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  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

Lightzone 2.0 Open Beta available

Mary Bull

New member
If you get it and use it, would you please report back here on whether the beta is an improvement over the earlier version?

I am currently evaluating LightZone, and I do plan to buy it when my trial period runs out on October 6.

Mary
 

Mary Bull

New member
Copying and pasting this link into my browser brought me a 404 error message:
"http://www.lightcrafts.com/products/...beta/index.php"

Happens with both Opera 9.02 and Mozilla Firefox.

However, clicking on the link--I opened a new window in my browser and brought up OPF in it, so I wouldn't lose my composition window where I'm replying to this post--brings up the page.

Learned by bitter experience not to click on a link from an OPF page where I'm composing a post. The URL--at least in my browser configuration--replaces OPF with the link's target. < she said with a sigh >

Mary
 

John Burkus

New member
I have been using Lightzone for several weeks and find that once you get the feel of it it can be used very creatively.

I downloaded the beta and tried it for a few hours before I uninstalled it. While the layout is much better, it seems to have slowed the the processing time dramaticaly. It also crashed and locked up. Methinks that I will wait for the bugs to be ironed out. One good thing is that current users can get v2 free.
 

Mary Bull

New member
John Burkus said:
I have been using Lightzone for several weeks and find that once you get the feel of it it can be used very creatively.
That's been my experience with it, also.
I downloaded the beta and tried it for a few hours before I uninstalled it. While the layout is much better, it seems to have slowed the the processing time dramaticaly. It also crashed and locked up. Methinks that I will wait for the bugs to be ironed out. One good thing is that current users can get v2 free.
I have just now installed the beta.

The installer did not want to overwrite the evaluation version I had, LZ v. 1.5.2.
I had it in C:/Programs. So I asked the installer to put v. 2.0 in C:/Documents and Settings/Mary. It was happy to do that. So far, it has not crashed. But I have not used it to do more than "Open" a file into its editor.

When I went to Add/Remove programs (I should say that I'm running Win XP SP2), I found that indeed I had two versions of LZ in the directory. A little worried about possible conflicts, I uninstalled my evaluation copy of v.1.5.02.

Interestingly, 2.0 does not present me with an evaluation dialogue window.

However, my Outpost (software firewall) did report that LZ wished to connect to the Internet. I told it to allow this. I presume in this way LZ will be checking whether I'm using it past October 31--the amount of time which the website says it can be used free.

I plan to buy LightZone. It's just a matter of when. Sometime in October, probably.

If beta v. 2.0 proves unuseable for me, I may end up buying the app sooner. I don't know whether they are tracking me about whether or not I've bought v. 1.5.02. With some programs, you can't download a second evaluation copy.

Well--stay tuned. I'm going to see whether I can fine-tune one of my fence/leaves/shadows images in the beta without crashing.

Mary
 

Mary Bull

New member
Further report on using this LZ beta

David Robertson said:
The new Lightzone 2.0 Open Beta is available for download from http://www.lightcrafts.com/products/lightzone/openbeta/index.php
I have used LightZone for about 15 minutes now. On a Win XP SP2 platform, with 120 GB HD and 512 MB RAM.

This open beta is very responsive and I did not experience the slower performance which John Burkus describes.

I was distressed to find that one new feature lies in the Color Balance tool. The sliders for RGB, respectively, are no longer offered. Instead, there is an eyedropper, which I have not yet figured out how to use.

The White Balance tool has retained the sliders. As a novice to image editing, the sliders were one of the most welcome features of LightZone, for me.

I may not buy this version, unless the choice for sliders in the Color Balance tool is given, along with the eyedropper feature. Already a pretty steep learning curve for me in the Regions tool.

Stay tuned. I'll report more on this beta 2.0 as I continue to use it.

Mary
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Mary Bull said:
Copying and pasting this link into my browser brought me a 404 error message:
"http://www.lightcrafts.com/products/...beta/index.php"

Happens with both Opera 9.02 and Mozilla Firefox.

However, clicking on the link--I opened a new window in my browser and brought up OPF in it, so I wouldn't lose my composition window where I'm replying to this post--brings up the page.

Learned by bitter experience not to click on a link from an OPF page where I'm composing a post. The URL--at least in my browser configuration--replaces OPF with the link's target. < she said with a sigh >

Mary
Bonjour Mary
the link doesn't work because you've copied it with "…" replacing some of the URL.
Doing a right click on the original link (as well as control click on a Mac) will give you at least 2 opportuniites that I know you will enjoy [he said with a pleasured smile]:
1: copy the link address
2: open the link in a NEW page...

The later shouldn't be necessary as OPF is set in order that links are to be opened automatically in a new (blank) page. May I suggest that you have a look on your browser's prefs?

Sheers! [he said with a glass of Bordeaux wine in hand]
 

Mary Bull

New member
Thanks for the tips!

