Luminar Neo tutorial: reuse tools for selective edits

Anthony Turnham explains how repeated tool instances in Luminar Neo let him apply different settings to separate parts of a photograph. He shows how closing a tool moves its adjustments into the edit stack, where he can revisit them, while reopening the tool creates another instance with default settings.

The examples cover independently colored lightsaber effects, stronger Structure AI on buildings with softer clouds, and a dark vignette paired with a bright border. A masked Color adjustment changes a quad bike's paint, while another instance handles broader saturation and color changes. Turnham notes that the color mask needs refinement in this example. For a landscape, he applies horizontal motion blur to the clouds and vertical motion blur to the water with separate masks.

The final example explains a Develop RAW limitation: reopening it retains the initial settings until another tool enters the stack. Turnham applies a small Enhance AI adjustment to access a separate Develop instance, then uses curves and masks to adjust the mountain, sky and grass independently. He recommends establishing a base edit before making localized changes. Turnham contrasts this workflow with Luminar AI, which he says allowed only one application of each tool.