Ha! Sorry, I think that by using a “/” in the title, the forum software created a new category vs. a thread… Egads, Joseph - help! ;)
In any case, the thrust for the post was to ask for any recommended new features for upcoming versions of Luminar. We’ve released two free updates in the last 6-7 weeks since launch and plan to continue doing so. However, we also want to make sure we’re working on features/tools/functions that y’all would like to see. Please give me any suggestions and I’ll make sure they get added to our internal developers “wishlist” for consideration.
Thanks! Kevin
PS: for the record, we have already gotten a lot of requests for an image browser/digital asset manager feature, so no need to repeat! ;)
Luminar has most of the photo editing features I want. The addition of a skin tone eye dropper for colour correction, along with some already promised features (such as lens correction and chromatic aberration) would satisfy my needs.
Although you said there is no need to mention a browser or DAM capability, this is the most important need for Luminar in my opinion. The more it can emulate Aperture’s capabilities in this regard the better. I had previously posted a list of DAM features I would like to see in Luminar.
Thanks for the feedback, Andrew. I was skyping w/ our marketing team lead just this morning about skin re-touching. Lens correction, chromatic aberration and DAM also noted.
Also edge detection for masks: speed up processing to near realtime adjustments: comparison modes between several images: ability to read/add metadata. I know the last two will probably be part of the DAM/Browser. Better output to printer (could even be a Macphun plugin). This said, I would rather slow feature additions after DAM than additions that cause crashes and other bugs. Can’t wait for the updates.
One thing I’ve always really appreciated in Aperture is the Auto Enhance tool. Particularly when I’m editing a large number of photos, I like to at least give Auto Enhance a shot. It misses a fair amount of the time, but it at least gives me a good place to start for many images and can be a significant time saver over the course of a lot of photos. I’ve always been impressed that Auto Enhance seems to be doing a more complex assessment of a photo than just bringing the black/white points in and running auto white balance - it feels like it’s doing a bit of analysis of the background/foreground elements and looking for skin tones, though maybe I’m giving it a bit too much credit.
Anyway, as Luminar moves towards being a full DAM (can’t wait!) I’d love to see some kind of “one touch” enhance button developed. It may seem strange to be asking for this function in a product that covers a skilled segment of the market, but honestly it’s a useful thing to have around even for folks who know their way around more advanced controls.
I love this idea. What I’ve previously pitched to the developers is a one-click enhancer for each of the individual filters - analyzing the image and how that filter can deliver optimal results. I think what you’re suggesting is more of an all-in-one feature, almost like a new tool. Question: what if we did a one touch enhance button based on the filters in a given Workspace? Thanks, Kevin
+1 for jollyllama’s suggestion. I really like your proposal of an auto enhance based on the filters in the current Workspace. It wouldn’t hurt to have an auto enhance for individual Luminar filters as well.
Great, glad you like the idea! Honestly I don’t know the answer to your question for sure, but I think the answer is yes, that’s probably how it would make the most sense for it to work, but it would actually be great if it could automatically add filters, possibly from a narrow list, that it thinks are needed. When Aperture does it’s auto enhance, it’s adjusting the Enhance, Curves, Highlights and Shadows, and sometimes White Balance blocks. Possibly others, but just in my testing that’s what I see come up. Interestingly, it will add in blocks that you don’t have in your default set if it decides that it needs them.
Just wanted to let you know that the new Accent filter in Neptune is absolutely right on, just what I was looking for as an equivalent to Aperture’s Auto Enhance, and I love that you can dial in the intensity with the simple single slider adjustment. I’ve tried it side-by-side with Aperture’s Auto Enhance on a number of images, and it seems to be making really similar, and often better, decisions. Putting the slider somewhere around 50% seems to be the closest to the Aperture Auto Enhance output, and I love that that gives room to turn it up or down. Perfect. Really happy with this!
Macphun really needs to work out something better for communication. I hate facebook and get on there only very rarely if/when family tell me that I need to check out something. I have checked out Luminars facebook page and it has some very good pictures that have been posted but there is no way to EASILY find any information. Probably because of my lack of knowledge on how to use Facebook.
