A huge part of Luminar Neo’s appeal is that it’s extremely accessible for newcomers. It’s so accessible that seasoned photo editors will likely get to grips with its intuitive interface and tools almost instantly. But for those with little or no editing experience, even Luminar Neo presents a fairly steep learning curve. Or, at least, it used to…
Skylum recently released a major update (version 1.26.0), which brought with it a plethora of exciting enhancements and new features, and one of the biggest inclusions is the beginner-friendly AI Assistant. This game-changing feature can be used to edit both RAW and non-RAW image files in just a couple of clicks or advise you on edits that you can then perform manually – no former image-editing experience required.
You begin by either selecting from a list of ready-made prompts or typing your own prompts into a dialogue box. Each edit request then delivers up to three AI-generated presets that can be applied to the image in question, along with a descriptive breakdown of the tonal adjustments and tools used to create each preset. This isn’t just an invaluable resource for those who want to get to the end product as quickly as possible, but also for those who want to learn what’s going on behind the scenes.
But here’s the really clever bit: you’re able to break down the changes that the AI Assistant has made to your image by heading into the Edits tab, where you’ll find a list of each tool used. You can then click on each tab to view the adjusted slider(s) and/or tweak them further, manually. If you really like the AI-generated results, you can even save them as a preset, which you can then apply to other images at your leisure.
For those who only want to make adjustments manually, the AI Assistant can also be used in a much more passive manner. By choosing the ready-made ‘How to’ prompts or by manually typing ‘How to’ at the beginning of your own prompts, the AI will deliver text-based suggestions and guidance without affecting the image.
For example, I typed “How to reduce noise?” The AI Assistant not only suggested that I use the Noiseless AI tool, but it also provided information specific to my image. It said: “I recommend Noiseless AI to reduce the noise and grain present in the darker areas of the rock face, improving the image's overall clarity.” I was also able to click on the Noiseless AI lozenge – which appeared within the AI Assistant’s reply – to navigate straight to the tool in question.
You can be creative with your prompts, too. When I typed, “Turn this photo vintage,” the AI Assistant understood the assignment and presented me with three presets, each with filmic hues and varying intensities of grain.
The AI Assistant can be accessed in both Presets and Edit views, but is not available if Luminar Neo is being used in plug-in mode. It lives in the bottom-right corner of the screen, in the form of a white roundel with an inset speech bubble. You simply click on the icon to bring up the AI Assistant window or use the hotkey Cmd/Ctrl + K. This feature is exclusive to the desktop version of Luminar Neo and requires an Internet connection to work.
Ultimately, the AI Assistant allows you to start editing images in Luminar Neo instantly. Whether you’re looking to speed up your workflow or simply edit your images without having to invest time climbing complicated learning curves, it will fast-track you to the end result. However, if you’re a photo-editing beginner who wants to become more actively involved in editing your images, then the AI Assistant can guide you as you get to grips with Luminar Neo and everything this powerful photo-editing software has to offer.
Luminar Neo is available on macOS and Windows as a perpetual license with one year of unlimited updates, starting at $99 / £99. It works standalone or as a plug-in with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom Classic. It can also be used in conjunction with Luminar Mobile for cross-device editing.
