• New 64-bit version for Photoshop CS5
• Only one version of LightMachine 1.02 is offered. This universal binary contains PowerPC 32-bit, Intel 32-bit and Intel 64-bit plugins. It works with Photoshop CS2-CS5 and Photoshop Elements 6-9. Not supported anymore are Photoshop 7/CS and Photoshop Elements 1-4. But we still provide Version 1.01, which works with them as well as other old applications.
• Support for images larger than 30,000 pixels in width or height. You need at least 6 GB RAM to process such images with LightMachine 64-bit. The Windows version does not support such large images yet.
• To unify the UI of all PhotoWiz plugins the following changes were made:
  • A new tool bar above the preview for choosing the following tools: hand, cross, eyedropper and split view.
  • In the Color modes the cross cursor (of the cross tool) is now used to select a color for the color mask. Previously it was an eyedropper cursor.
  • New maximize and exit buttons on the title bar.
  • New Instant Preview check box on the Prefs tab sheet that makes the sliders react instantly. It is activated by default.
  • The B/W button below the preview was turned into a check box and moved to the Info tab sheet
  • New key shortcuts: H/Space for the hand tool, I for the eyedropper and S for the splitdrag tool, + and - for zooming, R for reset.
  • Double clicking the label of a slider resets it to its default value.
  • The Reset button now deactivates the B/W and Show Blown Highlights check boxes.
  • On the Info tab sheet only 8-bit pixel values are shown (even for 16-bit images).
  • The "Auto Preview" check box was renamed to "Preview".
  • The "Multiple" check box was renamed to "Multi"
  • "Deactivate Multiprocessor Support" was renamed to "Multi-CPU Off".
• New "Delete Spot" item on the arrow-down menu of the Spot Mask tab sheet
• Bug Fix: In the Virtual Studio modes the spot circle was not displayed when the Multi check box was active even if split view was off.
• If the zoom ratio is set to "Fit" and you maximize the window, then the image in the preview is also zoomed.
• The demo version renders less opaque watermarks faster to the image.

Windows Standalone/Lightroom Version 1.05b (October 2010)

• Support for color management, which means that embedded profiles in JPEG, TIFF and PNG files are used for displaying an image.
• The RAW Options dialog was renamed to "Options" and now contains RAW and Color tab sheets. The Color tab sheet contains color management options.
• A Color Space option for raw files was added to the Options dialog. You can now choose to convert raw files to sRGB, AdobeRGB or ProPhotoRGB.
• Improved handling of profiles and meta data:
  • New label on the Info tab sheet which displays image size, bit depth and profile
  • Embedded profiles in JPEG, TIFF and PNG files are preserved when saving them as JPEG, TIFF or PNG.
  • If a JPEG, TIFF or PNG file does not have an embedded profile, but mentions sRGB as color space in the EXIF data, an sRGB profile is embedded when saving it as JPEG, TIFF or PNG.
  • A profile is embedded when saving a RAW file as JPEG, TIFF or PNG.
  • The metadata of JPEG files (EXIF, IPTC etc.) is preserved when saving the image again as JPEG.
  • XMP, IPTC and Photoshop tags are preserved when opening and saving TIFF files. This means that the EXIF information is correctly displayed in Lightroom for processed images.
  • Automatic rotation is now also supported for TIFF and PNG files.
• New "Use Source Folder(s)" check box on the Batch dialog, which lets you save the batch processed images in the same folder as the original image.
• New Minimize button in the title bar for hiding the main window.
• Improved Lightroom Installer, which is more reliable and sets ProPhotoRGB as the color space for processing images.
• The Batch button on the Batch dialog was renamed to "Start".
• The Instant Slider check box is deactivated by default, because of user complaints.
• Bug Fix: the Color values on the Info tab do not flicker anymore when moving the mouse over the preview.
• Bug Fix: File dialog was sometimes displayed at start up
• Bug Fix: No memory access error message anymore if you close an image and move the mouse over the preview with the Info tab sheet displayed.
• Bug Fix: The preview is not redrawn unnecessarily anymore.
• Bug Fix: Fixed the color of the labels on the Options dialog under Vista/7
• Bug Fix: No black line in preview on start-up and Undo feature works again.
• Bug Fix: The color information on the Info tab sheet was not displayed in the Virtual Studio modes.
• Bug Fix: Shadow Depth was not set correctly by Reset and on first startup.
• Bug Fix: When the demo version started up at maximum dialog size, an unnecessary message was displayed.
• The manual was updated with explanation for the new features.

