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kylum’s Luminar 4 software
can be used as a standalone
image-editing package or
as a plug-in for software
such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe
Photoshop Elements and Adobe
Lightroom Classic. When used as
a standalone, Luminar relies on
your standard folder structure and
there’s no need to import images, you

can just open one to start editing.

However, it can be helpful to import a

folder of images as this enables you to

scroll through your shots to select the

ones you want to work on.

There are two main views in

Luminar 4, the Library and the Edit

view. The Library is the browser

section while the Edit view gives

access to all the adjustment controls.

Technique LUMINAR 4

The Library

To import images into Luminar 4’s Library,
click on the + in the top left corner of the
screen and select the pictures to work on
in the normal way. The Library has a
column on the right that shows the file
organisation structure while thumbnails of
images are everywhere to the left of that.
Clicking on the ‘Library’ button at the top
right of the screen hides and reveals the
organisation column. Clicking on the ‘Info’
button reveals essential image data. As
well as the structure of the folders that
you’ve imported into Luminar 4, the
Library organises the images by date, so

you can quickly locate images captured

on a specific day just by clicking on the

relevant folder. There are also icons to

reveal the images you most recently

added or edited in Luminar. Clicking

on the heart that appears in the bottom

right corner of images as you hover over

them in the Library adds them to the

Favourites folder.

It’s also possible to create virtual albums

of images simply by selecting them in the

Library and clicking on the + next to

‘Albums’ in the folder structure. Just

select and drag additional images to the

album to add them.

Get the

essentials right

The Essentials section

gives control of exposure,

white balance and colour.

There are also ‘AI Accent’

and ‘AI Structure’ controls

that assess the image and

allow you to determine the

degree of adjustment.

However, you can also

take control yourself with

exposure and white

balance adjustments (and

a white balance dropper

tool) plus the curves

control that’s revealed by

hitting the ‘Advanced

Settings’ option in the Light

panel. The latter lets you

manipulate the exposure

and contrast. The Color

panel also gives control

over the Saturation and

Vibrance, and there’s a

slider for removing a colour

cast. Hit the ‘Advanced

Settings’ to control the

Hue, Saturation and

Luminance of eight colour

channels independently.

Reach for the

Skylum

Luminar 4 is a powerful and easy-to-use

editor that draws on AI yet also offers

advanced controls. Angela Nicholson

explains the key features

ALL IMAGES © ANGEL A NICHOLSON