Rix Mascarenhas
As everyone who follows the channel knows I really like LIGHTROOM, but recently I have been looking for the best alternative to Lightroom since I didn’t like Adobe’s Creative Cloud system that forces you to rent the program instead of buying it.
And in this post I’ll show you who I think should be the best alternative to Lightroom and Photoshop at the same time, Luminar 2018 from Skylum.
Skylum Luminar 2018 – One of the BEST alternatives to LIGHTROOM AND PHOTOSHOP
So in the coming weeks expect more video talking about Luminar 2018 which for me has been the best alternative to Lightroom not only in terms of price but also functionality and photo editing.
In this video today I’ll show just an overview of some common features between Lightroom and Luminar 2018 and how you can access them.
Skylum Luminar 2018 is very similar to Lightroom in several aspects, there are some key points that need to be improved or added, but for now everything is OK!
Right at the opening screen you will be asked to choose the photo you are going to edit, cool.
But then you notice that Luminar doesn’t have a photo library yet, so you’ll have to open it photo by photo to make your edits, for me this is against, but let’s give it a try.
Luminar, like any other self-respecting editing program, has a session dedicated to presets, and at Luminar this is done in a modern and elegant way.
The most powerful tool in Skylum Luminar 2018 is in the filters / workspace tab.
In it you can choose any combination of filters that the program has, yes any combination.
And in addition to having already predefined combinations, which are workspaces, you can still save the most common combinations in your edits and create your own workspace In this regard Lightroom takes a big shake, I like it!
Once you choose the work scene to use the Luminar already loads all the filters configured in the scene, without any adjustments of course.
The first one is Raw Develop, this filter is the same as the Basic Lightroom adjustment panel. I found the Luminar controls more extreme, so you have to be more careful when adjusting your photos.
I really missed a lens profile correction control, just like we have in Lightroom, and this is a point against me for now At least the lens distortion correction controls are present, the more we have to make adjustments manually
The organization of the filters is done according to how you add them to the workspace, it would be great if we could organize them afterwards, anyway nothing to complain about here
You just need to use a little logic when adding filters ….
All the controls in the Raw develop filter are very powerful, and in practice if you are already used to Lightroom you will not have the slightest problem here
DOWNLOAD FREE PRESETS HERE
The white balance control works very well, as do the other controls.
In some settings, using the ⎇ (ALT) key while making the adjustments helps you to see better what you are convincing, as in the case of Black / White.
At the top we have two ways to see the before and after images, both very useful. One of them can be activated by the \ key. Just like in Lightroom, the adjustments have a history session, which is what was done in the photo so far, so if you don’t like a certain adjustment you can go back to any point of the edition.
The Saturation and vibration controls are a separate filter, so you can place as many as you want on your desktop. Definitely better than Lightroom where we only have a saturation and vibration control for the whole photo.
As in Lightroom we have the adjustment of curves, and in Skylum Luminar 2018 we also have it in a separate filter.
I found the adjustments in LUMINAR all very sensitive, and sometimes this can be a problem as it is easy to destroy the adjustments by excess.
The vignette adjustment is also present, and I guess, a separate filter. I found the LUMINAR vignette much more subtle than the Lightroom vignette, that’s a good thing. But the best thing about the Luminar vignette settings is being able to reposition the center of the vignette!
If you want to create your own workspace, with the filters that make the most sense for your photos, it’s pretty easy. Just click on add filter, and the filter catalog will present itself to you. And then search for the filter you want to use and click on its name.
Tip, the only filter that has a defined order is Raw develop, if you use it, it will always be the first filter in your workspace.
And with just two simple filters it is possible to do a great deal of damage! For you to see how powerful the adjustments on Luminar are.
Even with just two filters, to keep the chat simple, it is still possible to add what you have available in the catalog.
The same goes for some presets, which will already load the filters and their settings, in the workspace
One thing that definitely kills you is the fact that in LUMINAR you can put any amount of adjustment of a preset in the photo without needing a third plugins to do this.
Just click on the preset, set the amount and that’s it.
In the coming weeks I will talk more about Luminar . Don’t forget to leave your like, comment and subscribe to the channel if you weren’t already subscribed.
If you are also looking for the best alternative to LIghtroom and also Photoshop due to the new Creative Cloud system consider sharing this link as we must have a lot of people out there with the same problem.
