In the new “Neptune” version, Macphun has introduced a new Accent AI (Artificial Intelligence) Filter that is amazingly effective at improving any picture. You can then see how they achieved a certain effect and you can easily fine tune its parameters and even save them as your own custom Filters. Luminar’s “Filters” are actually presets, but the brilliant thing about their implementation is that you see previews in real-time and each Filter shows you every setting that was used and how much of it was used to create the preset.
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I personally do not like the term “Filter” as it is reminiscent of Instagram and its filters which more often than not damage your photos. Luminar makes heavy use of “Filters” and includes a wide selection of them. Luminar even has an easy to use “layers” implementation for local editing. You can also create your own Workspaces that contain your favourite tools. Standard Workspaces include “Essentials”, “B&W”, “Landscape” and “Portrait” among others. They use Workspaces that show you only as much as you need in any given context. It is a truly easy to use but powerful photo editing program with a customizable UI. Their image editing Luminar program came out last year and they have been releasing updates at a rapid pace, constantly improving it. The latest Aurora HDR 2017 edition is fantastic, especially if you’re not a fan of the exaggerated HDR look that has been so overused. I also really liked their Aurora HDR application, which is I think the best HDR app for Mac.
![download luminar macphun download luminar macphun](https://media.macphun.com/img/uploads/uploads/skylum/luminar-neo/supercontrast-after-min.jpg)
I found their Noiseless, Tonality and SnapHeal plugins to be especially useful. I’ve been using Macphun for a few years now, starting with their Creative Kit, a set of plugins for Lightroom and Photoshop.