How To's: Replace the Sky in Luminar 4

Scenario: You have a large portfolio of great photos but the client is asking for something a little different than what you have. They love a certain photo but need a change to it. You're not going back to this remote location to just reshoot it. It would take too much time and the client won't pay the costs for it. So you decide to take the software route. In this case, I would use Luminar 4 to replace the sky.

1) Open Skylum's Luminar 4 and click on the "+" icon to either add a folder or an individual photo to edit.

Note: Luminar 4 is also great for making other photo enhancements like; Adjusting lighting, and color, or using built-in filters. But we will cover that later in another post.

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2) Now that you have your photo open, click on the "Creative" Icon on the right side.

3) Select "AI Sky Replacement"

4) Select "Sky Selection" In my case the client wants a stary sky. There are many choices, you can select each one to see how it looks

5) The software does a great job of replacing just the sky, but sometimes there is overlap which you can adjust by selecting "Edit Mask". Most of the time the "Brush" is the best tool for adjustments.

6) With the "Brush" tool selected, select "Erase" in the top menu bar. This will allow you to remove any overlap from your image.

Note: Select "Mask" to see your adjustments. You can also select "Size" to adjust the brush

7) Once you are happy with your edits select "Done"

8) To save your work select "File" and "Export"

If you don't own Skylum's Luminar 4, use this link to download a trial version.