This is a 100% honest, 100% authentic review comparison of Skylum’s Luminar photo editing software vs Adobe Lightroom. I was not compensated in any way for this post. Some links below, marked as (af), may be affiliate links. Sales made resulting from clicks on affiliate links provide a small percentage of each sale to Dadtography.com.
All images are my originals. Please don’t use my photos without permission.
This post has been updated with the release of Luminar 3.
Can I just be honest with you right now? I’m a fan of photography, but not so much of editing photos. Most photo editors are powerful, but too complicated to be useful for the average “amateur” photographer.
Since I started spending more of my time taking and editing photos a few years ago, I’ve been on a mission to find the best photo editor for amateurs and enthusiasts like me. Luminar and Lightroom are both very good options, but which is better? This post seeks to answer exactly that question.
It’s not easy to compare photo editors, especially powerful all-purpose editors like Skylum Luminar and Adobe Lightroom. Which is the best photo editor for you? Use our comparison to help decide! Learn more in this Luminar vs Lightroom photo editing comparison for amateur photographers.
How do Luminar (v3) and Lightroom Compare?
I started doing digital photography as a hobby and eventually professionally back in the mid-2000’s. When I first started, my go-to photo editing software was Adobe Lightroom because it was the best software in the market.
It’s hard to argue with the decision to go with Adobe products, but that doesn’t necessarily make them the best.
Especially when you consider the Adobe Cloud versions are no longer “owned” software licenses, but instead are online monthly subscriptions that you have to pay for each month.
This post is an attempt to compare a two photo editing programs – Macphun’s Luminar 3 vs Adobe Lightroom. Each of these have their benefits and drawbacks, but which software is the better overall photo editing program? Let’s compare!
Now Available:
Luminar AI
Be sure to use discount code DADTOGRAPHY for $10 off!
Luminar with Libraries is here!
The long-awaited feature of Luminar Libraries is here – and it is a free upgrade to all Luminar 2018 users!
Libraries is the Digital Asset Management (DAM) feature that allows users to more easily manage collections, or libraries of photos.
Luminar is a great photo editor. What previous versions lacked to compete directly with the likes of Lightroom was a way to manage all those thousands (or more) of photos that accumulate over the months and years.
Libraries allows editors to browse, rate and group photos, as well as synchronize edits to multiple images. Check out the video to see this feature in action!
How does the price compare between Luminar 3 and Lightroom?
When doing a software comparison like this, you almost have to start with price. Price is not the only factor, but it’s definitely a big one to consider when deciding between two leading photo editors.
The biggest difference between Luminar and Lightroom is their pricing model. Luminar’s price is a software purchase. You purchase Luminar and you own it. Forever. You don’t have to pay anything ever again to keep using Luminar. You’ll also receive updates to Luminar as well. The newest version of Luminar is $69 retail (but only $59 if you use our discount code DADTOGRAPHY).
On the other hand, Adobe Lightroom has two purchase options – one where you “own” the software and one where you’re essentially leasing the software with a monthly fee.
First, the purchase option of Lightroom. Adobe doesn’t make it easy to figure out how to outright purchase Lightroom. They want to get as many monthly subscribers as possible. You can purchase your own single license copy of Lightroom for $149.
Next, the Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) option. This is Adobe’s preferred purchase method for customers. Why? Because they make more money. They make more money because you pay for Lightroom (along with other Adobe products) for each month you use it. As of this posting, Adobe Creative Cloud “Photography Plan” is $119.88 per year. Use it for two years? That’ll be $239.76. You get the idea. Adobe doesn’t make a one-time purchase profit. They make money every single month.
Price Advantage: Luminar 3
Luminar vs. Lightroom – How do the user interfaces compare?
Let’s face it, any comparison of two applications’ user interfaces is bound to be highly subjective. Which application you prefer will come down to personal preference and will likely be specific to how you personally use the app.
That said, I am what I would consider to be a casual photo editor. I don’t edit photos for a living. I use my photo editing app a few times a month. I don’t use it every day, for hours upon hours per week.