I am glad that you initiate and respond to posts here but you would be much better served to have a forum space of your own. The Blog is great but is not something that will allow a community to grow and build on the strengths of Macphun.
+1 on the DAM or Browser, I don’t necessarily need a cataloging feature because I have started to use the finder and create a folder structure that I can follow to find my pictures. A way to copy files from my SD card to the directory I want would be nice. Even better would be the ability to create new folders and copy files to them from inside Luminar.
Hi Carl - thanks for the input. We’ve considered adding a Forum and I’ll bring that up again. I’m curious as to the kind of information you’re seeking and can’t find.
If it’s support-related, our education section with a user manual, videos and FAQ is pretty strong. Tech or sales support is had by emailing us at support@macphun.com. New releases of software are pushed automatically to owners. As you say, the blog is also helpful and Facebook has its place too.
Not trying to be dense here, but we don’t have an “army” of people on staff. ;) I’ll have to see how our support team is loaded, but again, not sure we want to move support inquiries/answers out of our CRM/ticketing/tracking system. The good news on a Forum - and I’ve done several of them in my career - is that a lot of other users chime in w/ great feedback too.
Re: Browser… I’m liking that approach as a stage one. ;)
Cheers and thank YOU for taking the time to share your thoughts! Kevin
Kevin your support is awesome, and your not “dense.” I like how your current system is in place and wouldn’t want you to change that.
Your right The videos, and manual are great, I wish others would take the time to put togeather a manual as you have. Your education is system is very good. I like the videos and have watched a lot of them.
A forum to me is a place where individuals can share information with the staff however big or small they may be. It is a community where you can ask questions just like this one here and get responses from individuals who are commited to see Luminar succeed. You can provide information like a roadmap of items your working on. I understand giving a time frame is ridiculous but it lets us know what your doing. if you have ideas and you would like to know how users feel, you post in the forums and ask for feedback.
Information I’d like to see
What are you working towards now? You have had a great release and Kudos to your team for that. Also the 2 updates went well also.
Current bugs and possible work arounds. Easy to locate and something that would save your staff time, if its a know bug and I look at your site and see it listed then I don’t have to send you another ticket for a bug you all ready know about. Less redundant work.
People with more experience can help out those new to Luminar and editing in general. This saves your staff some time dealing with areas that are easily fixed by a well estabilished community.
A feeling of being something more than just a customer. A way of exchanging information with other customers that love your software. As the community grows, the wealth of knowledge shared can be staggering. The help for new customers is easier because the community can point them towards links and information that they are looking for. Sometimes faster and better than a staff member.
For you it would be a place to source ideas that would be easy to track. Ask for opinions and get honest feedback. Unfortunately you have to deal with trolls. :(
Hi Carl - all very reasonable reasons and recommendations. I’m sure you can imagine, the trick for us in launching a forum is time and resources; we’ve talked about it many times. Long term, once the fires are stoked, you’re right in noting that it can reduce labor and save time. I have forwarded excerpts of our conversations here to several people and we’ll discuss it amongst senior mgmt. You’ve done a great job making the point. Thanks again!
With respect to your comment that you like the idea of a Browser as a stage one, I am not in the camp that thinks a browser is sufficient. I need cataloguing capability. While organizing images in the Finder works for some, I make heavy use of Versions (Aperture’s terminology; Variants in Capture One Pro or Virtual Copies in Lightroom). My workflow requires virtual organization tools (albums, smart albums, folders, stacks, stack picks, album picks) to keep track of versions that were generated for various purposes.
I am planning to migrate from Aperture by the end of this year and will be evaluating available options. So far the only potential candidates are Capture One Pro and Lightroom. I am hoping that Luminar will be added to the list by then, as I do not like the inability to stack similar images, and to have album picks in Capture One, and the modal interface of Lightroom. My must haves from the outset (I can wait for additional features and improvements) would be:
Albums, Smart Albums; and Folders;
Stacks, Stack Picks, and Album Picks;
Star Ratings;
Keywords (preferably hierarchical);
Colour labels;
Search capabilities; and
Metadata views
I am looking forward to seeing what Macphun will develop.
