In this hands-on Luminar Neo tutorial for beginners, we put this easy-to-use and powerful software to the test.
Are you overwhelmed by the vast world of photo editing? Think you can’t master the art of transforming your photos into eye-catching visuals?
Luminar Neo just might be your golden ticket. It’s designed to be beginner-friendly and make it easy to create beautiful images.
Luminar Neo is simple photo editing software perfect for beginners looking for great results. It also has powerful editing features for experienced photographers.
This guide will walk you through the basics of Luminar Neo. Now you’re ready to edit stunning landscapes and gorgeous portraits.
Curious? Get 10% OFF Luminar Neo Pro and explore annual subscriptions with the code BAREFOOT10 here.
Ready to embark on your journey to becoming a photo editing pro? Read on and let’s dive into the world of Luminar Neo together.
How to use Luminar Neo for beginners
Bottom line: I found Luminar Neo to be very easy and intuitive to use. If you’ve used another photo editor, it works pretty much the same. that’s good
![](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Installing-Luminar-Neo-for-beginners.jpg)
Let’s get started. Before I could edit my photos, I had to move them from my phone to Luminar Neo.
One thing I find really annoying is moving photos from my phone to my computer. I sometimes use Samsung Link to Windows, but it’s honestly cumbersome and doesn’t seem to work very well.
So I decided to give the Luminar Share mobile app a try. He downloaded the app, made sure his computer and phone were on the same Wi-Fi connection, and used Luminar Share to immediately send the photos to his Luminar Neo catalog. So easy!
How to move photos to Luminar Neo using Luminar Share
Once the app is installed, go to Luminar Neo on your computer and click the Luminar Neo share icon (upper right corner).
click Connect to your device.
A QR code will appear on the screen, scan it with your mobile phone.
From there, simply select the image you want to share from your device’s media library and click. Send to Lumina Neo.
![Moving Photos from the Luminar Share Mobile App to Luminar Neo](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Moving-a-photo-from-Luminar-Share-mobile-app-to-Luminar-Neo-517x1024.jpg)
The image will pop up in the Luminar Neo catalog on your computer.
So easy!
Free trial of Luminar Neo
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How to Edit Landscape Photos in Luminar Neo for Beginners
The next step is to open Luminar Neo and[カタログ]Go to tab.
In this tutorial, we’ll edit a photo without using the Luminar Neo extension to make it easy for beginners. AI Noiseless (No more grainy photos!), AI Background Removal (perfect for getting rid of weird Uncle Bob photobombing in the background), Super Sharp (Blurry photos can be refocused ) and some very cool features. Scroll down to see more details about available extensions at the end of the article.
The photos are in your catalog because you have already added them from your phone using the Luminar Share app.
Just select the photo you want to edit and click edit It’s at the top of the screen.
![Luminar Neo catalog with my photos imported from the Luminar Share app](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Luminar-Neo-Catalog-with-my-photo-imported-from-Luminar-Share-App.jpg)
Compilation of photos taken on the streets of Leavenworth, Washington. This is a .jpg image, but Luminar Neo can edit his RAW as well.
Luminar Neo is a so-called non-destructive photo editor. This means that the original photo will not be destroyed or overwritten.
The first thing I always do when editing a photo is cut out the unwanted stuff. To do this, go to: toolselect Edit – Trimmingdrag the edge of the photo to crop, and click . application.
![Crop a Luminar Neo image](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Luminar-Neo-crop-the-image-1024x563.jpg)
If you are in a hurry,[ツール]tab’s[AI 強化]Please use the tool. Photos are automatically edited, including saturation adjustments.
To use Enhance AI, just click Strengthen, then adjust the Accent and Sky Enhancer sliders to your preferred intensity. It does a pretty good job, so it might be all you need to edit your photos.
Get 10% OFF Luminar Neo Pro and explore annual subscriptions with the code BAREFOOT10 here.
However, I want to show you a few more features for beginners, so I’ll start with a quick edit.
I feel the image looks a little dark and flat in the building, so I do some basic edits to the highlights and shadows in Develop.
Click development, then drag the Highlights & Shadows slider to lighten the building a bit and remove some of the shadows. Note how this makes the sky look a little whitish. But don’t worry as there is a very easy way to fix this.
![Development to adjust Luminar_Neo highlights and shadows](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Luminar-Neo-Develop-adjust-highlights-and-shadows-1024x560.jpg)
In fact, you can enhance the color throughout the image, so let’s click on it. colour in essential.
From there, use the slider to increase the Vibrance.
Hint! Saturation affects intensity and enhances all colors in the image. Vividness is more specific and saturates the less colorful parts of the photo.
Looking at the picture, it’s not as clear as I thought it would be.
We will use the Structure AI tool here. This is a good choice as it improves the texture and detail of the image. It’s great for landscape photography because it emphasizes buildings, mountains, and rocks, but doesn’t affect skin tones and other details too much.
![Luminar Neo Structure AI Edit](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Luminar_Neo-Stucture-AI-edits-1024x560.jpg)
that’s much better.
