As you work with an image, the Edit Toolbar contains many commands that you’ll frequently use. These are grouped logically for easier use. Here are the buttons from left to right.
Open
The first button controls how files are added to Luminar. Clicking the Open button reveals two choices.
- Add Folder with images. Add an existing folder on your computer to your Luminar library.
- Edit Single Image. Bring individual images into Luminar for editing.
Luminar Looks Panel
The Luminar Looks Panel is where you’ll find all of your presets. These include those created by the Luminar team as well as your own custom Looks. To view the Luminar Looks Panel, just click the button to toggle visibility or use the Tab key to hide both the Side and Looks Panels.
Magnification
These next three buttons are used for changing your view of the image size in the Gallery View.
- Magnification Level. The first menu controls the zoom level. Click the drop-down menu to choose from a preset.
- Zoom Out. This option reduces the view size of the displayed image. The shortcut is Cmd/Ctrl + – (minus). You can see the current zoom level in the magnification level field.
- Zoom In. This option increases the view size of the displayed image. The shortcut is Cmd/Ctrl + = (equals).
Comparison Buttons
These buttons allow you to compare the current image with the original image, so you can easily compare how your enhancements change the photograph.
- Quick Preview. The eyeball icon can quickly toggle between the original image and the enhanced version. Another way to see this change is to use the keyboard shortcut \ (backslash). This allows you to quickly compare the current image with the original. This is the fastest and most convenient mode of comparison.
- Compare. This button activates a comparison where the image is divided by a vertical strip (“curtain”). The original image (Before) is displayed on the left, and the current result (After) is on the right. This vertical strip can be dragged left or right, so you can view the differences in the picture.
Crop Tool
The Crop tool ( C ) allows you to hide parts of an image to change its composition or to prepare it for display at a certain size or aspect ratio (such as a 5×7 print). The Crop tool also makes it easy to align (straighten) the horizon in an image if it’s not horizontal.
Share Image
The last button in the top Toolbar is used to share an image from the application to other applications. The same image can also be shared with other editing software from Skylum (and others) or uploaded directly to social networks and other online services.
- Export to Image. Creates a new file in a common image format.
- Services. Choose to send to system applications or upload directly to photo sharing websites.
- Open In. Send to other Skylum applications or to other photo editing applications
Mode Select
Choose which mode your images are viewed in.
- Gallery images mode. Choose to view a gallery of multiple images. This is useful for browsing and organizing.
- Single image mode. Choose to inspect a single image. This is best for checking file details (like name and ratings) or editing.
Layout Buttons
The next three buttons control the layout of the Luminar application window. You will switch depending on the task at hand.
- Library. Browse image folders and albums.
- Edit. Adjust an image with tools for a perfect appearance.
- Info. View a selected image’s metadata to learn more about a file.
Other View Options
There are two additional items you can choose to activate when editing an image.
- Filmstrip. The Filmstrip displays a strip of images along the left side of the interface. It shows you all of the images in the currently selected view, album, or folder. It’s a convenient way to select images without having to switch back to the Library view.
- Current Photo Actions. View the name, rating, and labels for the selected image.
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