computer science

Skylum

Skylum is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Skylum rather than just read about it. In short: Skylum (formerly Macphun) is a software development company based in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is most known for its award-winning photo editing software Luminar Neo and Aurora HDR.

Key takeaways

Skylum belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Skylum to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Skylum from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Skylum (formerly Macphun) is a software development company based in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is most known for its award-winning photo editing software Luminar Neo and Aurora HDR. Skylum is also the developer of other photography apps for Mac such as Snapheal, Focus, Tonality, Intensify, Noiseless, and FX Photo Studio.

History Skylum was founded as Macphun in 2008 by two gaming developers and amateur photographers, Dmitry Sytnik and Paul Muzok. Initially the company developed applications for iOS. One of its first applications was Vintage Video Maker, which was later named Vintagio. In 2009, Apple named Vintagio among Best iPhone apps of the year. In total, the company released over 60 applications in the first three years. However, it saw the greatest number of downloads in the photography applications. Skylum thus decided to develop the same photography applications for macOS. In early 2010, Skylum launched its first macOS application, FX Photo Studio Pro, which was earlier available for iOS only. Several other applications were also developed for macOS, including Snapheal. In 2013 the company launched Intensify, a fully featured photo editing software that was named among the year's Best Mac App Store apps. In 2014, Skylum launched Tonality, a black-and-white photo editor software, that won Apple's Editors' Choice of the Year. In 2015, Skylum released a new image noise reduction application called Noiseless. In the same year, Skylum partnered with Trey Ratcliff to develop an HDR program. As a result of this collaboration, Aurora HDR, a High Dynamic Range editing and processing tool, was released in November 2015. A year later, Skylum developed Luminar, an all-in-one photo editing software focused on ease of use and intuitive interface. In 2017, the company released Aurora HDR and Luminar for Windows — software that previously was available for macOS only. Both Luminar and Aurora HDR became the most known applications developed by the company as of today. At the same time, Macphun announced that it would officially change its name to Skylum. Over the years, Skylum has grown into an international team of over 100 professionals. Skylum has released multiple versions of Luminar since 2016, including Luminar 2018, Luminar 3, Luminar 4, and Luminar AI. These versions integrated an increasing number of tools powered by AI technology, as Luminar evolved and added functionality. Luminar 3 brought the ability to edit multiple images at once with a new library panel, optimizing it for efficiency. Released at the end of 2019, Luminar 4 introduced new AI-powered tools: AI Sky Replacement, AI Structure, AI Skin Enhancer, and Portrait Enhancer. Luminar 4 was the first image editor completely based on artificial intelligence. With the introduction of Luminar AI in 2020, Skylum has moved further in the implementation of artificial intelligence, which has helped automate the process of photo editing without sacrificing the quality. Luminar Neo, a more advanced and feature-rich modular version of Luminar, was released in early 2022, and included support for layers, AI masking, Extensions, and more. Luminar Neo combines the best of Luminar 4 and builds on the technology behind Luminar AI. With a modernized modular engine, Luminar Neo is meant to accelerate the development and release of new features in the future. In late 2023 the Skylum team added generative AI features to Luminar Neo's arsenal, including GenErase, GenSwap and GenExpand. Generative AI is capable of generating realistic visuals using generative models that learn the patterns on existing photos. The Skylum Team also hosts exclusive photo excursions around the world under the brand name Luminar Adventures. During these tours, expert photography guides teach the participants photography and editing. Excursions have already taken place in Iceland, with plans to add trips to Japan, Portugal and other scenic destinations like Antarctica in 2024 and forward.

Products Skylum's flagship product is Luminar Neo. Considered to be an application for both amateur and professional photographers, Luminar Neo has a variety of AI-powered features like Sky AI and Face AI designed to enhance photos of any genre, including landscapes, portraits, street photos, and more. It also has features that use generative AI technology. Additionally, the application has built-in Presets, which can be used to apply a set of fixed adjustments to images in a few clicks. A variety of additional Presets are also available for purchase in the Luminar Marketplace. The effects can be combined using layers and masks. Luminar Neo supports multiple file formats, including RAW files. Apart from Luminar Neo, Skylum is most known for its photo editing software, Aurora HDR, launched in 2015. Other notable software developed by the company includes Snapheal, Focus, Tonality, Intensify, Noiseless, FX Photo Studio, and Photolemur.

Awards Skylum products have been recognized with a number of awards. In 2019, Skylum took home 4 gold awards at the Digital Camera Grand Prix. The company was honored for innovation in the photo editing sphere with its Luminar 4, Aurora HDR 2019, and Photolemur editing software. Skylum also received a technical award for its innovative approach. In 2017, Luminar — and in 2019, Luminar Flex — was named the Best Software Plugin in the Lucie Technical Awards. In the same year, Luminar was awarded the Best Imaging Software by TIPA. In 2018, Luminar was named an Editor's Pick by Outdoor Photographer. Luminar Neo has won multiple top industry awards, such as the Red Dot Brands & Communication Design award in the User Interface category and the TIPA World Awards for Best Imaging Software in 2022 and 2023. Forbes Advisor added Luminar Neo to their list of Best Photo Editing Software of 2023 reviewing the tool as: "Luminar Neo is a popular photo editing software, and for good reason. It uses AI-enabled editing tools to enhance images, such as adding rays of sunshine to a landscape image, to give an example. Its user-friendly interface (UI) allows even beginners to adapt to photo editing easily. Moreover, it has advanced features including tagging, lens correction, and editing RAW images."

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Skylum

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Skylum claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Skylum before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Skylum ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Skylum

In research: Skylum appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Skylum in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Skylum is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2008 establishments in Ukraine, Artificial intelligence companies, Companies based in Kyiv, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Skylum outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Skylum in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Skylum means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Skylum out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Skylum in simple terms?

Skylum (formerly Macphun) is a software development company based in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is most known for its award-winning photo editing software Luminar Neo and Aurora HDR.

Why does Skylum matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Skylum?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Skylum.