Hint! Structural AI and advanced sliders. I like using structure AI. Structure AI doesn’t globally affect all elements of a photo, including portrait skin, but the Detail adjustment sharpens edges globally, which can make skin look a little weird.
But I have to say that all these adjustments made the sky look a little worse.
I’m going to play around with Sky AI Essentials a bit and see if I can make the skies a little more dramatic.
Click Sky AI, then click the Sky Selection dropdown.
There are many options here.
For fun, let’s choose the night sky.
Oh that’s amazing.
![Luminar Neo Beginner Editing Sky Galaxy 2](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Luminar-Neo-For-Beginners-edit-sky-galaxy-2.jpg)
Let’s try another photo, a dramatic sunset.
![Luminar_Neo Dramatic Sunset Sly AI](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Luminar_Neo-a-dramatic-sunset-Sly-AI--1024x574.jpg)
It’s also cool. But I will continue to stick to the original sky.
So click on the reset tool (in the sky tool) to remove the sky changes.[編集]You could go to the tab and delete the edits up to this point, but it’s faster.
Hint! To remove larger edits, edit tab, click discard editsand start fresh. important: The software tracks your edits so you can go back and adjust them. However, reopening the tool will undo all subsequent edits, which can be confusing for newbies.
Finally, buff the AI and buff the sky enhancer a bit.
![Enhance AI for Beginners Lumina Neo with Sky Enhancer AI](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Lumina-Neo-using-the-Enhance-AI-Sky-Enhancer-AI-for-beginners-1024x560.jpg)
And done.
It’s that simple.
I want to compare my edits with the original, so click the Compare button at the bottom of the screen. Shows before and after images. You can grab the slider in the middle of Luminar Neo to view your edits more or less. Very cool.
![Luminar Neo Landscape Photo Editing for Beginners](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Luminar-Neo-for-beginners-edit-landscape-photo-.jpg)
You can also switch between edited and unedited versions of the photo by clicking the little eye icon at the bottom.
Read more great articles like:
How to store photos in Luminar Neo
So how do you save your photos?
Click the share icon on the top right, folder Save it to your computer. You can also email the photos by clicking Email.
![How to connect to the Luminar Neo Luminar Share app](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Luminar-Neo-How-to-connect-to-Luminar-Share-App.jpg)
Click folderClick to display the Export box. You can select the destination folder. From there, change the format, adjust the quality, and even resize the photo.
![Saving and Resizing Luminar Neo](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Luminar-Neo-Save-and-Resize.jpg)
What is Luminar Neo Extension?
Luminar Neo comes with some really cool extensions. Extensions are included in the Pro and Lifetime plans, but not in the most basic Explore plan (more on that later). Below are some of the best extensions in my opinion.
- AI noiseless (No more grainy photos!)
- AI background remover (to remove ugly backgrounds)
- AI Upscale (to improve print quality for pixelated photos)
- AI magic light
- HDR Merge
- Super Sharp (for motion blur and misfocus)
- Focus Stacking (more advanced, stack up to 100 photos to create sharper details and improve depth of field)
- Rewrite AI
What is the price of Lumina Neo?
There are three Luminar Neo plans: Explore, Pro, and Lifetime.
Here are the costs at the time of writing:
- Consider $11.84 USD per month (billed monthly) or $142 annually
- Pro $94 USD/first year
- Lifetime $177 USD 1 time
explore This plan gives you access to a photo editor, software upgrades and updates, and a 5% discount on marketplace items (Skys, Presets, LUTs, Overlays, etc.).
pro plan Everything you get with the Explore plan plus existing pro-level enhancements including AI-based tools for sharpening, upscaling, noise reduction, focus stacking, HDR image merging, background removal, and light manipulation access is provided. You can also use Luminar Neo on two devices (instead of one). 10% discount on Marketplace items (Skys, Presets, LUTs, Overlays, etc.).
![Luminar Neo Presets](https://www.thebarefootnomad.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Luminar-Neo-Presets.jpg)
lifetime plan Get access to all of your Explore plans, including access to all existing Pro-level extensions, plus access to future extensions. Enhancements include AI-based tools for sharpening, upscaling, noise reduction, focus stacking, HDR image merging, background removal, and light manipulation. You can also use Luminar Neo on 2 devices (instead of only 1 allowed with the Explore plan) and get 10% discount on Marketplace items (Skys, Presets, LUTs, Overlays, etc.) .
Luminar Neo vs Luminar AI
The answer here is simple. Luminar AI will cease to exist as a separate program in 2023.
Luminar AI will be discontinued in October 2022, and existing AI functions etc. will be incorporated into Luminar Neo.
With the new 2023 Luminar Neo, AI tools are built into the photo editor itself, with other AI features in extensions. New AI extensions are being added all the time.
Luminar Neo Discount Codes
Looking for Luminar Neo coupons?
Get 10% off Luminar Neo Pro and consider your yearly subscription here using code BAREFOOT10.