Frequently Asked Questions

Your download links will be waiting for you in your Skylum account.

Please note that your Luminar Neo purchase is automatically linked to your billing email, so make sure to create a Skylum account with that email or log in to your existing Skylum account linked to that email.

1. Go to the Skylum account login page here.
2. If you already have an account, sign in with your Google, Facebook, Microsoft, or Apple account, or sign in with your email and password.
3. If you don’t have a Skylum account, you can create one here. Make sure to choose the same email you used when purchasing Luminar Neo.
4. If you have a Skylum account but purchased Luminar Neo using an email address not tied to it, you can merge your accounts in the My Software > App isn’t showing? section of your Skylum account.
5. In your account, you will see a My Software tab with all of your Skylum software, including Luminar Neo.
6. Find the tab with Luminar Neo and download it by clicking the Download button.

You will be able to activate Luminar Neo by logging in to your Skylum account. No license key or activation code is required.

Luminar Neo launches in trial mode when you open it for the first time. When you start Luminar Neo, you’ll see a window that prompts you to log in to your Skylum account.

Please note that your Luminar Neo purchase is automatically linked to the billing email address you provided, so make sure to log in to your Skylum account connected to that email address or create a new Skylum account tied to your billing email address if needed.

To activate Luminar Neo:

• If you already have a Skylum account, sign in with a linked Google, Facebook, Microsoft, or Apple account, or sign in with your email and password.
• If you don’t have a Skylum account, click Register and create one. You can sign up with a Facebook, Google, Microsoft, or Apple account, or you can sign up using your email and a password.
• If you have a Skylum account but purchased Luminar Neo using an email address not tied to it, you can merge your accounts in the My Software > App isn’t showing? section of your Skylum account.
• Congratulations! You’ve activated Luminar Neo.

Still don’t see Luminar Neo in your account? Our support team will help you with that.

Luminar Neo is an innovative image editor powered by AI technologies of the future that simplifies complex editing routines and enables creators to bring their boldest ideas to life. And enjoy it.

• Get speed and flexibility in your editing with our brand-new core engine and layers workflow.
• The new engine we built for Luminar Neo is based on all the best solutions from our combined and evolved experience for maximum performance and creativity and is developed for achieving complex creative results.
• Adjust the light in your photo for creative control over the lighting in a scene. You can control the exposure of an image based on the distance from the lens to independently adjust the background and foreground exposure.
• Automatically remove spots on your images caused by dust and dirt on your lens and sensor.
• Clean up unwanted power lines from the skies in your cityscapes.
• Experiment with infinite creative possibilities by effortlessly combining two or more images in a shot.

...And much more.

The new technologies and innovative user experience in Luminar Neo make creative image editing simple and fun.

Luminar Neo is a quintessence of all our applications released to date. The software will retain almost all Luminar AI’s features and offer a great variety of innovations permeating the entire workflow for the best experience with the product inspired by you. 

This version will have even more editing power under the hood. Channeling your inspiration into mind-blowing photos has never been easier with all-new cutting-edge AI-powered tools that will add up to the already existing go-to collection of Luminar AI. Intelligent tools such as Accent^AI, Sky^AI (replaces the sky automatically and adds water reflections), Skin^AI, Sky Enhancer^AI, Structure^AI (adjusts detail and clarity), Body^AI, Atmosphere^AI(adds weather effects based on image depth reconstruction), Portrait Bokeh^AI, and Supercontrast, as well as the upcoming virtual light source emulation, automated removal of power lines and dust spots, and many more, are industry-leading and are designed to provide satisfying results effortlessly. You’ll always retain complete control over your photos thanks to the convenient interface.

To make the editing process smoother, we’ve built a powerful module-based engine that provides an overall better performance and convenience. It allows users to apply lots of different tools to an image without significant performance loss. The software will also enjoy ample opportunities for future optimization. Thanks to the new architecture, the app will be updated regularly. We’ll get more opportunities to incorporate new technologies, give you more editing possibilities, and allow Luminar Neo to advance faster in our creative journey.

Luminar Neo will be installed separately as a brand new application and will not overwrite Luminar AI or other software.

At Skylum, we are committed to developing Luminar Neo as a one-stop platform for creative photo editing. Extensions are a natural result of our company’s vision for this product. 

In 2022 we released seven Extensions for Luminar Neo:

• HDR Merge has been available since July
• Noiseless AI was released in August.
  
• Upscale AI, AI Background Removal, Supersharp AI, Focus Stacking Extensions were delivered in November 2022

• Magic Light AI was released in December.
  

