But we can’t wholeheartedly recommend Neo as a Lightroom alternative for intermediate and advanced editors despite the program’s power, its performance remains disappointingly slow, and it’s missing too many features to be a serious all-in-one RAW editor. These features will come as an eventual free update, but Skylum has not unveiled a timeline – so if you’re hoping to put Luminar Neo through its paces right away, then you’re out of luck.Īt the end of the day, Luminar Neo is a decent editing program, and it’ll certainly suit the needs of some beginners. If you buy Neo, you’ll get access to many features – but you’ll need to wait for certain tools, such as Mask AI and Portrait Background Removal AI. Additionally, its local editing features pale in comparison to Lightroom’s new masking panel, and its DAM functionality is frustratingly limited (to say the least).Īnd Luminar Neo, while currently available for purchase, isn’t complete. As you might expect from such a powerful AI photo editor, the program suffers from significant performance issues.
That said, Luminar Neo does come with significant drawbacks. Luminar Neo is pretty cheap compared to the competition. You can grab a single-computer version for a one-time payment of $79, which includes plenty of presets and texture overlays, plus access to updates released over the next few years. Luminar Neo is also relatively inexpensive compared to its competitors. You also get a digital asset management module, which you can use to select “keeper” photos and categorize files by topic, date, and more. You get exposure adjustments, color adjustments, and a black and white converter, along with more advanced tools such as a tone curve and masking. One-click presets, which Luminar’s AI-powered interface suggests based on the content of each imageīut while Luminar Neo targets inexperienced users via automatic edits, it also packs a comprehensive set of editing options, similar to programs like Adobe Lightroom Classic and ON1 Photo RAW.Portrait Bokeh AI, which lets you create beautiful background blur behind your portrait subjects.Crop AI, which suggests crops to improve your photo compositions.Sky AI, which lets you instantly replace an original sky with various dramatic options.Luminar Neo is aimed at beginner and intermediate photo editors hence, the program features plenty of one-click options, including: Like its predecessors, Neo combines artificial intelligence and a minimalist layout to create powerful, easy-to-use editing software. Luminar Neo is Skylum’s latest addition to the Luminar lineup.