What I personally prefer in a photo editing software user interface is one that is simple, intuitive and easy to find stuff. I regularly forget where my favorite features are, and because I don’t use the app frequently, I almost have to re-learn how to do certain things each time.
With that said, my preference for user interface goes to Luminar 2018. I find the menus, controls and key features are easier to find, better organized and are easy to understand, even if you’re not a regular photo editor. I also like that Luminar seems to have a more visual / preview approach as well. I don’t have to guess – I can see what key settings changes will do to my photo.
Below are two comparison screen shots – the one on the left depicts Luminar 2018 and the one on the right is Adobe Lightroom.
User Interface Advantage: Luminar 3
Luminar vs. Lightroom – How do the features compare?
Both Luminar and Lightroom have been in the marketplace for a while now. Lightroom has always been the traditional industry leader, but Luminar has definitely caught up in recent months. As mentioned above, how the features are presented to the user (the user interface) is very important. But which application has better features – Lightroom or Luminar? Truth be told, there are very few things that set one or the other of these applications apart from each other.- They both have a ton of filter settings.
- They both support RAW camera files.
- They both allow you to get very detailed with your photo settings.
Full Feature Comparison – Luminar vs. Lightroom
Lightroom Classic CC:
Price: $120 / year
- Export to Facebook, Twitter
- Export to JPEG, TIFF, PSD
- Batch processing (edit multiple photos at once)
- Curves
- Export to 500px, SmugMug
- Export to native file format
- Export with sharpening
- Export with watermark
- History
- Object removal
- Panorama stitching
- Red Eye & Pet Eye Correction Tools
- Split Toning
- Tethered Shooting
- Third-Party Plug-ins
- Adjustable Gradient
- Black & White photo editing
- Chromatic Aberration Removal
- Clarity filter
- Clone & Stamp
- Color Adjustments (WB, HSL, Vibrance, Saturation)
- Cropping & Straightening
- Dedicated Raw Develop module
- Dehaze filter
- Digital Asset Management module
- Export to Adobe Photoshop
- Export with resize
- Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks
- Gradient masking
- Grain
- Histogram
- Import raw, JPEG, PSD, TIFF, DNG, PNG
- Lens Corrections
- Luminosity masking
- Masking
- Noise reduction
- Non-destructive editing
- Presets
- Radial masking
- Rotate & Flip
- Sharpening
- Transform
- Vignette
Lightroom CC Cloud
Price: $120 / year
- Export to Facebook
- Export to JPEG
- Adjustable Gradient
- Black & White photo editing
- Chromatic Aberration Removal
- Clarity filter
- Clone & Stamp
- Color Adjustments (WB, HSL, Vibrance, Saturation)
- Cropping & Straightening
- Dedicated Raw Develop module
- Dehaze filter
- Digital Asset Management module
- Export to Adobe Photoshop
- Export with resize
- Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks
- Gradient masking
- Grain
- Histogram
- Import raw, JPEG, PSD, TIFF, DNG, PNG
- Lens Corrections
- Luminosity masking
- Masking
- Noise reduction
- Non-destructive editing
- Presets
- Radial masking
- Rotate & Flip
- Sharpening
- Transform
- Vignette
Luminar for Mac
Price: $59 (with discount code DADTOGRAPHY)- Accent Filter (powered by Artificial Intelligence)
- Adjustment Layers
- Apply mask to a certain filter only
- Brilliance / Warmth filter
- Channel mixer filter
- Color Contrast filter
- Dedicated presets for DJI drone photos
- Details Enhancer filter
- Dodge & Burn
- Extension for Apple Photos
- Fog filter
- Foliage Enhancer
- High Key filter
- Image Layers
- Image Radiance filter
- Look Up Tables Support
- Matte filter
- Micro structure
- Orton Effect
- Polarizing filter
- Presets previews
- Remove Color Cast
- Soft Focus
- Soft Glow