Luminar Neo’s Pro Monthly and Yearly Subscription plans give you access to the Luminar Neo app, all updates or new versions, as well as all Extensions available during the subscription period. 

Luminar X Membership is a paid subscription for those who already own or subscribe to Luminar and want to take their creativity to the next level. Luminar X members enjoy monthly delivery of creative assets, including Luminar Presets, LUTs, and Sky textures. Luminar X members who opt for the Luminar X Membership Pro plan will also receive four Luminar tutorials and four photography tutorials per year. 

Important: Luminar X Membership doesn't include the Luminar app or its Extensions. 

We are honoring our commitments to current Luminar Neo subscribers. 

All artists who purchased a Luminar Neo subscription before August 16, 2022, will receive access to all Extensions released during their subscription period for free.

Canceling your subscription means you won’t be charged at the beginning of the next billing cycle. You’ll be able to keep using Luminar Neo and its Extensions for the duration of the paid period.

If you owned a lifetime license to Luminar Neo and any Extensions before subscribing, you will be able to use Luminar Neo and those Extensions for which you have a lifetime license after your subscription period ends. However, you will not get access to new Extensions and will lose access to any Extensions that were available to you during the subscription period but for which you do not own a lifetime license. You will also not have access to possible future new versions of the Luminar app.

The download process starts in your Skylum account. 

Please note that your Extensions purchase is automatically linked to your billing email, so make sure to log in to a Skylum account associated with that email.

1. Go to the Skylum account login page here.
2. Sign in with your Google, Facebook, Microsoft, or Apple account, or sign in with your email and password.
3. If you purchased your Extensions using an email address not tied to it, you can merge your accounts in the My Products > App isn’t showing? section of your Skylum account.
4. In your account, you will see a My Software tab with all of your Skylum programs and extensions.
5. Navigate to the Extensions menu under Luminar Neo and сlick on the Run in Luminar Neo button.
6. Update to the latest Luminar Neo version or click I already have the latest version to proceed. 

7. You’ll get redirected to Luminar Neo’s in-app Extension store. Click Install under the Extension to start the installation process. 

Luminar Neo should work on your computer as long as it meets the following minimum system requirements.

For Mac:

• MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Pro, Mac mini, early 2010 or newer
• CPU Intel® Core™ i5 or better, including the M1 chip.
• Memory 8 GB RAM or more (16+ GB RAM is recommended)
• macOS 10.14.6 or higher. IMPORTANT: macOS 10.13 is not supported.
• Hard disk 10 GB free space; SSD for best performance
• Display 1280x768 size or better

For Windows:

• Windows-based hardware PC with mouse or similar input device
• CPU Intel® Core™ i5 or better, AMD Ryzen™ 5 or better
• Open GL 3.3 or later compatible Graphics Cards
• Memory 8 GB RAM or more (16+ GB RAM is recommended)
• Operating System Windows 10 version 1909 or higher (only 64-bit OS).
• Hard disk 10 GB free space; SSD for best performance
• Display 1280x768 size or better

Luminar Neo RAW processing is based on our own powerful RAW engine. You can check the full list of supported cameras here.  Also, we regularly update our library and make our own improvements to provide excellent support for new cameras. 

At Skylum, we take user input and testing seriously. During beta testing, we discovered that the experience with some of the options in Supersharp AI was not up to our standards.

Therefore, we decided to put these options through additional refinement procedures so that you get the best tool in the end. The improvements will be available for all Extension owners for free in future updates.

All Extensions that work with a single image (such as Noiseless AI) will be accessible when you use Luminar Neo as a plugin.

Also, you can use the HDR Merge, Focus Stacking, and Upscale AI Extensions from the Lightroom plugin. Achieve even more impressive results with any editing workflow.

Moreover, please keep in mind that if you invoke Luminar Neo from Photoshop or select the “Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments” option in Lightroom Classic, you’ll get a TIFF file in the Luminar plugin. 

Therefore, if you need to work with the RAW file in Luminar, you need to upload it in standalone mode. 

Alternatively, using Lightroom Classic, you can choose ‘Export Original’ after right-clicking the photo > Export > Luminar Neo > Open Source Files. 

We understand that you’d love to use your previously created Templates in Luminar Neo. Therefore, you can download the Luminar Neo Migration tool from the My Software tab of your account.

Moreover, starting from the official release of Luminar Neo, we have been gradually converting your favorite Luminar AI Templates from our marketplace so you can install them in Luminar Neo. You can download the compatible files from the My Add-ons section of your Skylum account. Your collection of skies, textures, and objects are compatible with Luminar Neo as well.