I just wanted to strongly agree with this. When I move on from Aperture (also hopefully this year) it’s going to be a major undertaking, and I’m certainly not going to move to a partially-developed browser that has promise to become more. I’d really like a MacPhun solution to be on my list of options, but I can only afford to evaluate fully-realized products at this point, because once I do the move, I don’t plan on doing it again for a very long time.
I would love an aperture like dam as well, because it is so much better than LR and C1. Even after not being developed in the last few years. I have been testing out multiple different aproaches to replacing Aperture and I didn’t want to import every picture for every program. So I decided to try doing referenced photos instead so I load them once to my HD and then reference the folders to which ever program I am trying at the time. I never loose the originals and they are always in the same place no matter what. I don’t want to be stuck in the position I am when Aperture no longer works.
I have been trying out ON1 Photo Raw, been disappointed in the reality vs the hype. What was promised and what has been delivered is very different, even with the 2 updates since release. I was hoping it would replace Aperture for me, but it is not quite ready to do that.
I hope that the developers for Luminar learn from others and do a better job of implementing the DAM features we want and need. I am willing to wait for a good implementation and so far I like how macphun has done things with luminar. It is very stable, and does what they said it will do. I will wait for their release because I dislike LR and refuse to use it. Capture 1 is Great at some things but not so good at others and their UI is atrocious.
Thanks for all the heartfelt comments and suggestions/requirements on the DAM. Definitely have passed this thread on to the lead developers, so it’s not going unheard or un-noticed. Best, Kevin
So I used Luminar and seen that there was an update, I updated it to 1.1.3 Good job guys. So I went to the blog, nothing there about the update. Checked facebook page and lots of great pictures but no mention of an update. Went back to Macphun’s home page looked at the bottom to see if there is a place to see release notes, nope.
Wish I could see what you did for the update. what was fixed, what was new, etc…
Hi Carl - thanks for the note. Yeah, we don’t generally do a blog post w/ every new update. The release notes appear directly in the app. However, following your suggestion, I just opened up a task w/ the Support team to create a master list of changes by version. It’s a good idea and something we should have already had. We’ll get that up as soon as we can. In the meantime, here’s a link to a screenshot of the release notes for the latest update. Cheers, Kevin
Kevin, how are you all coming along with a DAM ? I thought I read sometime back that Macphun was hoping to release one mid year? It that still in the works?
Hi John - thanks for asking. It *is* still in the works, though mid-year is a bit ambitious. ;) In fact, our CTO and a couple of us are actually about to visit several experts around the U.S. to talk about DAM and other opportunities. Need to really get this right. Between Joseph and I, we’ll keep you posted! Take care, Kevin
Looking forward to your DAM. However, I would rather have a basic browser function earlier than a full, grown up DAM later. Reading other forums, I doubt you could design a management system that pleased the majority of users straight out of the box …. unless you actually stole Aperture source code. However, I am looking for an update soon that has lens profiles corrections, manual chromatic aberration and perspective correction.
A basic browser as an interim measure will not work for me. I am planning to transition from Aperture by the end of the year. Whatever I move to, I hope to stay with for a long time. I am unwilling to adopt software that does not fulfill my essential requirements at the outset, in the hope that it will evolve into an acceptable package in the future.
Luminar is my go to for both my underwater and terrestrial photography. I find it quick and easy to make the adjustments I need.
The main things for me are masks an edge detecting mask would be a big time saver. Chromatic aberration controls would be handy too. HSL would for me benefit from a colour picker to target a specific colour Aperture had something like this Helps with underwater photography for targeted colour of whales dolphins et al.
The only other comment is sometimes it feels sluggish when making adjustments and the before and after comparisons both globally and at filter level.
Hello – Count me among the Aperture users eagerly awaiting your DAM. Let me also remind your team that some of us still print photos, and would greatly appreciate printing capabilities to rival those in Aperture and LR. (User presets for favorite papers and sizes, margin and spacing controls, color profiles, borders, metadata, watermarks, etc.) Why do so many new photo new editing apps – including Luminar – neglect this? Someone else on this blog suggested a separate plug-in or app for the creative kit – which is an excellent idea.
