Luminar 4 Preview: All New AI Structure Tool

Luminar 4 is to be released later this year, and so far we have been teased about AI sky replacement tools. However, now Skylum has announced another new feature that will be packaged with the new version of the popular photo-editing software: AI Structure.

Typically, the structure slider in Luminar allows you to boost contrast and subtle details in an image (typically used for bringing out details in the background of a shot). This was a global adjustment to the image, and then you would have to play around with masks in order to apply the adjustment only to the target areas of the image.

AI Structure, however, will take away the time-consuming task of using layer masks. Instead, AI Structure picks out the areas where it believes you want to add that Structure adjustment.

“AI Structure in Luminar 4 automatically identifies objects like people, skin, sky, buildings, and improves them intelligently,” says Skylum. “It adds detail and clarity to areas that otherwise wouldn’t have much, boosting the structure and making for a much more pleasing image.”

Skylum say that the AI Structure tool “doesn’t add additional artefacts, like noise or halos.”

We’ve had a sneak peak at the tool, and you can see the results here:

What is apparent is that the AI Structure tool is preventing the slider from becoming a global adjustment. It’s clearly picking out the details in the background and giving them a bit more punch, whilst also boosting some details in the rhino in the samples above.

If you’re struggling to see the differences between the traditional Structure and the new AI Structure tools, check this before and after slider (on the left is the AI Structure tool, and on the right the traditional Structure tool):

It is perhaps true that this tool is more suited for landscape or portraiture, rather than wildlife images, but I’m excited to see what Luminar 4 has in store for us. This comparison provided by Skylum gives more of an idea as to where the strengths of this tool are:

Luminar 4 is available for pre-order (at a healthy discount) on the Skylum website.