Windows Version 1.05 (September 2010)

• Standalone and Lightroom versions of LightMachine are now available. Both can open multiple images and support images with 8-bit and 16-bit/channel.

  • The Lightroom version can be used as an external editor in Adobe Lightroom 1, 2 and 3.
  • The Standalone version is a program that runs on its own. It offers a batch processing feature and opens the following image formats: Camera RAW (including DNG), JPEG, TIFF, PSD, PNG, BMP, TGA, PCD, PCX, WMF. It can save JPEG, TIFF, PSD and PNG files.
• The spots, split view line and focus point can be moved smoother and faster over the preview.
• Please move your self-saved presets to the Presets sub folder at the following location to make them appear on the arrow-down menu:
  2000/XP: c:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\ThePluginSite\LightMachine\
  Vista/7: c:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\ThePluginSite\LightMachine\
  To avoids write permission conflicts the .ini, preset and log files are now saved in this folder.
  
• To unify the UI of all PhotoWiz plugins the following changes were made:
  • A new tool bar above the preview for choosing the following tools: hand, cross, eyedropper and split view.
  • In the Color modes the cross cursor (of the cross tool) is now used to select a color for the color mask. Previously it was an eyedropper cursor.
  • New maximize and exit buttons on the title bar. When maximizing the window the task bar is respected. When clicking the maximize button again the normal window size correctly is restored. Double clicking the titlebar logo does not maximize the window anymore.
  • New Instant Preview check box that makes the sliders react instantly. It is activated by default. No cursor flicker anymore when moving sliders with Instant Preview activated.
  • The B/W button below the preview was turned into a check box and moved to the Info tab sheet
  • Visual styles are now automatically used. The Prefs > Dialog Theme check box was removed.
  • New key shortcuts: H/Space for the hand tool, V for the cross tool, I for the eyedropper and S for the split view tool, + and - for zooming, R for reset. If the input focus is on an edit or combo box, you need to additionally hold down the Alt key to make the shortcut work.
  • No cursor flicker anymore when moving sliders with Instant Preview activated.
  • The Reset button now deactivates the Show Blown Highlights and B/W check boxes.
  • Double clicking the label of a slider resets it to its default value.
  • The Prefs > Instant Sliders check box was removed. Its functionality is now activated with the Instant Preview check box.
  • On the Info tab sheet only 8-bit pixel values are shown (even for 16-bit images).
  • Under Vista and 7 the height of the sliders is slightly larger to avoid cuting off the arrows buttons.
  • A size grip was added in the bottom right corner.
  • The "Auto Preview" check box was renamed to "Preview".
  • The "Multiple" check box was renamed to "Multi"
  • The item names of the Satuation combo boxes were slightly changed to match with the other PhotoWiz plugins.
• If you change something on the Prefs tab sheet and press Cancel, all settings are saved. Previously you needed to press OK to save changes on the Prefs tab sheet, which meant that you would need to apply the effect to the image even if you did not want that.
• In the Virtual Studio modes you previously had to click on the preview in order to activate the cursor keys for moving the selected spot. Now you only need to move the mouse over the preview to be able to use the cursor keys.
• New "Delete Spot" item on the arrow-down menu of the Spot Mask tab sheet
• The rendering time is measured more accurately.
• The Reset button activates the Preview check box
• Bug Fix: Undo/Redo function works again
• Bug Fix: In the Virtual Studio modes the spot circle was not displayed when the Multi check box was active even if split view was off.
• Bug Fix: Deinstalling the demo version after the full version was already installed, causes no problems for the full version anymore.
• All files are now installed in the "The Plugin Site" sub folder of the Program Files folder by default. Additionally "The Plugin Site" sub menu of the Start menu is now used for installation items.
• Support for silent installation: If you run the installer with the /silent or /verysilent command line parameter, the installation will run automatically and require no click. Plugin Installer will then automatically install the plugin in every supported application that it can find.
• Plugin Installer supports more applications, e.g. Sagelight and Fireworks CS2 to CS5, and displays less options during installation.

• This is only an installer update. The installer now detects the plugin folders of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements and offers these as installation options.