Thank you so much Nick for the feedback. I happen to be traveling w/ our CTO this week and will bring all of this up. And… I’m sure so will Joseph when we see him in 2 days! ;) Thanks, Kevin
Kevin - Thanks for this. I’m aware of the CK plug-ins for Neptune. I meant to suggest that you create yet another plug-in devoted exclusively to output. Correct me if I’m wrong, but as it stands in Luminar there is no way to print, say, a 4x4 image on 5x7 paper with a large margin on the bottom and a caption printed below. Or to save a preset that will do that. The only dialog box that comes up in Luminar is the standard printer dialog – in my case the Epson SC-P800. Aperture was very good at this, offering an array of options before reaching the printer dialog, and LR is even better. Do I really need to subscribe to LR just to be able to print creatively? Please say it ain’t so! Nick
Hi, really excited about the new DAM feature, will that already be integrated into the soon starting Windows beta program or only after the first Windows version ships?
Hi Ingo - It’s a product that is on an independent development schedule. For sure it will not be in the Windows beta. TBD on the other question. ;) Thanks for your interest - we’re super-excited about everything too! Kevin
Good day sir. Back in November, in the ‘Have you heard about Luminar forum’, a member posted the statement below.
‘When an image is edited and saved in Luminar, the file size is the same or larger than the original Raw or JPEG. I expect (hope) that when library and DAM capabilities are added to Luminar, the files saved in the Luminar library (whether it is a managed or referenced library) will contain only information on the edits applied to the original image. If this is not the case, every version of an image would have a file size at least as large as the original image. That would be unworkable for me.’
At the time, you made a note of this.
I have been away from taking the amount of photos I took a several years ago, but recently have tried to put more time in. I was disappointed with Apple when they cancelled Aperture and can’t embrace Photos. Now that I’m trying to put more effort into Digital Photography, I’m looking for a replacement for Aperture. I tested your trial of Luminar (and a few others) and decided to purchase after how well it works for me, reading much of the positive feedback and the possibility of a DAM in the works. What I didn’t realize was the save feature creates a new and much larger file. I came across the statement above in my searches, but couldn’t find anything else on the subject.
Are Information Data Edits a part of Luminars future? If this was already answered, can you point me in the right direction?
Hi Phil - thanks for the question. Admittedly I haven’t done a ton of testing, but in the current version of Luminar, the more layers and filters you use before saving the native format, the larger the file will be. I was corrected that saving “History” to the file doesn’t add much, it’s the other bits.
I plan to pass your question on to the engineers in charge of the next version. The DAM is definitely in the works, tho I can’t say anymore at this point (thanks Joseph, btw!).
Hi Phil - I heard back from the lead engineer today w/ respect to your question. He basically said that we “want the same thing as Phil” and they are doing a fair amount of R&D on the topic. He ended the email by saying, “So it is long road, but we are on it :)”.
We’re targeting the first quarter of next year and will be able to share more details later… It’s an important step for us, but we have to get the cross-platform versions of our software kicked out the door first. ;) Kevin
I just did the survey Macphun sent me and I makes me think that you might actually be thinking about that DAM product your missing. Can you give us any good news?
Ha! Sorry, I think that by using a “/” in the title, the forum software created a new category vs. a thread… Egads, Joseph - help! ;)
In any case, the thrust for the post was to ask for any recommended new features for upcoming versions of Luminar. We’ve released two free updates in the last 6-7 weeks since launch and plan to continue doing so. However, we also want to make sure we’re working on features/tools/functions that y’all would like to see. Please give me any suggestions and I’ll make sure they get added to our internal developers “wishlist” for consideration.
Thanks! Kevin
PS: for the record, we have already gotten a lot of requests for an image browser/digital asset manager feature, so no need to repeat! ;)
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Hi Kevin,
Luminar has most of the photo editing features I want. The addition of a skin tone eye dropper for colour correction, along with some already promised features (such as lens correction and chromatic aberration) would satisfy my needs.
