LightZone 4 for Windows released as Freeware

What used to be an excellent commercial editor is now available
as a FREE download from....

http://lightzoneproject.org/

28MB download runs on Java

Quite a complex program loads K-5 DNG files OK.

There is a RAW profile on the site for the K-5 for use with
v3.9.... I'm not sure if it works or is needed for v4.0

Tutorials and links to videos are on the site.
About 10 videos on Youtube..... this one is about
one of the most important tools.... Zonemapper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3jpa-adsNU

Quite powerful for B&W

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvtcFObMqs


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Note to Win8 users - Win8 is having none of it, unless you allow it past the UAC (User Account Control).

I tried to download and install it, and Mr Gates' "beast from Hell" decided to block it "to protect my computer"...

Now, if the program was called something like PORNSPAMVIRUS, I could understand it, but is Microsoft really that scared of freeware??

Thanks for the link. Installed fine on Win 7.

John K

I can't see anything on the Lightzone site about problems with
Win8 and they have spent a lot of time beta testing. No doubt
someone will have the same problem and ask for a fix.

One thing I did notice is that it's a 32 bit program, but it
should run OK on 64 bit.

It was originally written when files were smaller so if it
runs slow, it might be better to crop or reduce your filesize.

The Youtube videos are good, I've watched 3 so far. These were
all produced when you had to pay for the program. The relight
tool looks very powerful.

'

I'm glad everytime the open-source products alternative increase over the time.

On their site i'm reading now:
Good.

Note:
Tried it now the previous release on Xubuntu 12.04 seem work without problems.

Actually instead remain the License Keys issue:

Being a long-time Lightzone user, I'm really pleased that the project has managed to get to this stage. I know that it's taken a considerable amount of work by a lot of people to get here so hats off to them.

I'm not really a Windows user and, as yet, the Windows version is the only one released as open source but have tried it on a Windows Vista machine and it appears to work very well; if anything, faster than version 3.9.

Algi, you mentioned the K5 raw profile on the site. I was the person who built that profile, as it happens, after a long discussion on how to with Doug Pardee so hope it works for you. As far as I can tell that, and all the other custom profiles produced over the last year or so, have been incorporated into this v4.0 build. At least, You don't seem to have to use the profile as a custom style any more which is what you had to do with v3.9.

Alexfoto, I believe that the only open source version released so far is the Windows version because that went through beta testing first. I think it says on the site that the Linux and Mac builds will be ready shortly and I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

Adrian

@ Alexfoto - there's no guarantee this'll work, but whilst you are waiting for the Linux version of this program, try running RUN AS DATE. Simply follow the instructions on their link website, and you may be able to get round the trial period expiry.

v4 for Linux is still under development..... It will be
released very shortly.

From the Forum...
"We are really close to a release to the membership for Linux and Windows. We've got this one bug, a relic from the old LZ, that is nagging us. It's not a whopper at all, but we'd love to get rid of it once and for all---and several Dev Team members are actively working on it.

I had hoped we'd be released by mid May, so it's really any day now."


Someones running the Windows version in a vcirtualbox.....

"Reporting running great under windows xp, in a virtualbox session under Opensuse 12.3... just waiting for linux version."

It does look like all the profiles have been incorporated. They
do mention on the site that none of the profiles are recent,
the latest being 5 months old and that because they hadn't
got a working Lightzone 4 for testing until today they haven't been
able to update any.

'

Installed and initial impressions are that it seems to work OK on Win7x64, and it opens K-5 II DNG's too.

Now to find the time to play with it.

Just had a play with it, its a nice piece of software, working well on windoze 8 here

I've also made use of Lightzone within my workflow for quite a while. Like most software I use, I pick out the bits that offer something different or a better way of achieving a particular result, and for me in Lightzone the standout feature is the detailing options provided on the 'Relight' panel. This is a type of sharpening, but easily and quickly applied and very effective, at least on my landscapes.

The shadow boosting and highlight reduction offered on the Relight panel is also very quick and effective. And the program uses a completely different method of selection, with a range of shapes that are pulled into place to select different areas - quick and useful sometimes, not flexible enough for other things.

White balance is controlled using a very flexible colour wheel (similar to PDCUs 'Fine Colour' control).

The headline feature is the 'Zones' method of controlling brightness and contrast - a sort of Ansell Adams style division of brightness bands over the image - its a very different way of working on a digital file (no levels or curves here!), but in practice I have not found it as intuituve or controllable as alternative approaches in other programmes.

Initial RAW development options are very limited. For this reason I start out in PDCU and output a 16bit TIFF, which can then be opened into other editors, including Lightzone if needed.

LINUX version has now been released.

Just downloaded and installed onto my win8 laptop. Program installed without a hitch and appear to run a lot better than CS6 (no black screen). Only played about with one file, converted a "nothing" image to b&w. lot of features and the software has a familiar feel to it, think Topaz, Lightroom etc. I think I'll enjoy getting to know this program, plus of course it's "free"

All the work so far has been for them to get working releases
after that I suppose they will start bringing it up to date.

Even the file save is still as it was when HDD's space was
at a premium. It defaults to reducing the file size when
you save, but you can change that.