LightZone

Even professional photographers, with high-end equipment, need to make a few adjustments on their pictures. Advanced image processors focus on pixels and mathematical concepts, like histograms or curves. LightZone brings a fresh approach to image editing. It looks and feels like other image editors, but its features are based on real light physics and the working methods of professional photographers, who spend most of their time behind cameras or in dark rooms.

LightZone is not free, but it is open-source and it is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. The setup file is 24 MB, which should not take too long to download, even with a modest Internet connection. Moreover, the installation process is straightforward and fast, so you can have the application up and running, without any kind of difficulties.

The software comes with a good number of editing capabilities, but it can be used as an image browser as well. It allows you to navigate through local or network folders, just like on a standard explorer window. You can browse through a folder's contained pictures and preview, rate or stack them in the central region of the interface and view their metadata on the right side.

The browser and the editor can be found on the same interface, but on separate tabs. You can start editing a selected image right away, by clicking the Edit option, in the preview area or by selecting the Edit tab. While editing a picture, you can apply numerous predefined effects and styles with a single click and adjust them individually.

The available styles are listed and categorized on the left side of the window and you can hover with the mouse cursor over individual items to preview their effects. Once you apply a style, you can make a wide range of modifications, for each style, on the right side of the window, where you can select and apply other effects as well.

The software allows you to apply and adjust a red light, which behaves like the human visual system, which makes it easier to work with your picture. You can also apply a sharpening effect, a gaussian blur, make hue and saturation effects and much more.