Although you said there is no need to mention a browser or DAM capability, this is the most important need for Luminar in my opinion. The more it can emulate Aperture’s capabilities in this regard the better. I had previously posted a list of DAM features I would like to see in Luminar.
Hope this helps.
Andrew
Thanks for the feedback, Andrew. I was skyping w/ our marketing team lead just this morning about skin re-touching. Lens correction, chromatic aberration and DAM also noted.
Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Hi Kevin,
Two features I overlooked mentioning earlier: edge detection for masks; and keyboard adjustment of slider values.
Thanks to everyone at Macphun for a great product that I expect will get even better.
Andrew
Also edge detection for masks: speed up processing to near realtime adjustments: comparison modes between several images: ability to read/add metadata. I know the last two will probably be part of the DAM/Browser. Better output to printer (could even be a Macphun plugin). This said, I would rather slow feature additions after DAM than additions that cause crashes and other bugs. Can’t wait for the updates.
JWS
just remembered, need picker for HSL filter ….
JWS
Got it on the list! Thanks for the reminder… that’s a good one. Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
One thing I’ve always really appreciated in Aperture is the Auto Enhance tool. Particularly when I’m editing a large number of photos, I like to at least give Auto Enhance a shot. It misses a fair amount of the time, but it at least gives me a good place to start for many images and can be a significant time saver over the course of a lot of photos. I’ve always been impressed that Auto Enhance seems to be doing a more complex assessment of a photo than just bringing the black/white points in and running auto white balance - it feels like it’s doing a bit of analysis of the background/foreground elements and looking for skin tones, though maybe I’m giving it a bit too much credit.
Anyway, as Luminar moves towards being a full DAM (can’t wait!) I’d love to see some kind of “one touch” enhance button developed. It may seem strange to be asking for this function in a product that covers a skilled segment of the market, but honestly it’s a useful thing to have around even for folks who know their way around more advanced controls.
I love this idea. What I’ve previously pitched to the developers is a one-click enhancer for each of the individual filters - analyzing the image and how that filter can deliver optimal results. I think what you’re suggesting is more of an all-in-one feature, almost like a new tool. Question: what if we did a one touch enhance button based on the filters in a given Workspace? Thanks, Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
+1 for jollyllama’s suggestion. I really like your proposal of an auto enhance based on the filters in the current Workspace. It wouldn’t hurt to have an auto enhance for individual Luminar filters as well.
Andrew
Great, glad you like the idea! Honestly I don’t know the answer to your question for sure, but I think the answer is yes, that’s probably how it would make the most sense for it to work, but it would actually be great if it could automatically add filters, possibly from a narrow list, that it thinks are needed. When Aperture does it’s auto enhance, it’s adjusting the Enhance, Curves, Highlights and Shadows, and sometimes White Balance blocks. Possibly others, but just in my testing that’s what I see come up. Interestingly, it will add in blocks that you don’t have in your default set if it decides that it needs them.
Just wanted to let you know that the new Accent filter in Neptune is absolutely right on, just what I was looking for as an equivalent to Aperture’s Auto Enhance, and I love that you can dial in the intensity with the simple single slider adjustment. I’ve tried it side-by-side with Aperture’s Auto Enhance on a number of images, and it seems to be making really similar, and often better, decisions. Putting the slider somewhere around 50% seems to be the closest to the Aperture Auto Enhance output, and I love that that gives room to turn it up or down. Perfect. Really happy with this!
Hey, thanks for the feedback! We’re really having a lot of fun with Accent as well.
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Good to know about the Aperture “blocks” method. Thanks for sharing that. Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Kevin,
Macphun really needs to work out something better for communication. I hate facebook and get on there only very rarely if/when family tell me that I need to check out something. I have checked out Luminars facebook page and it has some very good pictures that have been posted but there is no way to EASILY find any information. Probably because of my lack of knowledge on how to use Facebook.
I am glad that you initiate and respond to posts here but you would be much better served to have a forum space of your own. The Blog is great but is not something that will allow a community to grow and build on the strengths of Macphun.
