Luminar can suggest a better crop. It doesn't know why you kept the basket.

Skylum's desktop changelog dates Luminar 1.29.0 to October 28. It says Crop now suggests up to 12 compositions based on familiar rules, including the rule of thirds, golden ratio and golden spiral. Each suggestion shows its underlying grid; an Auto button straightens the horizon.

The Smart Compositions product page says the tool considers subjects, faces, gaze direction, the horizon and other elements of the scene. You can choose a suggestion and refine it. Digital Camera World's October 30 coverage also describes the multiple crop options and suggests they could help beginners learn composition.

Those are documented features and a possible use, not evidence that the tool consistently chooses better photographs. We have not tested this release. A grid can explain where a subject sits without explaining why a small object matters to you.

Before trying suggestions, name one detail you want to keep. It might be a picnic basket, the doorway of an old home, or the space between two people. Then compare the proposed crop with the original and look specifically outside its edges.

This is a recommendation for using the tool, not a failure observed in Luminar. Software can identify a face or balance a horizon without knowing the story behind the picture. A visually untidy detail may be the reason the image belongs in your album.

The visible composition grid is helpful because it gives you something concrete to accept or disagree with. You can like the tighter framing and still pull an edge back out. You can also keep the original. Neither choice needs defending to an assistant.

Choose a picture you already want to send or print. Compare the original with a few suggestions rather than turning the whole album into a selection exercise. If a crop helps, adjust it for the actual destination before exporting.

For a print, check the paper shape and the final preview. A frame that works on screen may need another decision when it meets the paper's proportions. The same release adds a dedicated print mode with ICC profile support and soft proofing, according to Skylum's desktop changelog, as well as a full-screen export preview.

This is a sensible small use for a creative AI tool: offer an alternative you might not have tried, show enough of the reasoning to learn from it, and let you finish a photograph. It becomes less useful if choosing among alternatives takes over the evening.

The update also expands Luminar's conversational AI Assistant. Skylum says it can edit, explain tools and give feedback; Digital Camera World gives ‘What do you think of this photo?’ as an example request.

For someone unsure where to begin, asking for help may be easier than learning every control. But you don't need an assessment of the whole photograph when you only wanted a straighter horizon. Ask for the small change you need. Keep the odd little detail if you like it, and send the picture.