- Split Color Warmth
- Structure
- Sun Light Rays filter
- Textures
- Top & Bottom Lighting
- Workspaces
- Export to Facebook, Twitter
- Export to JPEG, TIFF, PSD
- Batch processing (edit multiple photos at once)
- Curves
- Export to 500px, SmugMug
- Export to native file format
- Export with sharpening
- Export with watermark
- History
- Object removal
- Panorama stitching
- Red Eye & Pet Eye Correction Tools
- Split Toning
- Tethered Shooting
- Third-Party Plug-ins
- Adjustable Gradient
- Black & White photo editing
- Chromatic Aberration Removal
- Clarity filter
- Clone & Stamp
- Color Adjustments (WB, HSL, Vibrance, Saturation)
- Cropping & Straightening
- Dedicated Raw Develop module
- Dehaze filter
- Digital Asset Management (DAM)
- Export to Adobe Photoshop
- Export with resize
- Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks
- Gradient masking
- Grain
- Histogram
- Import raw, JPEG, PSD, TIFF, DNG, PNG
- Lens Corrections
- Luminosity masking
- Masking
- Noise reduction
- Non-destructive editing
- Presets
- Radial masking
- Rotate & Flip
- Sharpening
- Transform
- Vignette
Luminar for Windows
Price: $59
(with discount code DADTOGRAPHY)
- Accent Filter (powered by Artificial Intelligence)
- Adjustment Layers
- Apply mask to a certain filter only
- Brilliance / Warmth filter
- Channel mixer filter
- Color Contrast filter
- Dedicated presets for DJI drone photos
- Details Enhancer filter
- Dodge & Burn
- Fog filter
- Foliage Enhancer
- High Key filter
- Image Layers
- Image Radiance filter
- Look Up Tables Support
- Matte filter
- Micro structure
- Orton Effect
- Polarizing filter
- Presets previews
- Remove Color Cast
- Soft Focus
- Soft Glow
- Split Color Warmth
- Structure
- Sun Light Rays filter
- Textures
- Top & Bottom Lighting
- Export to Facebook, Twitter
- Export to JPEG, TIFF, PSD
- Curves
- Export to 500px, SmugMug
- Export to native file format
- History
- Object removal
- Panorama stitching
- Split Toning
- Third-Party Plug-ins
- Adjustable Gradient
- Black & White photo editing
- Chromatic Aberration Removal
- Clarity filter
- Color Adjustments (WB, HSL, Vibrance, Saturation)
- Cropping & Straightening
- Dedicated Raw Develop module
- Dehaze filter
- Digital Asset Management – coming 2018
- Export to Adobe Photoshop
- Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, Blacks
- Gradient masking
- Grain
- Histogram
- Import raw, JPEG, PSD, TIFF, DNG, PNG
- Lens Corrections
- Masking
- Noise reduction
- Non-destructive editing
- Presets
- Radial masking
- Sharpening
- Vignette
Feature Advantage: Luminar 3
Who has the better digital asset management (DAM)? Luminar vs. Lightroom
As mentioned, the release of Luminar 3 means that Luminar and Lightroom are on a more even playing field when it comes to digital asset management (photo library). Both programs now provide users with the ability to manage and catalog your photos.
A digital asset manager, or DAM, has only been available now for a few months in Luminar 3. Early pre-release versions of the feature weren’t the best, but they really released a solid DAM when it eventually went live. What was once a hands-down win for Adobe (because Luminar essentially forfeited) just isn’t the case anymore.
Adobe Lightroom has a DAM that’s been on the market for a while now. If you’ve used it and become accustomed to it, you may find it difficult to switch to any other application. Like all photo managers, it lets you keep track of and catalog your photos in all kinds of ways – by subject, by prominent photo color, by location, by mood. You can arrange them pretty much any way you want.
The advantage in this area still has to go to Lightroom, because it has a serious head-start on Luminar, but the “Libraries” feature of Luminar 3 is pretty darn great, and if you weigh all the other advantages, and consider the cost, it will be hard to ignore Luminar in the photo editing market.