+1 on the DAM or Browser, I don’t necessarily need a cataloging feature because I have started to use the finder and create a folder structure that I can follow to find my pictures. A way to copy files from my SD card to the directory I want would be nice. Even better would be the ability to create new folders and copy files to them from inside Luminar.
Thanks for your tiime
Carl
Hi Carl - thanks for the input. We’ve considered adding a Forum and I’ll bring that up again. I’m curious as to the kind of information you’re seeking and can’t find.
If it’s support-related, our education section with a user manual, videos and FAQ is pretty strong. Tech or sales support is had by emailing us at support@macphun.com. New releases of software are pushed automatically to owners. As you say, the blog is also helpful and Facebook has its place too.
Not trying to be dense here, but we don’t have an “army” of people on staff. ;) I’ll have to see how our support team is loaded, but again, not sure we want to move support inquiries/answers out of our CRM/ticketing/tracking system. The good news on a Forum - and I’ve done several of them in my career - is that a lot of other users chime in w/ great feedback too.
Re: Browser… I’m liking that approach as a stage one. ;)
Cheers and thank YOU for taking the time to share your thoughts! Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Kevin your support is awesome, and your not “dense.” I like how your current system is in place and wouldn’t want you to change that.
Your right The videos, and manual are great, I wish others would take the time to put togeather a manual as you have. Your education is system is very good. I like the videos and have watched a lot of them.
A forum to me is a place where individuals can share information with the staff however big or small they may be. It is a community where you can ask questions just like this one here and get responses from individuals who are commited to see Luminar succeed. You can provide information like a roadmap of items your working on. I understand giving a time frame is ridiculous but it lets us know what your doing. if you have ideas and you would like to know how users feel, you post in the forums and ask for feedback.
Information I’d like to see
What are you working towards now? You have had a great release and Kudos to your team for that. Also the 2 updates went well also.
Current bugs and possible work arounds. Easy to locate and something that would save your staff time, if its a know bug and I look at your site and see it listed then I don’t have to send you another ticket for a bug you all ready know about. Less redundant work.
People with more experience can help out those new to Luminar and editing in general. This saves your staff some time dealing with areas that are easily fixed by a well estabilished community.
A feeling of being something more than just a customer. A way of exchanging information with other customers that love your software. As the community grows, the wealth of knowledge shared can be staggering. The help for new customers is easier because the community can point them towards links and information that they are looking for. Sometimes faster and better than a staff member.
For you it would be a place to source ideas that would be easy to track. Ask for opinions and get honest feedback. Unfortunately you have to deal with trolls. :(
Hi Carl - all very reasonable reasons and recommendations. I’m sure you can imagine, the trick for us in launching a forum is time and resources; we’ve talked about it many times. Long term, once the fires are stoked, you’re right in noting that it can reduce labor and save time. I have forwarded excerpts of our conversations here to several people and we’ll discuss it amongst senior mgmt. You’ve done a great job making the point. Thanks again!
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Hi Kevin,
With respect to your comment that you like the idea of a Browser as a stage one, I am not in the camp that thinks a browser is sufficient. I need cataloguing capability. While organizing images in the Finder works for some, I make heavy use of Versions (Aperture’s terminology; Variants in Capture One Pro or Virtual Copies in Lightroom). My workflow requires virtual organization tools (albums, smart albums, folders, stacks, stack picks, album picks) to keep track of versions that were generated for various purposes.
I am planning to migrate from Aperture by the end of this year and will be evaluating available options. So far the only potential candidates are Capture One Pro and Lightroom. I am hoping that Luminar will be added to the list by then, as I do not like the inability to stack similar images, and to have album picks in Capture One, and the modal interface of Lightroom. My must haves from the outset (I can wait for additional features and improvements) would be:
I am looking forward to seeing what Macphun will develop.
Andrew
I just wanted to strongly agree with this. When I move on from Aperture (also hopefully this year) it’s going to be a major undertaking, and I’m certainly not going to move to a partially-developed browser that has promise to become more. I’d really like a MacPhun solution to be on my list of options, but I can only afford to evaluate fully-realized products at this point, because once I do the move, I don’t plan on doing it again for a very long time.