Nicolas Claris said:
Bonjour Mary
the link doesn't work because you've copied it with "…" replacing some of the URL.
Oh, I know. Happened to me before. Remembered too late. Not enough coffee down, I guess. < she said, shaking her head at her stupidity >
Doing a right click on the original link (as well as control click on a Mac) will give you at least 2 opportuniites that I know you will enjoy [he said with a pleasured smile]:
1: copy the link address
2: open the link in a NEW page...
Indeed, I am overjoyed to be pointed to this right-click feature.
It works beautifully, and it's so easy. Plus the right-click menu offers some other nice choices, such as bookmarking the page.
The later shouldn't be necessary as OPF is set in order that links are to be opened automatically in a new (blank) page. May I suggest that you have a look on your browser's prefs?
I know. I have it set to open in the same window--selected that way to avoid having stacks of windows while browsing. May change it now.
Sheers! [he said with a glass of Bordeaux wine in hand
Scheers < she replied, with a glass of orange juice in place before the monitor >

And thanks a million, Nicolas! Nice to see you here after a dry spell of no posts from you. I know, you do have to earn a living. < she said with a warm smile >

Mary
 

David Robertson

New member
Mary Bull said:
If you get it and use it, would you please report back here on whether the beta is an improvement over the earlier version?

Mary

Hi Mary,

I'm not the best person to comment on the improvements in the new beta because the present version is just too slow for me to give it much of a try. I find the beta is excruciatingly slow loading images but I am intrigued by the zones and the regional adjustment is very exciting, plus cloning too.

Lightzone is not for me just yet, but I shall keep a close eye on its development.

Kind regards

David
 

Dierk Haasis

pro member
Like Mary I haven't experienced a [major] slow-down or any crashes, yet. What one finds slow or fast is often much more a matter of personal preference than real world difference. Yes, there are really slow and really fast programs but the actual speed may not necessarily have any bearing on ones work speed. RAW Therapee and Nikon Capture NX are really slow, particularly probematic with NX since the input gets syrupy and jumpy at times. RAWTH and Lightroom are slow in some respects although I find both rather responsive when I actiually do anything in them; same holds for Bibble.

Curiously I don't like the new lay-out of LZ that much. It may be more standard with working spaces, adjustable panes, incorporated panes ... Personally I found the Brwoser/Editor switch of 1.x better. And the left-hand position of the tools and tool stack was definitely better than the right-handed one.
 

David Robertson

New member
Dierk Haasis said:
What one finds slow or fast is often much more a matter of personal preference than real world difference. Yes, there are really slow and really fast programs but the actual speed may not necessarily have any bearing on ones work speed.
QUOTE]

Good point. I initially considered Lightroom too slow but have persevered and have come to like the program and the results I have achieved. Silkypix is a tad slow too but I use that as well. Unfortunately, Lightzone crosses a threshold beyond which I'm not prepared to go (at least, I'm not prepared to go there at the moment - given another day with some spare time I'll investigate more).

For all I know the slowness could be my PC and I just wanted to answer Mary's request for further info.

Kind regards

David
 

Mary Bull

New member
After reading your post, Dierk, I decided to go back to a LZ v. 1.xx.

I was already unhappy with the loss of the sliders in the Color Balance tool in beta 2.
I wrote to the tech support address on the LightZone Home page and suggested they could at least supply a choice between the sliders and the eyedropper before the full release of v. 2.

And your mention of the tools and toolstack on the right in the beta 2 rather than on the left as in 1.xx helped me to realize why I was feeling so awkward with the beta version.

I have just gone back to the website and downloaded and installed LZ v. 1.6.2.5509.
This version was not quite the hassle to install that beta 2 was. It automatically overwrote 2 for me, without my having to uninstall anything.

I like it very much. It has some improvements over v. 1.5.2 that I was running before, and I think that before October 6 I shall purchase it.

Mary
 

Mary Bull

New member
Thanks, David. Well, to each his own.

I will say that part of the acceptability of LightZone's performance for me may be that--with only 512 RAM on this machine--I don't run other apps while using it . That might be part of the difference between my experience and yours.

Mary
 

Mary Bull

New member
Light Crafts Customer Care responded promptly to my complaint/request

Mary Bull said:
... I decided to go back to a LZ v. 1.xx.

I was already unhappy with the loss of the sliders in the Color Balance tool in beta 2.
I wrote to the tech support address on the LightZone Home page and suggested they could at least supply a choice between the sliders and the eyedropper before the full release of v. 2.
I'm replying to myself here, because I want to report that I had an answer this afternoon from Richard McKeethen, Customer Care Specialist at Light Crafts Technical Support <support@lightcrafts.com> .

He said that he had received another such request and would bring it to the attention of the programming staff.

So I replied to him and asked for yet another change: for the tool stack and tools to be placed once more on the lefthand side, in v. 2.0, as it is in the 1.xx series.

Dierk's mention of the tools and tool stack on the right in the beta 2 rather than on the left as in 1.xx had helped me to realize why I was feeling so awkward with the beta version.
I have ... installed LZ v. 1.6.2.5509. ...
I like this version very much.

Also, I consider it a promising sign that I got a reply from Customer Care within a couple of hours of making my complaint/request.

To tell about that pleasant experience is the reason for my current post here at OPF.

Mary
 
Last edited:

Erik DeBill

New member
Mary Bull said:
I will say that part of the acceptability of LightZone's performance for me may be that--with only 512 RAM on this machine--I don't run other apps while using it . That might be part of the difference between my experience and yours.

I have 2G on mine and I notice that certain operations can run at very different speeds at different times. Sometimes exporting an 8MP image to 16-bit TIFF (with or without LZW compression) can take 30 minutes. Sometimes it takes 20 seconds. I haven't been able to find a correllation with running other things or not. I've watched for CPU and memory problems. I'm not thrashing and there's nothing else eating all the CPU.

But even with that, I've switched to LZ for raw processing. I just use PS for printing and adding copyright notices.
 
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