Luminar Share is an app that allows Luminar Neo users to transfer photos from desktop to mobile (and in the opposite direction) wirelessly.

It also makes it easy for users to share edited photos to their social media accounts.

Features of Luminar Share include:

• Wireless transfer of photos between the desktop Luminar Neo app and the Luminar Share mobile app
• Mirroring of photos from Luminar Neo on a mobile device
• Easy sharing of photos to social media

The Luminar Share app is available on both Android and iOS and is free for all Luminar Neo users.

HDR Merge is a custom-built technology in Luminar Neo for merging up to 10 exposure-bracketed images into a single HDR photo.

It is available as an extension and will appear as a separate module inside Luminar Neo.

HDR Merge delivers a spectacular level of color enhancement, making the final result look as close as possible to what the human eye can see. 

If merging multiple images, you’ll also benefit from auto-alignment and ghost reduction features. They come in handy when one or more shots are misaligned or when there are moving objects in the frame. 

You can also start with just one photo, and the built-in AI will increase its dynamic range by analyzing and adjusting multiple parameters, such as tone, contrast, and details.

You’ll receive HDR Merge for free if you meet one of the following criteria: 

• you’re a Skylum customer with a Luminar Neo subscription;

• you’re an owner of both Luminar Neo and Aurora HDR (2019 and up).

Aurora HDR (2019 and up) users who don’t own Luminar Neo have an opportunity to subscribe to Luminar Neo with a loyalty discount and receive HDR Merge and other Extensions that will come out during their subscription period for free. 

You can download the extension from your Skylum account.

Important note: HDR Merge works ONLY as a part of Luminar Neo.

Noiseless AI is an AI-based pro-level Extension for Luminar Neo that reduces noise in your images. It works with raw and non-raw image formats, but the best results can be achieved with raw photos.

Thanks to Noiseless AI, you no longer have to compromise on ISO when capturing photos. Based on deep photo analysis, Noiseless AI determines an image’s noise level and suggests one of three noise reduction presets – low, middle, or high. Now there’s no need for meticulous close-ups to evenly mask a noisy area, as one click gets rid of noise throughout the photo. 

Additionally, you can change noise reduction levels manually with three sliders at your disposal: Luminosity, Color, and Details.

The algorithms built into Noiseless AI open the door to higher-quality results while leaving you in full control.

In 2022, Luminar Neo is reaching its full potential and becoming a platform. Therefore, we’re not releasing a new version but will keep bringing improvements to the existing product.

For all current owners of a Luminar Neo lifetime license, we offer the biggest discount on the first year of a subscription plan. 

During your subscription period, you will get immediate access to all updates or new Luminar app versions. With the Pro plan, you will also gain access to all currently available Extensions as well as Extensions released during your subscription period. 

You can redeem your subscription discount here.

When you switch to the subscription plan,  you can continue using your current installation and access the Extensions menu inside the app.

Just make sure to keep your software up-to-date by clicking Luminar Neo > Help > Check for updates (on Windows) or Luminar Neo > Check for updates (on Mac).

The transition process is seamless and helps you retain all the previously made editing progress.

Luminar Neo is a universal solution that can function both as a standalone editor and a plug-in. 

Luminar Neo can be used as a plug-in or extension for:

• Lightroom Classic (starting from version 6);
• Photoshop (from version CS5);
• Photos for macOS.

HDR Merge is an extension built into Luminar Neo, so it uses Luminar Neo’s catalog and export window.  Therefore, it cannot batch-process photos on its own. 

However, you can easily sync adjustments applied to the already created HDR photos:

1. Apply the necessary edits to one of the images.
2. Right-click it and select Adjustments>Copy Adjustments.
3. While holding CTRL (on Windows)/CMD (on macOS) key on your keyboard, multi-select the images which you would like to edit in the same way.
4. Right-click one of the selected images and choose Adjustments > Sync/Paste Adjustments.
5. Finish by using the Export command to batch export multiple photos

With the initial release of Luminar Neo, the use of Photoshop-style plugins is not expected to be included. However, we clearly understand the popularity of this request and are actively exploring its implementation.

Our brand-new Luminar Neo engine and layers workflow mean that support is possible. This will pave the way for smoother integrations with other specialized plugins.

We’re truly excited about the dramatic opportunities to improve performance and expand capabilities that the new Luminar Neo engine offers. We look forward to revealing more details in 2022.