I would love an aperture like dam as well, because it is so much better than LR and C1. Even after not being developed in the last few years. I have been testing out multiple different aproaches to replacing Aperture and I didn’t want to import every picture for every program. So I decided to try doing referenced photos instead so I load them once to my HD and then reference the folders to which ever program I am trying at the time. I never loose the originals and they are always in the same place no matter what. I don’t want to be stuck in the position I am when Aperture no longer works.
I have been trying out ON1 Photo Raw, been disappointed in the reality vs the hype. What was promised and what has been delivered is very different, even with the 2 updates since release. I was hoping it would replace Aperture for me, but it is not quite ready to do that.
I hope that the developers for Luminar learn from others and do a better job of implementing the DAM features we want and need. I am willing to wait for a good implementation and so far I like how macphun has done things with luminar. It is very stable, and does what they said it will do. I will wait for their release because I dislike LR and refuse to use it. Capture 1 is Great at some things but not so good at others and their UI is atrocious.
Hi folks,
Thanks for all the heartfelt comments and suggestions/requirements on the DAM. Definitely have passed this thread on to the lead developers, so it’s not going unheard or un-noticed. Best, Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
So I used Luminar and seen that there was an update, I updated it to 1.1.3 Good job guys. So I went to the blog, nothing there about the update. Checked facebook page and lots of great pictures but no mention of an update. Went back to Macphun’s home page looked at the bottom to see if there is a place to see release notes, nope.
Wish I could see what you did for the update. what was fixed, what was new, etc…
Hi Carl - thanks for the note. Yeah, we don’t generally do a blog post w/ every new update. The release notes appear directly in the app. However, following your suggestion, I just opened up a task w/ the Support team to create a master list of changes by version. It’s a good idea and something we should have already had. We’ll get that up as soon as we can. In the meantime, here’s a link to a screenshot of the release notes for the latest update. Cheers, Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Kevin, how are you all coming along with a DAM ? I thought I read sometime back that Macphun was hoping to release one mid year? It that still in the works?
thanks
Hi John - thanks for asking. It *is* still in the works, though mid-year is a bit ambitious. ;) In fact, our CTO and a couple of us are actually about to visit several experts around the U.S. to talk about DAM and other opportunities. Need to really get this right. Between Joseph and I, we’ll keep you posted! Take care, Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Looking forward to your DAM. However, I would rather have a basic browser function earlier than a full, grown up DAM later. Reading other forums, I doubt you could design a management system that pleased the majority of users straight out of the box …. unless you actually stole Aperture source code. However, I am looking for an update soon that has lens profiles corrections, manual chromatic aberration and perspective correction.
JWS
Thanks for the extra feedback and ideas, John! Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
A basic browser as an interim measure will not work for me. I am planning to transition from Aperture by the end of the year. Whatever I move to, I hope to stay with for a long time. I am unwilling to adopt software that does not fulfill my essential requirements at the outset, in the hope that it will evolve into an acceptable package in the future.
Andrew
Understood! Would you say that some of the lists of requirements in this thread represent your needs as well?
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Hi Kevin,
My post of February 24, 2017 on this thread lists the critical features I would need from day 1. Thanks
Andrew
Luminar is my go to for both my underwater and terrestrial photography. I find it quick and easy to make the adjustments I need.
The main things for me are masks an edge detecting mask would be a big time saver. Chromatic aberration controls would be handy too. HSL would for me benefit from a colour picker to target a specific colour Aperture had something like this Helps with underwater photography for targeted colour of whales dolphins et al.
The only other comment is sometimes it feels sluggish when making adjustments and the before and after comparisons both globally and at filter level.
Excellent suggestions and feedback. Noted and forwarded over to the Dev team. Thanks!
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Hello – Count me among the Aperture users eagerly awaiting your DAM. Let me also remind your team that some of us still print photos, and would greatly appreciate printing capabilities to rival those in Aperture and LR. (User presets for favorite papers and sizes, margin and spacing controls, color profiles, borders, metadata, watermarks, etc.) Why do so many new photo new editing apps – including Luminar – neglect this? Someone else on this blog suggested a separate plug-in or app for the creative kit – which is an excellent idea.
