tech knowledge, making him a top tutor for techniques on cameras, lenses, tripods, filters, and more. His expertise extends to everything from portraits and landscapes to abstracts and architecture to wildlife and, yes, fast things going around race tracks...

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