Luminar Neo vs Luminar AI which one is right for you?
Luminar Neo vs Luminar AI.
Luminar Neo vs Luminar AI was up until recently a bit of a tricky one as they were kind of similiar in ways with a lot of features in Luminar Neo being borrowed from Luminar AI. Yes there were some nice differences between them with editing speeds being one of the main really helpful differences.
With the launch of the extension packs Luminar Neo has truly jumped well ahead of Luminar AI and Luminar Neo has to be one of the most complete editing platforms out there now.
Luminar Neo vs Luminar AI what are the differences?
I have listed below the main differences betwee Luminar Neo vs Luminar AI…
- Luminar Neo has a much faster AI engine. Saving you loads of editing time.
- Powerline removal AI, Relight AI, Dust spot removal and a few more additional features
- Expansion packs for Luminar Neo have completely changed not only the photography suite but the photography editing market. With Noiseless AI, HDR Merge, Upscale AI, SuperSharp AI, Background Removal AI, Focus Stacking AI and Magic Light AI being available as options in the software that’s a huge bonus.
So the addition of the expansion packs has truly killed the debate between Luminar Neo vs Luminar AI and which one is better.
What exactly is the difference between Luminar Neo vs Luminar AI?
Well to answer that we need to look at both products separately first. So stick with me as I explain which one is right for you and why….
Before we get to the software I am delighted to say that the nice people over at Skylum software have given me a discount code Kieran10 which can be used on Both Luminar Neo and Luminar AI right now to save you $10, €10 or £10.- on their software. See my Luminar special offer section just above to find out more.
Luminar AI explained quickly.
Luminar AI is as we all know is a Photograph Editing suite which in Skylum’s own words was designed to simplify editing a photograph in as few steps as possibly hence saving us time and making editing a lot easier for most people. The AI features of Luminar AI made it very easy to use and with features like Sky replacement and Portrait Bokeh AI it’s incredibly simple to do complex tasks.
Luminar Neo explained quickly.
Luminar Neo is a more complex image editor that has all the features of Luminar AI and more.
You will be able to add and edit layers as well as several other processing options to be added soon. So Luminar Neo is every bit as good as Luminar AI and better with far more growth space for you and your editing possibilities. I get more into the exact differences in further down the page but if you would like to read my full Luminar Neo review then please click here or read on for a more in depth explanation of both bits of software.
Luminar Neo in depth
Luminar Neo is now a complete editing platform and with the addition of HDR Merge and the Noiseless (coming soon) AI now it has complete taken over as the advanced editing platform from Skylum and my advice now is if you are thinking about which one might be better for you then just go for Luminar Neo you honestly won’t regret it.
Layers and Masking are both in Luminar Neo as well as Relight AI, Automatic Dust Spot Removal (review here), Powerline Removal and background removal making Neo a far more complex bit of software than Luminar AI. Again the addition of the extra expansion packs are all serious plus points for Neo here.
Not only that, but it also has a new AI engine making it faster and smoother to use, I tested this in my video speed test review between the two at the end of the page and yes it is faster, so that’s going to really help speedup your workflow.
Luminar AI in depth
Luminar AI as I mentioned above is a full photography editing suite that not only covers all the basics but it does a lot more, including fast sky replacements with Sky AI, Enhance AI automatically edits your image with one click and you can also use templates to create the look you want in seconds.
You can adjust the effect with of each template with the slider control, as sometimes you only want a slight edit to the image.
All this means you can power through images quickly and then you have the other features like… Portrait Bokeh AI, Face AI, Body AI and the list goes on.
Luminar Neo as a plugin
If you use Luminar as a plugin like I do then it’s only good news for you. The app works well with Lightroom and Photoshop just as Luminar AI did so no change there.
So Neo is far more complex, faster, it has a load of new features as well as Layers and masking making it already a superior product but the addition of the expansion packs could now really be a big game changer. The next question is…
What’s happening to Luminar AI now?
Well, Skylum have said Luminar AI is “Feature complete” and it is no longer available for purchase so in other words the software is finished. It will still obviously continue to work though but new camera support and features have now stopped.
So for me it’s a massive thumbs up for Luminar Neo so go do yourself a favour and get your copy today…
See you out there,
Kieran.