How To Quickly Edit Photos In Luminar Neo

For beginners, on the other hand, it can feel overwhelming. There are so many tools to choose from, and knowing how to enhance the mood of a photo correctly can be confusing. Well, I’m going to simplify it for you in today’s article so you can jump into your edits with confidence, get them done quickly, and get back out shooting. Let’s get started.

Start with Exposure First

Start with exposure first, always. It sets the foundation for your entire edit and will save you a lot of headaches later in the process. Luminar Neo places this tool right at the top of the menu for exactly that reason.

Get your photo looking right here, and the rest of the edit becomes much easier.

I typically adjust the exposure first, usually bringing it up slightly because I tend to underexpose my shots when shooting. From there, I work on the highlights, making sure everything is visible and that the brighter parts of the image still hold good detail while naturally drawing attention.

Smart Contrast is another wonderful tool that saves time and brings depth into your shot almost instantly. I love the way it intelligently enhances the image and helps bring out the best in the photo without needing too much effort.

Use Presets… but Carefully

Presets can definitely speed up your workflow, but they can also waste time if you find yourself endlessly scrolling, trying every single one on your image, and making constant adjustments, which is definitely not what we’re aiming for here.

Luminar Neo has a wide catalogue of presets tailored to different styles, so you can find a pack that suits your image and start from there.

Keep in mind that a preset can either become the final look of your photo or simply act as a jumping-off point for where you want the edit to go.

After applying a preset, head into the Edits section where you can see every tool that helped build it.

This allows you to fine-tune the adjustments so the final result fits your specific shot perfectly.

You can also create and use presets smartly yourself. After manually editing one of your photos, you can save those settings as a preset and apply them to other shots taken during the same session.

This is a huge time saver for images with similar lighting and tones, as it avoids repeating the same steps over and over again, while still giving you the flexibility to make small adjustments on a shot-by-shot basis.

Use AI Tools for Repetitive Tasks

The real power of Luminar Neo lies in its AI tools, all built with one purpose in mind: speeding up your workflow while still delivering professional results. These tools should absolutely be taken advantage of, and depending on your style of photography, there is something useful for everyone.

Portrait photographers should make full use of tools such as Skin, Face, and Body AI.

They allow you to make improvements to your image with simple one-click solutions for tasks that would traditionally take a very long time, especially when working through a full series of portraits.

Alongside Enhance AI, there are tools that can effortlessly, but intelligently, improve your image. One I personally like to use is Structure AI, as it adds detail and clarity to a photo with very little effort, and just a small amount can make a huge difference.

Landscape photographers also have a strong set of tools available, such as the powerful Sky AI, which can replace the sky in your image with a single click.

There’s no need for manual masking because the tool handles all of that heavy lifting for you.

Other tools such as Twilight, Atmosphere, and Landscape are also huge time savers, completing tasks that would usually require lengthy masking and manual adjustments in just a few clicks.

Build a Consistent Colour Workflow

My favourite part of editing is colour grading. This is where you can really bring your image to life and dictate the mood you’re trying to portray.

Luminar Neo has a wide range of colour tools to work with, and over time you’ll naturally find your favourites, but here is how I usually approach a colour grade.

It’s always the last task for me, because I first make sure the balance and exposure of the image are exactly right and that the important details in the photo stand out as intended.

From there, I head down to the Colour Harmony tool and start working on the white balance. The best part of this tool is Split Colour Warmth, which allows you to adjust the temperature tones in your image with much more control.

So, for example, if you want cooler tones, you can push them more towards blue rather than just cooling the whole image globally. This alone can start creating a really strong look.

Then I move to Colour Balance, where I adjust the tones in the shadows, midtones, and highlights.

Here, I always like to create contrast between the highlights and the rest of the image. For example, I’ll usually make my highlights warmer, while pushing the midtones and shadows towards cooler tones. This creates a nice separation where the highlights feel inviting and warm, without all the tones competing against each other.

Once I’m happy with that overall look, I move on to the HSL tools, which can be found inside the Colour section. This is where I fine-tune the final result, and it is always the last step of my colour grade no matter what other tools I’ve used.

This is also where I’d suggest starting to study colour theory a little more, because it helps massively when it comes to creating balance in your work. You want colours to complement each other, not clash or disappear into the image.

I adjust the hues first, shifting colours that feel distracting or out of place and making the overall palette feel more cohesive.

Then I move to saturation, making the important colours richer and deeper without overdoing it.

Finally, I use luminance to help certain tones stand out more or reduce the ones I don’t need drawing attention.

So, with just a couple of strong tools, you can achieve a really powerful colour grade that looks excellent, and honestly, that is often all you need. You may find another tool you prefer over Colour Harmony, but whichever route you take, I would always suggest finishing with HSL.

My Quick Workflow

To summarise, I thought I’d show you exactly how I approach an edit. My editing sessions really don’t take that long now, and that is very much by design, as I want to get through edits as quickly as possible and maximise my shooting time.

Develop: Always get the balance right in your shots first. With a strong foundation, the rest of your edit becomes a much smoother process.

Structure: Bring out the clarity and detail in your image with this tool. Your shot will already be looking much stronger from these first two steps alone.

Vignette: Just a small amount to darken the corners slightly and make sure attention stays in the centre of the image where it should be.

Light Depth: I’m a huge fan of this tool because it instantly helps shape the image exactly how I want it to look. Simply move the light through the 3D map of your shot and you can guide attention exactly where you want it by highlighting that area.

Portrait Tools: If I’m editing a portrait shoot, this is the point where I start working on the subject. The rest of the image already looks balanced, so there’s no need to keep going back and making major adjustments on top of portrait retouching, which is where things can start to get messy.

Colour Harmony: As discussed above, this is where I start shaping the mood of the image, typically going for cooler and moodier tones as that suits my style. But you can just as easily create warmer, brighter, and happier tones here too.

Bonus Tip: Use the Landscape tool for colour grading as well. You’ll find Golden Hour inside the Landscape menu, and it does a fantastic job of enhancing only the warmer tones in your image, no matter what genre of photography you are working on.

HSL: Finally, I use HSL to fine-tune the overall look of the image, enhancing the colours I want to stand out and reducing the ones I don’t need drawing attention. It is always the final step of my editing process.

The Bottom Line

So there we have it, a quick editing session doesn’t mean a rushed one. You can easily achieve great-looking shots with just a few tools inside Luminar Neo. By using the programme consistently and experimenting, you’ll naturally find the tools that suit your needs best and, over time, develop a workflow that helps you move quickly through your edits while still making them look fantastic.

I’d suggest doing a few slower, more experimental editing sessions where you take your time to get to know each tool properly. Make note of the ones that really resonate with you and think about where they best fit into your own workflow.

To summarise, my approach is simple:

Balance: setting the foundation
Enhance: bringing attention to your subject
Colour Grade: setting the mood

As simple as that.