Luminar Neo Pros and Cons

Easily the best simple photo editing tool on the market for people who want to grow their craft into a more significant hobby or a profession. Without needing to learn a more complex editing software like photoshop.

- Quick editing features such as copy/paste edits, boatloads of filters/LUTs

- TONS of color adjustment tools.

- Excellent masks, for fine-tuned editing

- The UI is thoughtfully designed and easy to learn

- The portrait editing features are excellent and they don't go overboard making your subject look like a plastic doll.

Neo is my primary photo editing software of choice. Of all of the "Prosumer" or "Semi-Pro" photo editing software options, this is the best, and I've tried most of them. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

- LUTs are hidden under the "Mood" tab if you wondered where to find them. Yeah I have no idea why they're there either.

- There are multiple memberships to consider purchasing

- There are additional add-ons, which are optional, and I've purchased some. They're 50/50. Some are excellent and useful, and some are completely useless.

- There are some newer "AI Editing" features that are not found within the actual editing view. This is odd. Thankfully I don't use them often.

- The ability to magically "erase" powerlines and fix issues in photos is a feature they promote fairly often, but it's still way behind the standalone app TouchRetouch.

- The RAW processing seems off for NEF (Nikon) RAW images in my opinion. Therefore I need to run them through NX studio (by Nikon) for a first quick edit. I wish I could skip this step.

The Luminar team seem to be positioning Neo as a Canva competitor. Which is very odd because the two couldn't be more different, and I use them both on a weekly basis. Canva = basic graphics and marketing design. Neo = photo editing. So don't be fooled by the marketing.

I highly recommend the Luminar team let Neo be the amazing photo editor it is. Don't stuff it with weird "overlap" graphic design features. If you want to compete with Canva, make another app that does it well and make it integrate with Neo. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AI-Powered Tools: The AI capabilities, such as noise reduction, upscaling, and background removal, are not just impressive but also incredibly time-saving.

Intuitive Interface: The user-friendly interface makes it accessible for both beginners and professionals, bridging the gap between mobile and desktop photo editing.

Nondestructive Editing: The ability to make changes without altering the original image is crucial for my work, and Luminar Neo handles this beautifully. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Occasional Bugs: While the software is powerful, I’ve encountered some bugs that can be frustrating, though I trust these will be ironed out in future updates.

Limited Organizational Tools: For photographers with extensive libraries, the organizational features may feel a bit lacking compared to other software on the market. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Luminar Neo is a software that is easy to understand and can do so much when you learn how to handel all the function that it can do. The artificial intelligence is very easy to use and the result are so great. The technical service that come with that software is the best you can wish for. When asking a question to the technical service they always say that you will receive an answer in 24 hours max. but I always received my answer between 4 and 6 hours. I had software for editing picture that cost me a fortune but the technical service was so bad that I hated to have to ask a question. Poeple at the technical service are fast, very polite and they always check if the solution they gave you solved your problem. I don't know any software company that has a tecnical service as good as Skylum. What ever the question they are always ready to help you. As for the software I was expecting to have something complicated after reading all what it can do and it was the opposite. Realy well made and easy to use. More you learn more you find out it can do more. One of the great thing before I forget the price is super for the quality of the software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

After using it since it arrive on the market I do not have anything I dislike about it. One little thing to say but I don't think it goes in the dislike category is I whish that the software could open a little bit faster but depending on your computer it might be faster on a more recent computer so for me it is not I dislike item. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There is no product without bugs, or opportunities for improvement. Luminar Neo however, shines out by the oppennes and responsiveness of its crew, let it be a product improvement opportunity, or a customer support request. Their agility and speed sets a new standard: my (product question related) customer service queries are getting effectively responded within minutes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I am post processing batches of 120MB raw files that takes a hell a lot of computing resources to manage. It is unlikely be a Luminar Neo specific issue, but I can never get a powerful enough hardware to control the hunger of this beast. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

we use it almost daily and have implemented the software as an integral part of our workflow.

the good integration into adobe photoshop, but also the possibility of using the software independently, played a major role in our decision to purchase it.

luminar neo complements our workflow with functions that you won't find in photoshop or the competition. we use the software primarily for creating image moods and also for skin correction.

the new "studio light" function is sensational - it looks very realistic and has already been used a lot!

the technical support is excellent and the license management is easily accessible. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

it's a bit annoying that not all extensions can be used as smart objects in photoshop (ok, interpolation or stitching etc. makes no sense in the smart object).

Also that the motifs cannot be displayed smaller than full screen.

a smaller scale would be enormously helpful, for example to be able to place the sun a little further out - this would make the sunlight even more realistic. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I have been using Luminar Neo for more than a year now, what I like the most is that with each update, the team is bringing more and more amazing features which are relevant and important for a photo editing tool of today, this greatly helps you get the desired outputs.

The interface is also very intuitive and easy to understand, so no barrier of entry there for a newbie like me. It has tons of artificial intelligence powered tools such as background removing ability, lighting enhancement, and of course generative AI to create magic with your prompts.

It's a recommendation from my side for sure! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find the annual plan to be expensive, however the 2 yearly plan justifies the price to some extent due to the abilities it brings. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Luminar Neo is an excellent and easy to use photo editor with great results in a few steps! In comparison with the older Luminar AI much faster with immediate results on the PC- or Mac-screen.

Easy transfer of the photos directly to Luminar from smartphones.

RAW pictures are easy to develop, even RAW files from smartphones.

Direct printing very easy directly out of Luminar.

Very fast and helpful customer support. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Crashes sometimes on iMac, but fortunately don't loose anything!

Since today (8 february 2024) a new version of Luminar Neo was created (1.18.2). Now I have no more crashes on my iMac! Thanks for the good support! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I tried for one month an was sold on it, so I took the 2 yr-offer they have on sale right now. As a freelance photographer, I loved Luminar Neo for its simple design and AI-powered enhacnements. I loved using it to replace they sky and portrait retouching for wedding photoshoots. Overall, the editing was much faster and simpler than industry leaders like Lightroom. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The 'Remove Powerlines' feature under the Erase tool is not always accurate, so sometimes I had to resort to Photoshop. It would also be great to have more options for filtering photos (e.g by camera, lens, and exposure values) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Superbly fast and easy to use photo editing software. Intuitive learning and processing, well supported from Skylum and many YouTube videos. A reported problem was immediately responded to and the solution email exchanges seemed to be in real time with no delays, and the process was clearly shown, step by step, in response emails.

Superb customer service! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nothing at all to dislike on any front - an amazing product Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find it very powerful and intuitive to use, and designed in a way that clarifies my vision of what I want to achieve with editing. Also I get beautiful results quickly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There are several handy or important functions in both Photoshop and Lightroom that would improve Neo I have submitted suggestions to Skylum several times. Also - important! - when deleting an image from Luminar Trash, we need the option to delete the image file, or just its representation in the Neo catalog. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.