Thank you so much Nick for the feedback. I happen to be traveling w/ our CTO this week and will bring all of this up. And… I’m sure so will Joseph when we see him in 2 days! ;) Thanks, Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Oh, one more thing. On that last point, you know that Neptune supports running Creative Kit as a plug-in right? Is that what you meant? Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Kevin - Thanks for this. I’m aware of the CK plug-ins for Neptune. I meant to suggest that you create yet another plug-in devoted exclusively to output. Correct me if I’m wrong, but as it stands in Luminar there is no way to print, say, a 4x4 image on 5x7 paper with a large margin on the bottom and a caption printed below. Or to save a preset that will do that. The only dialog box that comes up in Luminar is the standard printer dialog – in my case the Epson SC-P800. Aperture was very good at this, offering an array of options before reaching the printer dialog, and LR is even better. Do I really need to subscribe to LR just to be able to print creatively? Please say it ain’t so! Nick
Got it. Thanks for the xtra detail. Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
I agree …. an output plugin to sit with the CK plug-ins would be great.
JWS
Hi, really excited about the new DAM feature, will that already be integrated into the soon starting Windows beta program or only after the first Windows version ships?
Hi Ingo - It’s a product that is on an independent development schedule. For sure it will not be in the Windows beta. TBD on the other question. ;) Thanks for your interest - we’re super-excited about everything too! Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Kevin,
Good day sir. Back in November, in the ‘Have you heard about Luminar forum’, a member posted the statement below.
‘When an image is edited and saved in Luminar, the file size is the same or larger than the original Raw or JPEG. I expect (hope) that when library and DAM capabilities are added to Luminar, the files saved in the Luminar library (whether it is a managed or referenced library) will contain only information on the edits applied to the original image. If this is not the case, every version of an image would have a file size at least as large as the original image. That would be unworkable for me.’
At the time, you made a note of this.
I have been away from taking the amount of photos I took a several years ago, but recently have tried to put more time in. I was disappointed with Apple when they cancelled Aperture and can’t embrace Photos. Now that I’m trying to put more effort into Digital Photography, I’m looking for a replacement for Aperture. I tested your trial of Luminar (and a few others) and decided to purchase after how well it works for me, reading much of the positive feedback and the possibility of a DAM in the works. What I didn’t realize was the save feature creates a new and much larger file. I came across the statement above in my searches, but couldn’t find anything else on the subject.
Are Information Data Edits a part of Luminars future? If this was already answered, can you point me in the right direction?
Thanks for your time,
Phil
Hi Phil - thanks for the question. Admittedly I haven’t done a ton of testing, but in the current version of Luminar, the more layers and filters you use before saving the native format, the larger the file will be. I was corrected that saving “History” to the file doesn’t add much, it’s the other bits.
I plan to pass your question on to the engineers in charge of the next version. The DAM is definitely in the works, tho I can’t say anymore at this point (thanks Joseph, btw!).
Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Hi Phil - I heard back from the lead engineer today w/ respect to your question. He basically said that we “want the same thing as Phil” and they are doing a fair amount of R&D on the topic. He ended the email by saying, “So it is long road, but we are on it :)”.
Thanks again for the question. Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Kevin
So time is marching on and I want to move entirely away from Aperture.
How is the DAM going? Can you provide any guidance as to when we might expect it, please?
Greg
Kevin,
Good to hear they want same thing and hope it comes out soon. Thanks for looking into this.
Phil
We’re targeting the first quarter of next year and will be able to share more details later… It’s an important step for us, but we have to get the cross-platform versions of our software kicked out the door first. ;) Kevin
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
Kevin
Good news… look forward to it!
Greg
Kevin,
I just did the survey Macphun sent me and I makes me think that you might actually be thinking about that DAM product your missing. Can you give us any good news?
Nice “eagle-eye” sleuthing, CarlB! We’re definitely looking into what people want along those lines… and you can read between those lines. ;)
Kevin La Rue, Skylum
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