While many eyes may be on Apple’s new Aperture software this week, Light Crafts Inc. on Thursday announced the release of LightZone, a new photo and image editing software tool for pro photographers that’s making its debut on the Macintosh. A Windows version is expected in November. A 30-day trial version is available for download from the Light Crafts Web site, and the full version costs US$249.95.
LightZone, which was first announced last month, touts viewing, organizing, editing, correcting and printing features. StudioZone is the image viewer and file browser; it lets users make changes to files while retailing the original untouched. ZoneFinder analyzes an image, recognizes segments then displays shapes and densities (lights and color values) to identify as zones. ZoneMapper controls and adjusts light and tonal values of images, and RegionMaker blends effects of the tools and transformations to selected regions with the rest of the image.
System requirements call for a G4 or better with Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later, 512MB RAM, 1-5GB of hard disk space, and 1024 x 768 resolution display with 16-bit color minimum.