Are you looking to take your photography skills to the next level? If so, Luminar Neo has you covered. We picked 13 preset packs that cover portraits, landscapes, film looks, architecture, and social video, so you can jump straight to the look you want.
Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, these presets will help you achieve the look you want in no time. Check out our list of the 13 best Luminar Neo presets to get started today!
What Are Luminar Neo Presets?
The Luminar presets are a fast and creative solution to photo editing. You can make large-scale changes to your photos with just a few clicks. You don’t need to fiddle around with sliders or make a lot of setting adjustments. You select the preset you want, and it gives your image a brand-new look.
A preset is a preconfigured set of adjustments. The settings are carefully selected to give your photo a specific look. All you need to do is select the preset you want, and all the changes are made instantly.
A Luminar preset can transform a drab photo into something atmospheric. You can turn your color photo into a moody black-and-white image or add grain for a film aesthetic. Or you can change the lighting for a golden-hour look.
The presets are a big selling point for Luminar Neo. When you upload a photo into the photo editing software, it evaluates the image and recommends presets that suit it. There are presets for portraits and landscapes. And there are presets that give your photos a cinematic look.
You can read our full review of Luminar Neo.
How to Apply Luminar Presets
It’s easy to apply presets in Luminar Neo. You load your photo into the software and click on the Preset/Template option at the top of the screen.
The Preset/Template tab takes you to the Preset menu. And the program recommends a set of presets that suit the photo. You select the one you want from the Preset panel. And in just a second, it applies the preset and transforms your image.
The Luminar presets are organized into categories to easily find what you want. Skylum bundles a large asset library with Luminar Neo through its Luminar Prime layer, which lists over 2,150 presets, 500 LUTs, 400 overlays, and 550 skies. Each category groups variations on the same theme, whether it’s landscapes, sunsets, or film effects.
You can favorite the presets you like so you can access them quickly in the future. They’re saved to your favorite folder for easy access. That makes a library this size navigable instead of overwhelming.
How to Install Luminar Presets
Adding presets you’ve purchased or downloaded is easy. You see the Purchased heading on the right side of the Luminar Neo interface with an “+Add” button. Clicking this lets you search your computer for files and upload them to the software.
You can also access purchased presets through the File menu. Open the File menu and click “Add Luminar Preset Collection.” This opens the file explorer window so you can find and access the files.
Files for Luminar Neo have the .lnpc file name. Once uploaded, the new preset pack appears in your preset or template library.
The best place to access new preset and template packs is the Luminar Marketplace. This is where you’ll find all the official Luminar preset packs. They have signature templates from the Skylum team and successful photographers. Marketplace packs are paid, one-off purchases; the presets that come with the software arrive through Luminar Prime instead.
You can also find third-party preset packs. These are designed by artists and photographers who aren’t directly affiliated with Skylum. There are some excellent options out there. But be careful when downloading third-party templates. Always make sure you can trust the website.
You can also save your edits as personal presets. After you find a combination of effects you particularly like, you can save it as a preset. Once saved, you can access it at any time. Luminar Neo will apply the changes with a simple click of the mouse.
13 Best Luminar Presets
Now, we take you through our favorite Luminar presets. Every pack below runs in Luminar Neo, which is the only version Skylum still lists on its compatibility badges. Luminar 4 and Luminar AI have been retired, so packs no longer ship for them.
They’re presets created by the Skylum Team and their top collaborators. If you only buy one, make it Experimental B&W for portraits or the Ultimate Autumn Collection for landscapes. Both do the heaviest lifting for the least money.
1. Luminar Neo’s Built-In Presets
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Team Skylum
- Price: Included with Luminar
Start here before you buy anything. The collections that ship inside Luminar Neo cover sunsets, film looks, portraits, and landscapes, and they transform a photo as hard as most paid packs do.
The sunset and film collections turn a dull sky into a gorgeous scene in one click. The changes aren’t subtle. And they can look over the top if you use them on the wrong image. But effects within the preset are transformative when used correctly. The catch is that this library is tied to Luminar Prime, which renews yearly, so it isn’t a one-off download you own forever the way a Marketplace pack is.
2. Experimental B&W
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Team Skylum
- Price: $
Black-and-white photography still holds a special place in the world of photography. It has a timeless quality that evokes memories and emotions in the photographer and viewer.
The Experimental B&W preset pack is an incredible way to explore the art of black-and-white photography. You get 10 presets, each a different shade of monochrome, with built-in overlays that add shadows and grain. Shooting with black-and-white film is excellent fun. But you can avoid the hassle and faff of analog photography with these creative presets.
