Luminar Neo not working

[Richard127]

Hi all. Just had an update for Luminar Neo, which was working fine as a Plugin before but now won't load from within Affinity Photo. I get the following error: Windows cannot find 'bad'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, then try again. Bit random really, not sure why it's looking for something called 'bad'. Anyone else have this problem? Solution? I've tried re-linking the Luminar directory, but suspect the file AP is looking for has been moved somewhere else during the Luminar update.

[Andy05]

I haven't used Luminar Neo as plugin for a while (it's actually a lot faster for me to keep it open as stand alone app when dealing with multiple edits rather than firing up the plugin each time).

But I've checked it just now and can confirm, the plugin seems to be broken since the update. But I'm not sure whether it was Photo's or Luminar's update, which broke the plugin. If it was latter, it's probably on Luminar's side fixing it.

Edit: System Windows 10, Affinity Photo and Luminar Neo both running the newest version (not beta).

[Richard127]

3 hours ago, Andy05 said:

I haven't used Luminar Neo as plugin for a while (it's actually a lot faster for me to keep it open as stand alone app when dealing with multiple edits rather than firing up the plugin each time).

But I've checked it just now and can confirm, the plugin seems to be broken since the update. But I'm not sure whether it was Photo's or Luminar's update, which broke the plugin. If it was latter, it's probably on Luminar's side fixing it.

Edit: System Windows 10, Affinity Photo and Luminar Neo both running the newest version (not beta).

Thanks for the input. In fairness, using Luminar as a stand alone, outside of AP, has some advantages. You don't get access to the Catalogue section of Luminar when used as a plugin, for instance. Guess, I will just have to get used to a different workflow.

Thanks again.

[CJH]

I've just loaded it into a newly installed Photoshop 2024 and it does the same thing there

[CJH]

I contacted Skylum. Here was their immediate solution, which might help:

Please try the following:
1.    Make sure Photoshop is not running. If the app was running, reboot your PC before proceeding.
2.    Right-click the Luminar Neo icon > Run As Administrator.
3.    Click Luminar Neo>File > Install Plugins.
4.    Click Uninstall next to Photoshop.
5.    Reboot your PC.
6.    Right-click the Luminar Neo icon > Run As Administrator.
7.    Click Luminar Neo >File > Install Plugins.
8.    Click Install next to Photoshop.
In case there's a message You have to install this software first, click Browse, and navigate to where the .exe file of your host application is. After you show Luminar where the host app is, you will be able to install the plugin for the host.

[Richard127]

1 hour ago, CJH said:

I contacted Skylum. Here was their immediate solution, which might help:

Please try the following:
1.    Make sure Photoshop is not running. If the app was running, reboot your PC before proceeding.
2.    Right-click the Luminar Neo icon > Run As Administrator.
3.    Click Luminar Neo>File > Install Plugins.
4.    Click Uninstall next to Photoshop.
5.    Reboot your PC.
6.    Right-click the Luminar Neo icon > Run As Administrator.
7.    Click Luminar Neo >File > Install Plugins.
8.    Click Install next to Photoshop.
In case there's a message You have to install this software first, click Browse, and navigate to where the .exe file of your host application is. After you show Luminar where the host app is, you will be able to install the plugin for the host.

Sadly can't try that as I don't have Photoshop and the option to install plugins is greyed out.

[CJH]

Got to add, it didn't work anyway. Standalone works, plugin in either Affinity Photo or Photoshop 2024 does not

[Richard127]

1 minute ago, CJH said:

Got to add, it didn't work anyway. Standalone works, plugin in either Affinity Photo or Photoshop 2024 does not

Me thinks there's gonna have to be an update.

[Richard127]

Just spoke to Skylum and the answer was... Yeah, there's no problem with Photoshop plugin "it's all been fixed" "and we don't support Affinity Photo". Thanks guys!

[Matteo Bignozzi]

Same here.

Windows 11; no Photoshop installed; latest version of Luminar Neo and Affinity Photo.

Sad to hear Skylum answer.

[CJH]

This might or might not help. I had a different result from Skylum, relating to Photoshop but nevertheless perhaps pertaining to Affinity Photo. I have had no time yet to try this latest set of suggested actions (none of the preceding five made any difference; I refused to uninstall and reinstall Photoshop itself, which produced the following answer):

I apologize for any inconvenience. This problem occurred due to our recent update - we released some changes in the plugin system and all our customers resolved it with these steps. Please try the following one more time - step by step, how it is described below:

1.       Make sure Photoshop is not running. If the app was running, reboot your PC before proceeding. 

2.       Right-click the Luminar Neo icon > Run As Administrator.

3.       Click Luminar Neo>File > Install Plugins.

4.       Click Uninstall next to Photoshop.

5.       Reboot your PC.

6.       Right-click the Luminar Neo icon > Run As Administrator.

7.       Click Luminar Neo >File > Install Plugins.

8.       Click Install next to Photoshop.

[Richard127]

Sorry CJH. You said this before and it doesn't work. Also, many of us have replaced Photoshop with Affinity due to Adobe's pricing policies. So, we won't have a PS plugins folder installed, which you need for step 7 of your suggestion.

[CJH]

I realise that  - and I have Photoshop only for as long as I can complete a project, while I move totally to Affinity. My intent was to first suggest a route for Photoshop that might convert to Affinity, but mainly to add the comment from Skylum - an admission that there was a fault with the software, in light of the prior one that 'everything was fixed' which is clearly not the case. Otherwise, I'm the same: dislike the pricing policies from Adobe, in particular preventing me from using CS6 on a new computer, where it worked perfectly until the trial period ended but Adobe refused to allow activation on this perpetual licence.

[Matteo Bignozzi]

I have just written to their customer service; I encourage anyone reading this post to do so, to put our weight behind it.
Otherwise they will think it is pointless to spend time on non-mainstream software.

Please copy and paste 😊

Luminar neo no longer works as a plugin in Affinity Photo. I was disappointed to read that you cannot guarantee a smooth running of the plugin in other apps such as Affinity Photo or ON1. If the problem is not resolved, I will not renew my licence.

[Hylpass]

I got Luminar Neo plugin working by following the method posted earlier by Roberto Sdul.

For Windows users, not having Photoshop:

• Create the following path in your file explorer: (create folder into folder)

             C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-Ins\CC

• Open Luminar Neo (stand-alone) and open the menu (top left corner), go to File > Install Plug-ins...

             Let Luminar install the plug in.

• Close Luminar Neo and open Affinity Photo
   
• Go to the Settings menu > Photoshop Plugins and click "add"
   
• Add the following path:   C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-Ins
   
• Close and restart Affinity Photo
   
• Select a pixel layer and run the Luminar Neo plugin. Enjoy!

 

[Richard127]

Thank you so much Hylpass and Roberto Sdul. Worked perfectly. Makes you wonder why Skylum are prepared to put up with so much hassle when there was such a simple answer.