Free Copy Of Luminar-3 Software

[rpcrowe]

Whenever I see something offered free, I get a creepy feeling up and down my back... However, in the case of Luminar-3, the offer comes from Smugmug. They are offering a free copy of this software.

I have not taken them up on the offer yet but, I can't see any reason not to...

[dje]

Richard I had a quick look on their website and there is a banner there announcing the imminent release of version 4. Maybe they are giving away version 3 in the hope that some will like it and upgrade to version 4 when it comes out. No harm in looking at it though!
Dave

[DanK]

I just downloaded it out of curiosity, but I'm not sure I will install it. I'm not sure that for me, spending time learning my way around new software is worth diverting some of my photography time away from other things. If I were more of newbie, I would; I did try different software packages when I was starting out. However, at this point, I have so much time invested in learning the software I use that I would lose a lot if I switched. But maybe I'll try it just anyway.

[rpcrowe]

I have not downloaded or installed the Luminar program and I probably won't for the same reasons DanK stated above. However, if I did not have an editing program and if I were just starting out (as a non-professional) I would definitely consider Luminar. In fact I gave a 30D camera and a Sigma lens to a young lady who is just starting out in photography on a very low income and I will recommend that she try the Luminar program. After all, the PRICE IS RIGHT

[Manfred M]

+1 to what Dan and Richard have written.

Someone is going to have to make a very compelling reason for me to even look at their software. It's going to have to do something special to improve the quality of my work or let me do something far more efficiently than my current tool set does. I'm simply too busy to try another "me to" product.

Over the past number of years there are only three products that I have adopted into my workflow:

1. Phase One Capture One - superior image processing and tethering capture versus what Lightroom has to offer;

2. Imagenomic Portraiture 3 - great for fast face retouching when I do a lot of portraits; and

3. Topaz Sharpen AI - gets rid of small focusing and camera movement errors.


Add to the list the Nik Collection, DxO PhotoLab and Imadio ShineOff, all of which I've used for the better part of the past 7 or 8 plus years.

[skitterbug]

I did download this version because I wanted to see if it is improved over version 1.2.2. The reason I even have it is because I sorted through a number of editing software packages when I began my journey a few years back.

I ended up not using the first version that I have and I'll add that I probably won't use this version either. I like Affinity and have invested quite a few hours learning how to use it. I've plenty more to learn about it as well so I won't take on new software even though it is entirely free to Smugmug users.

It is a nice gesture on their part to offer it to anyone who is interested in exploring editing possibilities.