Luminar Neo 2026: RAW editing and masking tutorial

This first part of a Luminar Neo 2026 tutorial explains four RAW editing tips through photos with dark foregrounds and bright skies. The workflow starts with Add Folder in the library, then opens an image in the Develop panel for shadow and highlight adjustments.

The presenter finds Luminar's global sliders more selective than those in DxO and ON1 Photo RAW on the examples shown. In those comparisons, competing adjustments affect other tonal areas or leave more of the sky overexposed. These are observations from the demonstrated edits, rather than a general benchmark of the editors.

Adjustment order is the main caution. The presenter recommends completing global RAW corrections before using other enhancements. Moving Structure first makes the RAW indicator disappear; the subsequent highlight correction recovers less detail in the example. Strong shadow and highlight corrections can also produce dark halos around object edges. Reducing their intensity is one suggested remedy.

For local corrections, the tutorial moves Accent slightly to leave the initial RAW state and reveal the Masking tab in Develop. The presenter selects dark objects with a luminosity mask, refines it with a brush, and increases shading in the masking actions to soften harsh transitions. This gives finer control in the example, but requires leaving the initial RAW adjustment stage.