I have a client who buys distressed properties around New Jersey. They either fix them up and rent them, or they flip the properties. So I decided to use some of the recent photographs I made for my client to take Skylum’s new Accent AI 2.0 filter out for a spin.

To do so, I loaded up Luminar 3, connected a folder of property photos to the Luminar library and started browsing and testing.

One of the things I love about the new filter is how it recognizes objects and performs edits based on those individual objects rather than the overall photograph. At the same time, I noticed it does not handle the sky so well. But Luminar offers another filter for the sky, called AI Sky Enhancer.

The advantage of both means you can use Accent AI, mask out the sky, then add in AI Sky Enhancer whenever possible.

With that all said, here are some before and afters of what Luminar’s new AI filter did for me. This first example is on the second floor of a distressed property with many holes in the roof.


Next up is a stairway. I loved the composition here, and what Accent AI did to the overall exposure.


Next up is the house where I masked away Accent AI’s effort in the sky, and in place used Luminar’s Sky AI filter.


In this next photo, Accent AI did a great job on the grass and brick of the house. However, I had to mask it away from the sky because I did not like what it did there.


Finally is this old TV. The property was very distressed in a very sad way. But there were some gems to photograph around the property before it was cleaned out. Like this old TV. I love the texture it brought out in the object but felt it could use a nostalgic look overall, so I used a Luminar display preset.


If you haven’t given Luminar’s Accent AI a spin yet, I recommend you do so. Luminar comes in two versions. A standalone, and Luminar Flex which works as a plugin for Lightroom Classic, Photoshop and Apple Photos. Use the promo code PHOTOFOCUS to save $10!