Sending photos from Luminar AI to Aurora HDR
- Launch LuminarAI then locate an image or a series of bracketed images that you want to send to Aurora HDR.
- Right-click on one of the photos and choose Show in Explorer.
- From Windows Explorer, right-click on the image and choose Open In > Aurora HDR. For multiple images, select the first image and hold down the Shift key and select the last image. Then drag your images into Aurora HDR to open them.
- A preview of your photo(s) will open in a new dialog box where you may want to make a few selections.
- For a single image, click the Settings icon (gear) to choose from two options that can affect the opened file: Color Denoise and Chromatic Aberration Removal. Learn more about these options here.
- For bracketed images, click the Settings icon (gear) to choose from three options that can affect the opened files: Ghost Reduction, Color Denoise, and Chromatic Aberration Removal. You can check the Auto Alignment box if there was slight movement between each shot. Learn more about these options here.
- Click the Create HDR button to begin processing. Aurora HDR merges or optimizes the dynamic range of your image and then opens it for further editing.
- Add Looks and/or Filters to stylize your photo.
- Send your photo back to LuminarAI by going to the File menu and selecting Export. Aurora HDR can save a variety of popular formats including JPEG, TIFF, and Photoshop PSD.
*Tip: Choose a unique file name or append _AuroraHDR to the filename
For example, myphoto.raw is exported as myphoto_AuroraHDR.tiff. This easily identifies the image as an Aurora HDR edit.
*Tip: Automatically add your Aurora HDR export to your LuminarAI catalog
To do so, select the source folder as your export location.
Tip: Create a high-quality archive version
To archive a photo, export it as a TIFF file. TIFF files preserve all the details and colors in an image and are great for printing.
Using LuminarAI as an Aurora HDR plugin
- Launch Aurora HDR and open an image.
- Click on the Plugins menu > Other > Open Plugin.
- Navigate to the folder where your copy of Luminarᴬᴵ is installed. It is usually installed here by default: C:\Program Files\Skylum\Luminar AI.
- Double-click LuminarAI.8bf.
- This will launch LuminarAI as an Aurora HDR plugin.
- Make your desired edits in LuminarAI. When complete, click Apply in the upper right corner to return to Aurora HDR.
- Your edits will appear as a new layer in Aurora HDR.
- Each time you want to invoke LuminarAI as an Aurora HDR plugin in Windows you’ll have to locate the .8bf file.
!Note: RAW files not opening?
Click here verify your camera’s raw files are supported by Aurora HDR.
If you’re trying to open an image from a camera that is not officially supported by Aurora HDR, the best workaround is to convert the image to a DNG file. You may be able to create DNG files in-camera. If not, you can install the free DNG Converter from Adobe.
Post your comment on this topic.