The new Luminar 4.3 update sees a partnership with 500px emerge along with some useful enhancements and AI shenanigans.
There’s some good news for existing and potential Luminar users, and some not so great news for those of us who like 500px. Today, Skylum, the creators of the Luminar photo editing suite, has announced another update that will bring quite a few new features to the platform. These performance enhancements will make the software much more user friendly and less resource-intensive, and the integration with 500px will allow users to flood the platform with images that not only include dodgy sky replacements but now the space shuttle too. Sigh. Join us after the break for all the details.
One thing I will say about Skylum is that they are continually looking at ways to improve their software, and they roll out updates in a very timely manner. It was just a few months ago that 4.2 came out. Luminar 4.3 will be another free download for existing Luminar 4 users. The update does include some useful new tools such as the ability to search photos, a user experience improvement to Looks, 500px integration, a new crop interface, and several performance improvements. It also brings a new space shuttle object, along with several improvements for the AI Augmented Sky tool. Let’s break this down.
Luminar Photo Search
With the new photo search tool, you will be able to find your images in your library with ease. Search lets you find photos by name, folder, date, or extension, allowing for quick management of photos. Being able to find your images, especially when you have an extensive library, is essential, so this is a pleasant update.
Stability and Performance Improvements
According to Skylum, thanks to this new update, users will find that RAW files open up faster than ever before, even though the software has been tweaked to use less memory. The performance boost will also make it so that sliders are a lot smoother and more responsive. These changes have been made so that those who use older computers will be able to manage their workflows better.
New Looks, New Crop Tools, and New Luminar Brush Workflows
Looks have been a resource hog in previous versions of Luminar, and Skylum knows it. Now, you can just hover over a look and will get an instant preview of it instead of having to apply it to your image to see it. Crop and Rotate have seen a big update with Luminar 4.3 too. Users can now open the tool and crop quicker than ever before. Windows users should also see a significant performance boost. The masking tool is now apparently easier to use, too, as masked areas are visible mid-process thanks to a transparent red mask. This, of course, will make using brushes much easier.
Luminar Augmented Skies, Sky Objects, 500px Integration
Yep, that’s the shuttle. I honestly don’t know what to say about this. All I can say is why? Oooh, 500 PX fans are in for a treat. Yes, that’s sarcasm, but really, be ready for your feeds to be blown up with images like the one above. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
In Luminar 4.3, a new space shuttle object has been added. In the press release, Skylum goes on to say that the AI Augmented Sky experience has also received several improvements. You can now easily flip objects and quickly position them, making it easy to perfect your piece of art. Note they said art and not photograph, so thank you for that, Luminar! A âmarketplace section on the Luminar website has also been added, featuring objects for use with AI Augmented Sky.
Photographers can now share their photos (or art) with other creatives across the world on the 500px photo-sharing platform. The press release doesn’t go into details on how it actually works. Still, one can assume that you log in to your 500px account within Luminar, add a description and tags, hit upload, and voila: 500px will be instantly contaminated with your image of a beautiful countryside scene with the shuttle blasting off in the background. Thanks, Skylum. *Lets out a big sigh and rolls eyes*
Camera Support and How to Get the Update
Luminar 4.3 also adds support for several new cameras. Luminar 4.3 now supports the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III (uncompressed only), the Fujifilm X100V, the Fujifilm X-T200, and the Fujifilm X-T4. There’s also support for the Leica SL2, Nikon Coolpix P950, Nikon D780, Nikon Z50, Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, Olympus E-PL10, Panasonic DC-S1H, and the Sony A9 Mark II.
If you’re a Luminar user, all you have to do to get the update on a Mac is click in the top menu bar and choose Luminar 4 > Check for updates. On Windows, in the top menu bar, select Help > Check for updates. If you are running Luminar as a plugin with Photoshop, Lightroom Classic or Photoshop Elements, just rerun the plugin installer.
What do you think about the new update to Luminar? Are you ready for the space shuttle and fake skies to be seen in tons of images/art on 500px? Let us know in the comment section below. For more information, head on over to the official Skylum website.
