Windows – Using Luminar AI with Aurora HDR

Sending photos from Luminar AI to Aurora HDR

1. Launch Luminar^AI then locate an image or a series of bracketed images that you want to send to Aurora HDR.
2. Right-click on one of the photos and choose Show in Explorer.
   
3. 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.
   
4. 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.
5. 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.
   
6. Add Looks and/or Filters to stylize your photo.
7. Send your photo back to Luminar^AI 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 Luminar^AI 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 Luminar^AI as an Aurora HDR plugin

1. Launch Aurora HDR and open an image.
2. Click on the Plugins menu > Other > Open Plugin.
3. Navigate to the folder where your copy of Luminarᴬᴵ is installed. It is usually installed here by default: C:\Program Files\Skylum\Luminar AI.
4. Double-click Luminar^AI.8bf.
5. This will launch Luminar^AI as an Aurora HDR plugin.
6. Make your desired edits in Luminar^AI. When complete, click Apply in the upper right corner to return to Aurora HDR.
7. Your edits will appear as a new layer in Aurora HDR.
8. Each time you want to invoke Luminar^AI 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.