Light Crafts, Inc. today announced that it's breakthrough photo editing software – LightZone for Macintosh – has received a «Macworld Best of Show Award,» representing the most exciting hardware and software products announced at Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco. LightZone provides a complete photo editing tool that significantly reduces the time photographers spend after a shoot, producing high quality photographs. LightZone offers photographers an advanced RAW editing experience that is easy to use while delivering a highly integrated editing environment that produces professional results.

Designed and built from the ground up for professionals, LightZone for Macintosh is available as a free 30-day trial at www.lightcrafts.com. LightZone for Windows will be available for Windows users in late January.

LightZone is a better way to view, manage, edit and correct digital photographs and create stunning photographic and fine art prints. Based on light values and shapes, LightZone works in the same way that photographers think about their photographs. The technology behind LightZone was first previewed at DEMOfall 2005, where it received the «DEMOGod Award.» Because of its multi-platform support, LightZone users will be able to quickly become productive, regardless of their computer's operating system, and seamlessly collaborate and share files edited in LightZone.

"We're proud that LightZone has received recognition by the leading Macintosh conference that showcases the top creative solutions for professionals,» said Dean Tucker, CEO and president of Light Crafts. «LightZone is the answer for photographers who want to spend more time on photography and less time learning paint-shop software. LightZone releases photographers from the tedious technology of the past and gives them more time to express their creativity. We built LightZone with professional photographers in mind, so professionals get the power they want, yet it's easy enough for avid photographers to use.»

«LightZone is full of pleasant surprises for first-time users,» said Lars Vinberg, professional photographer and director of product management for Light Crafts. «One of the surprises is its performance. While traditional photography software grinds to a halt when editing and processing large image files, LightZone rapidly hums along through the editing process.»

Integrated Solution Optimizes Photo Editing, Workflow and Output

LightZone provides serious photographers with a tightly integrated digital workflow to help them make the most efficient use of their time viewing, organizing, editing, correcting and printing their photographs. LightZone provides a tightly integrated editing environment to help photographers make the most efficient user of their time viewing, organizing, editing, correcting and printing their photographs. Key features in LightZone include:

StudioZone

An innovative image viewer and file browser, StudioZone™ lets photographers view, print and publish their photographs using a true digital negative format. A powerful search function, with metadata search, helps you find specific images in an instant. An integrated RAW converter provides a seamless transition from camera media to LightZone.

ZoneFinder

Using patent-pending technology, ZoneFinder™ analyzes and displays an image in shapes and tonal values, just as photographers pre-visualize their prints.

ZoneMapper

ZoneMapper™ provides an easier way to control and adjust the light and tonal values of an image. ZoneMapper is the most powerful way to precisely remap tonal values for color correction, to set the optimal points for highlights and shadows, and to correct contrast.

RegionMapper

RegionMapper™ simplifies selecting even the most complicated regions of an image and it expertly blends the effects of the tools and transformations with the rest of the image. This simple technique provides extraordinarily precise and accurate control of the area being edited.

True Non-Destructive Editing

LightZone's non-destructive image processing engine does not alter any portion of the original image file, so photographers can modify or delete changes at any point in their workflow. LightZone treats an original image as a digital negative, so the original image file is always unchanged. And the transformations made to the photograph are saved in a way that tells the application how to display or print the modified photograph. Now photographers can create multiple versions of an image without duplicating files or using up large amounts of hard drive space.

Linear Color Space

LightZone works in linear color space instead of a gamma corrected color space, allowing more precise calculations for consistent color and predictable results on a display or on paper.

Pricing and Availability

LightZone for Macintosh is available immediately at www.lightcrafts.com for $249.95 (U.S. Suggested List Price). LightZone for Windows will be available in late January. Customers also have the option of downloading a free 30-day trial version. LightZone for Macintosh supports Mac OS X v.10.3.9 or later. LightZone for Windows supports Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

About Light Crafts, Inc.

Light Crafts, based in Palo Alto, develops digital photo processing software for professional and prosumer photographers. For more information, visit www.lightcrafts.com

Light Crafts, LightZone, StudioZone, ZoneFinder, ZoneMapper and RegionMapper are trademarks of Light Crafts, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Company Contact

Dean Tucker

CEO and President

650-331-1989

Media Contact

Mike Jackman

Jackman Communications

415-388-3216

Source: emediawire