Skylum Announces a New Photo-Editing App for Professional Portrait Photographers

Skylum has news that will be of high interest to portrait photographers. It's an announcement of a dedicated app code-named "Project Barcelona." It's an app designed for professionals to enhance portrait retouching.

The company says it recognizes the increasing demand for time-saving tools in portrait photography that would enable professional and semi-professional photographers to focus on creative growth and client engagement.

Just as Luminar Neo provides convenient editing solutions for a broad set of photography challenges, this new app uses cutting-edge AI technology to help portrait photographers achieve top-quality retouching and inspire them with new creative possibilities.

Skylum is collaborating with renowned portrait photographer Julia Trotti to develop this specialized software solution. Set for release in September 2024, Project “Barcelona” will empower photographers by automating routine face retouching processes through an efficient, AI-optimized workflow that runs locally on the user’s device, making it as easy as applying presets. With the added advantage of precise and adjustable masking tools, it provides enhanced control and accuracy for perfect results every time. This, in turn, will allow portrait photographers to balance the time-intensive task of photo retouching with shooting and growing their photography business.

Features include:

• Skin Toning: Make subtle changes to the skin tone of specific areas thanks to an accurate facial skin segmentation model; remove the red hue or unify the overall color. On top of that, the new app's state-of-the-art face mesh model provides unique makeup correction capabilities, allowing the application of extra textures like blush, highlight, and contour, and changing the color of lips, brows, and other elements.

• Eye Enhancement: Add iris flare, remove redness, and adjust eye shape with a comprehensive suite of tools to perfect a subject’s eyes in portraits.

• Teeth Whitening: Ensure radiant smiles with advanced teeth whitening and brightening capabilities.
• Makeup Application: Enjoy customizable options for creative makeup styles and colors to complement any complexion, clothing, or backdrop.
• Bokeh Effects: Create stunning depth-of-field effects with the bokeh feature, adding dimension and allure to portraits.
• Body Enhancement: Adjust bodily proportions to correct posture and account for unflattering angles, making sure portraits capture subjects in their best light.

Getting the App

An early bird offer starts June 25, 2024. Find out more on Skylum’s website and sign up for the waiting list for early access.

There's no information on pricing yet, and Skylum wants to emphasize that this is a new app and new initiative. It doesn't mean it's replacing Luminar Neo, which is still in active development. Think of it as Luminar Neo for portrait photographers.

We should have a beta at some point in the near future and will report on how it works. Skylum says the app will be a native Mac and Windows app. No iOS or Android version, at least for now.

Many portrait photographers will see this as competition for Portrait Pro from Anthropics, a very popular portrait editor.