This preset pack is only available for Luminar Neo. And you have to pay for it. But it transforms your images, giving them a timeless, romantic quality that’s hard to manufacture. Skip it if you shoot color and only dabble in mono; 10 monochrome looks is a lot of pack for an occasional conversion.
3. Ultimate Autumn Collection
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Max Rive
- Price: $
Fall is one of the most magical times of the year. But capturing the explosion of reds, oranges, and yellows can often leave you disappointed. When you take a photo, the colors often lose their vitality, and the images don’t have the same punch as in real life.
The Ultimate Autumn Collection is built to fix that. Its 10 templates work on JPEG and RAW files, and they reinvigorate your autumnal images with the golds, reds, and oranges that a straight-out-of-camera shot tends to lose.
The templates come from Max Rive, an IPA award-winning landscape photographer and Skylum ambassador known for his epic mountain and travel work. It's a paid pack, but the mood it adds to a flat fall photo is hard to recreate by hand.
4. Environmental Portraiture Kit
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Team Skylum
- Price: $$$
Team Skylum has produced a stunning set of Luminar presets for Luminar Neo. Their Environmental Portraiture Kit is specifically designed for a certain type of portrait.
Skylum sells it as a kit rather than a preset pack, and the contents show why. You get five templates and presets built for different environmental-portrait situations, five overlays with light flares, five overlays with artistic film noise, and a written editing guide. The presets enhance environmental portraits by adding detail and texture to the environment. They also bring more vitality to the subject.
This is the priciest item on our list, and the extra you pay is for the overlays and the guide rather than for more looks. Five templates is a small set if you only want presets, so buy it for the toolbox or skip it.
5. Film Look
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Marina Liashchuk, Team Skylum
- Price: $
People tend to think you can achieve a film aesthetic by adding a bit of grain. But there’s more subtlety to it than that. And the Film Look preset collection gives you an authentic analog look every time.
You get 11 styles, built around unexpected highlights, warm burns, and lomo-style color shifts. Shooting with real color film stocks is fantastic fun. But it’s also expensive and time-consuming. That’s why these presets are the perfect substitute. You get a retro film look without the trouble of shooting film. If you want clean, neutral color, look elsewhere; every look here pushes the image somewhere.
6. Universal Horizons
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo, Photoshop, Affinity, ON1, Evoto
- Creator: Edin Chavez
- Price: $
Universal Horizons is the perfect sky pack for travel photographers. It isn’t a preset collection. It’s 10 sky images in JPEG format that you drop into Luminar Neo’s Sky tool, and Edin Chavez picked them to suit almost any scene: blue skies with white clouds, twilight horizons, and moodier overcast options. It takes one click to replace the sky, and the same files work in Photoshop, Affinity, ON1, and Evoto. Because they are skies rather than looks, they fix a blown-out horizon but do nothing for the rest of your edit.
7. Seaside Artistic Collection
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Team Skylum
- Price: $
The Seaside Artistic Collection from Team Skylum is something completely different. Its 10 templates and presets emulate the seascape painters, from Courbet to Aivazovsky, rebuilding the sky and the atmosphere in a single click. Even the dullest coastal photo can become something that looks crafted by an artist. The effect is strong and painterly, so it is the wrong buy if you want your coastline to look like a photograph.
8. Studio Portraits
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Irene Rudnyk
- Price: $$
This Luminar preset pack is for photographers who love classical portraiture. Studio portraits are still big business. And the Studio Portraits preset pack is the perfect way to improve your portrait game. It isn’t the cheapest set, but you get 25 templates. And it’s ideal if you’re passionate about portraits.
9. Complete Magical Forests Bundle
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Albert Dros
- Price: $$
Transform a walk in the local park into an enchanted forest with this bundle from landscape photographer Albert Dros. It ships as two template packs, Magical Forests Part I and Part II, so you get a dreamy, mystical set and a darker, spookier set in one purchase. Both add a sprinkle of magic to basic woodland shots, turning them into scenes of fantasy and enchantment.
10. Influencer Vlog LUTs
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo, Photoshop, Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, After Effects, Affinity, ON1
- Creator: Team Skylum
- Price: $
Social media has become the central marketplace for young creatives. And the Influencer Vlog LUTs are a fantastic way to give your content a boost. These are LUTs rather than presets, which is why they travel further than anything else on this list: they load into Luminar Neo, Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, After Effects, Affinity, and ON1.
That matters if you shoot stills and video for the same feed, because one grade covers both. Being an influencer is a competitive business, and a consistent color signature is one of the few things you control. Just don’t expect a LUT to do a preset’s job: they set color and contrast, and they will not retouch a face or rebuild a sky.
