Why We Love Luminance

In 2010, two Subsplash designers started imagining a new way to edit and process photos. Their goal was simple: to combine great usability with highly sophisticated photo editing capabilities.

A year later, Luminance was born. Only a few months after it launched, Luminance was named Runner Up App of the Year by Apple. Here’s what Apple had to say about Luminance when it was chosen as iPhone and iPad app of the week: “Our pick pairs professional editing features with a friendly interface, putting extraordinary photos within everyone’s reach.” Today Luminance has over 1.5 million downloads and is still going strong!

What makes Luminance different from all the other photo editing apps? Here are the top five reasons why we love Luminance:

1.  Layers!

Luminance saves every adjustment, filter, and crop as a layer, similar to many professional photo editing programs. You can add unlimited layers and reorder the layers to create unique effects.

For example, if I want to achieve a softer vintage look, I can increase contrast with one layer and decrease contrast in the next layer, which will give the photo that warm and flattened look of a snapshot from the 1970s. Choosing the order of your layers gives you more control over your photos.

Once you’ve found the perfect settings for your vignette, highlights, shadows, and tint, you can easily copy your edits and add them to another photo.

2. Undo any edit, anytime.

I’m not a professional photographer, and the only way I’ll ever understand split toning is by trying it. Same goes for tone curve and white balance. Once you’ve finished playing with a photo (or in my case often ruining a photo), you can see all of your layers in the timeline tab. The timeline tab keeps a record of every adjustment and allows you to easily see how every layer affects your photo. Luminance is easy to navigate for even the most indecisive user, so experiment without fear!

3. Beautiful Filters.

When I don’t have time to adjust my white balance or saturation, Luminance has 23 beautiful filters to instantly create unique effects. In addition to many standard filters, Luminance has some unique offerings, including “Rouge” and three different black and white filters that create different contrasts.

4. Easily crop to different dimensions.

Crop to common dimensions with four different crop ratios, including square and the golden ratio. The freeform crop lets you drag the crop with a grid that helps you center your subject.

5. Share your photos with the world!

Post your photos on Facebook or Twitter with one click, or choose a size and email them. You can also save the photos to your camera roll and upload them to another photo sharing app, such as Instagram.

We hope you love using Luminance as much as we do, and if you haven’t tried it yet, it just may be the best 99 cents you ever spend.

Follow us on Twitter @luminanceapp or visit us at www.luminanceapp.com

Why do you love Luminance?