Luminar Neo tutorial: combine photos with layers

This Luminar Neo tutorial builds a composite from separate photographs of a background, a model and the moon. The speaker selects a preferred pose and enlarges the moon, then adds textures for a painterly finish.

Because he did not capture an empty background plate, he uses Gen Swap with a sky prompt to remove the original model. The generated result needs cleanup: he samples nearby pixels with the clone tool and masks motion blur over visible artifacts. He recommends photographing a clear background plate when planning a composite.

The replacement model becomes a separate layer that he flips, scales and positions. Background removal and Object Select AI produce imperfect edges in this example. He combines Soft Light and Darken layers to soften the fringe while retaining color through the dress. For the moon, he uses Lighten with a curves adjustment to suppress the surrounding sky, then a Screen duplicate and Gaussian blur to brighten and soften it.

He merges the composite before adjusting overall exposure, since changing the background alone reveals halos. Curves provide a matte finish and color grading. After saving a flattened JPEG, he adds texture layers and adjusts their saturation and opacity. He notes that extra layers can be resource intensive. A copy of the merged photograph at the top of the stack lets him control the overall texture effect with one opacity slider.