AI processing tools in Photoshop have made some tasks much, much easier.

Skylum Software, makers of Luminar 4, seem to have jumped ahead of PS on at least one task: compositing sky backgrounds in images.

I don't do a lot of this type of photo manipulation. It has, however, become something I am willing to try in certain situations, such as when I get to see and photgraph a landscape I have long wanted to try out--only to find the skies are about as bland as possible due to current weather conditions. Or when I have done an astrophotography shoot and used a rotator that tracks the sky, but generates a blurry horizon: sky replacement, using a combination of my own shots framed and exposed differently, is the way to go.

Luminar 4 does in just a few minutes what PS has taken me hours to do. It can replace a boring sky, or composite in one of my nighttime skies with the landscape I came to shoot, without the long, difficult process of masking that PS does so well. Luminar does it, but much quicker and easier.

I wonder if Adobe will catch up on this feature. It seems to be a common task for many. Luminar 4 in the meantime is well worth having on hand just for this purpose. PS can't keep up at the moment.