The Photographer's Guide to Luminar 4. Jeff Carlson

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       Edit a Photo from Another Application

      Most photographers are not wedded to a single editing tool. Some of your photos may be stored in folders, while your mobile photos might be in Lightroom or Apple’s Photos app. Or perhaps Luminar has a feature that Photoshop or another program doesn’t, such as AI Structure or AI Sky Replacement.

      In those cases, it’s okay to use all the tools at your disposal. Luminar can install plug-ins for many popular applications that enable you to pop into Luminar’s editing environment, make the adjustments you want, and then return to the first app.

      Prior to Luminar 4, this ability was handled in Luminar 3 and also Luminar Flex, which was a separate product for people who had no interest in incorporating the Luminar Library. Now, it’s all been rolled into Luminar 4.

      Supported applications include Lightroom Classic (but not the newer, cloud-focused Lightroom), Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and Photos for macOS. (There’s also a plug-in for Aperture, but Aperture no longer runs as of macOS 10.15 Catalina.)

       Install Luminar plug-ins

      During the installation process, Luminar may have installed plug-ins for other software on your computer. To make sure they’re set up, or to install new ones, make sure the other apps are not running and do the following:

      FIGURE 2-4: Install the Luminar plug-in in available applications.

      The plug-in for Photos for macOS is activated in a different way:

      FIGURE 2-5: Enable Luminar as a Photos extension in the macOS System Preferences.

       Edit a Photo from Lightroom Classic

      Before you send a photo from Lightroom Classic, choose one of two options for doing so. If it’s an unedited raw file, the fastest, easiest route is to transfer it to Luminar. If it’s a JPEG or other format, or you’ve already applied edits in Lightroom, then you’ll want to edit in Luminar.

      The difference between the two involves just what is passed between the two applications. With the transfer option, the original file is simply picked up by Luminar for editing; when you’re done, Luminar hands back an edited TIFF file (which is in the photo’s original color space, a topic I’ll get to shortly).

      In the case of the second option, a copy of the image in TIFF format is sent, and Luminar performs edits on that. It seems like a small difference, but in some situations one method works better than the other.

       Transfer to Luminar 4

      Select a photo in the Library module, or open it in the Develop module, and then choose File > Plug-in Extras > Transfer to Luminar 4.

      Luminar opens in a special mode where you’re working on just that image; the Library is disabled, and the toolbar gains an Apply button and a Cancel button (Figure 2-6).

      FIGURE 2-6: The file name under the controls group name indicates you’re working on the original raw file.

      All of Luminar’s editing controls are available. When you’re done making adjustments, click the Apply button to send the edited version back to Lightroom as a TIFF file, where it appears in the library next to the original (Figure 2-7). You can also click Cancel to exit Luminar and discard any edits you made.

      FIGURE 2-7: In Lightroom Classic, the version edited using the Luminar plug-in (right) appears next to the original (left).

       Edit in Luminar 4

      The other approach gives you more options, but also more variables to pay attention to. If you’ve already done some editing in Lightroom, this is the route that keeps the results of those edits: