fbpx

Photo Taco – Luminar vs Lightroom

Jeff Harmon goes over 10 observations he has made comparing the new Luminar software from MacPhun with the old market leader in Adobe Lightrooom.

1. Non-live histogram
2. Layers Concept
3. Eraser tool (spot removal)
4. Deniose tool (noise reduction)
5. Filters
6. Presets
7. Before/After views
8. Saving
9. Overall speed
10. Pricing* – Correction to what was in the episode, it is only $69 making it an even more incredible value!

 

Jeff LOVES where MacPhun is going with Luminar and thinks they already have a very feature rich post-processing application here. However, the recommendation for photographers starting here in February 2017 is Lightroom. Start with the stand-alone version of Lightroom for $150 and master it. When you get to the point where you need to do something with a photo that can't be done in Lightroom then go to the Adobe Creative Cloud for Photographers subscription for $10/mo.

Keep an eye on MacPhun and their Luminar product though because they are thinking about things differently, have a newer code base to work from, and they are going places fast enough Jeff could easily see Luminar becoming his recommendation for photographers just getting started.

 

Resources mentioned in the podcast:

Photo Taco – Histogram Explained: https://improvephotography.com/38081/photo-taco-historgrams-explained/
Photo Taco – Photoshop Round Tripping Collections: https://improvephotography.com/40981/photo-taco-ps-round-tripping-collections/
Photo Taco – TIFF or PSD for External Editing: https://improvephotography.com/41780/photo-taco-tiff-psd-external-editing/

 

 

Other good Photo Taco resources:
Vote for Jeff’s “Cull” module idea to be added to Lightroom: https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/less_redundancy_actions_during_import_into_lr_instant_rating_during_import

Photo Taco Archive: https://improvephotography.com/category/taco/
iTunes review link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/photo-taco-quick-photography/id980781096?mt=2#
Facebook Photo Taco Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/phototaco/
Photo Taco Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phototacopodcast/
Photo Taco email: [email protected]

Jeff’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/harmon_jeff
Jeff’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jsharmonphotos/
Jeff’s Portfolio: https://jsharmonphotos.com
Jeff’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harmonjeff/

6 thoughts on “Photo Taco – Luminar vs Lightroom”

  1. CORRECTION!
    ================
    I have to make a correction on the pricing I outlined as observation 10 in the podcast episode. The regular price of MacPhun Luminar is only $69! The price of $140 included a lot of add-ons that MacPhun was temporarily giving away with the product.

    I have also talked a little with MacPhun and they have assured me that a Windows version is the next thing they are working to do with the software. So all of you photographers who use Windows like I do for photo editing will soon be able to give this good software a try to see what you think about their new approach to post-processing.

  2. Everyone seems to forget that Lightroom is an organizer first and editor second. Adobe should be getting rid of some stuff in Lightroom (it DOES NOT have to be Photoshop) to keep it speed up. Started with version 1 and editing was fun. Now with I7 32gb iMac running from thunderbolt raid I have to wait for images to load. Adobe has made really really tough for the competition with their pricing of $10.00 /month for Lightroom & Photoshop.

  3. Michael Anderson

    Until Macphun addresses the following, Lr will continue to be the leader:

    Import/ingest feature. In the meantime use Photo Mechanic. No need for a database driven catalog. Stick with referenced folders and sub folders.
    User defined crop ratios plus crop ratios for all standard paper and mat sizes (i.e., 11×14)
    Pano switcher that out puts linear DNG, not TIF or PSD

  4. I agree with the need for user defined crop ratios plus crop ratios for all standard paper and mat sizes and the ability to set the physical print size in inches. I have to use photoshop to do my printing because of that, are you listening Luminar?

  5. Number 6, presets – once you apply a preset you can certainly alter ANY of the sliders of any of the filters that make up the preset. Surprising that you did not see this, since the sliders are right there on the right on the screen.

    Also, even after you apply a preset, you can apply additional filters to a photo.

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top