11. Creating the Wow Factor
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Elia Locardi
- Price: $
If you’re feeling uninspired by your landscapes and cityscapes, Creating the Wow Factor is the perfect preset pack to get you excited again. Elia Locardi’s 11 templates blend dynamic contrast, color separation, and extra texture detail, and they work on JPEG and RAW. They enhance your landscape photos without making fundamental changes. They turn “whatever” into “wow.” It is also the cheapest Marketplace pack here, so it is the low-risk way to find out whether bought templates suit you.
12. Unique Architecture
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Nancy Da Campo
- Price: $
Finding the perfect settings for architectural photography can be tricky. But you no longer need to spend hours tweaking one setting and adjusting another. The Unique Architecture preset pack lets you enhance architecture photography at lightning speed. Nancy Da Campo has designed 10 templates any architecture shooter will love. They recover highlights, add contrast, and sharpen fine detail, which is exactly the work a cityscape frame usually needs. Da Campo tuned them for buildings and streets, so they are a poor fit for portraits or wildlife.
13. The Cinematographer
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Justin Lim
- Price: $
The Cinematographer Luminar preset pack is ideal for photographers with a cinematic eye. Justin Lim built 12 classic and vintage looks inspired by cinema and analog film, and they give you the perfect opportunity to try your hand at cinematography. They add a depth you only find in movies on the big screen. It’ll change how you compose your photos and construct narratives in photography. The tones lean vintage, so a clean modern edit is not what you are buying.
Third-Party Luminar Neo Presets
Skylum does produce fantastic presets for their software. Third-party providers make great presets for Luminar Neo too. Here's one of our favorites, and it is the closest thing to a free download on this list.
Kat’s Mangrove D’or
- Compatible Software: Luminar Neo
- Creator: Kathrin Federer
- Price: Free to site members, otherwise paid
Kathrin Federer is a successful landscape photographer known for her striking and dynamic style. And this Luminar Neo preset helps you develop a similar style in your landscape photography.
Read the “free” carefully. Federer gives Mangrove D’or away to anyone who signs up for a free membership on her site; open the product page without an account and it is listed at a regular single-preset price with an Add to Cart button. So the cost is an email address, not nothing.
The preset transforms scenes into glowing, radiant landscapes. It emphasizes details, adding intrigue and texture. And it heightens contrasts to help you create atmospheric images. It’s definitely worth the signup if you like conceptual landscape photography.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Luminar presets work in Luminar 4 or Luminar AI?
No. Skylum has retired both, and every pack in the Luminar Marketplace now shows Luminar Neo alone on its compatibility badge. Older packs you already own stay in your library, but anything you buy today is built for Luminar Neo.
What is the difference between a Luminar preset and a template?
Skylum uses both words for the same thing. The Marketplace files them under Presets, while the pack descriptions and the app’s own panel call them Templates. Either way you get a saved stack of adjustments applied in one click, and both install as .lnpc files.
Do I have to subscribe to Luminar Neo to use presets?
No. Skylum sells Luminar as a one-time purchase across its Desktop, All Platforms, and Max tiers, and Marketplace packs are one-off purchases on top. The one part that renews is Luminar Prime, the layer carrying the bundled asset library and the newest AI tools. Max includes a year of it.
Are there genuinely free Luminar Neo presets?
The honest answer is “almost.” The large library that ships with the software is included rather than free, and the Marketplace sells its packs. The free downloads come from third-party photographers like Kathrin Federer, and they usually cost you an email address in exchange.
How do I install a preset pack I bought?
Open Luminar Neo, find the Purchased heading on the right of the interface, and click “+Add” to browse for the .lnpc file. The File menu route works too: choose “Add Luminar Preset Collection.” The pack then sits in your preset library alongside the built-in collections.
Conclusion: Luminar Presets
The Luminar presets are the highlights of Skylum software. The Luminar Looks collection is a quick and convenient solution to complex editing problems. And while the presets are a quick solution, they don’t compromise quality.
All Luminar Neo presets are precise and sophisticated. That’s not to say every preset will improve any photo. But when you find the right template for the right image, it’s like magic. You’ll see a transformation that gives your photos a brand-new dimension.
Start with the collections already inside the app before you spend anything. When you outgrow them, buy the pack that matches the work you actually shoot: Experimental B&W or Studio Portraits for people, Ultimate Autumn or Creating the Wow Factor for landscapes, Universal Horizons when the sky is the problem. Every Marketplace pack we picked is a one-off purchase for Luminar Neo, so nothing on this list adds a recurring bill.
If you don’t have Luminar editing software but want to try presets, check out our Preset Collection for Lightroom!