MacOS X Version 1.01 (January 2010)

• A Universal Binary version is now available that works with PowerPC as well as Intel processors in Photoshop CS2, CS3 and CS4. There is also a PowerPC version for Photoshop 7, CS and other old applications.
• The ini files are now placed in a folder (at /Users/<user name>/Library/Preferences/PhotoWiz/) that always has write permissions. This avoids reoccuring error messages and lost settings. Different settings are stored for different versions of Photoshop.
• Six new presets that prodcue pseudo HDR effects.

Windows Version 1.03 (October 2009)

• A 64bit version of LightMachine is available. It can be used with the 64bit version of Photoshop CS4.
• Visual styles are now supported.
• The plugin file size was reduced to 55% of the previous version.
• The installer now supports a total of 38 languages. Plugin Installer supports Photoshop Elements 8, localized versions of Photoshop CS2 and CS3 and several new applications.
• The demo version renders less opaque watermarks faster to the image.

Windows Version 1.02 (April 6, 2008)

• The Brightness slider produces a higher quality result especially when darkening the image.
• Six new presets for creating pseudo HDR effects.
• Support for multiple processors and hyperthreading processors: but only for mask creation and the Local Contrast effect. In case of problems you can deactivate it with the "Multi-CPU Off" check box on the Prefs tab sheet.
• DEP Compatibility: Even if Data Execution Protection (DEP) is activated in the Windows Control Panel, LightMachine still works.
• LightMachine now supports the Photoshop memory management which avoids memory shortages in Photoshop.
• Improved compatibility with some applications, e.g. color dialogs now work in GIMP and PhotoBrush and preview scrolling now works in SignLab and Image Analyzer.
• The the .ini files are now saved in the user's application data folder in case the folder of the LightMachine plugin is not accessible. This avoids problems with restricted user permissions.
• The language files are now contained within the plugin itself. This avoids problems with unacessible language files.
• Bug Fix: After maximizing the window (by double clicking the LightMachine logo), exiting and running LightMachine again, it was not possible to minimize the window (by double clicking the LightMachine logo). It works now.
• Bug Fix: Exiting the plugin with the ESC key does not cause a messed up dialog anymore when running the plugin again.
• Updated Plugin Installer tool, manual and installation

MacOS X Version 1.0 (April 2, 2007)

• Mac-Intel Version for Photoshop CS3 is now available

Windows Version 1.01b (File Date: March 26, 2007)

• Bug Fix: Previous versions of LightMachine crashed under Windows Vista on some computers if there was 2 GB or more RAM available.

• The HTML and PDF manual were slightly updated

• The Plugin Installer was slightly updated

MacOS X Version 1.0 (April 18, 2006)

• First MacOS X release of LightMachine based on the Windows Version 1.01.

Version 1.01 (File Date: November 7, 2005)

New Features:

• Selections from your graphics application can now be seen in the LightMachine preview. The effect is only visible on the selection area in the LightMachine preview. This feature currently only works in Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro 4 - 7, Photo-Paint, Canvas, FotoCanvas and Ultimate Paint. Other applications don't support it sufficiently.
• The LightMachine dialog was localized to German and a Language option was added to the Prefs tab. The manual and setup is still only available in English.
• New Fade slider for fading the overall effect of LightMachine.
• New button menu at the top with Open Preset, Save Preset, Undo / Redo options and a list of all presets from the Preset sub folder. As a consequence the Open Preset, Save Preset and Undo buttons were removed.
• New Spots button menu in the Virtual Studio modes for selecting a certain spot, copying spot properties to other spots and hiding/showing all spots.
• New key shortcuts in Virtual Studio mode:
  • You can directly select the first ten spots with the numeric keys.
  • You can move the currently selected spot with the cursor keys by 10 pixel. If you additionally hold down the CTRL-key you can move the spot by 100 pixel. (You may need to click on a spot or use a numeric key at first to move the focus to the preview before you can use the cursor keys. Activating InstantPreview from the Prefs tab sheet updates the preview with every key stroke.)
  • In addition to the Del key you can now also use the Backspace key to delete a spot.
• New Instant Sliders check box on the Prefs tab sheet. If activated, the preview updates while dragging a slider. (Please notice that the Undo / Redo feature won't work anymore if you have this option activated.)
• Several new presets including vignetting correction and some polarizer effects.
• A tool called Plugin Installer is installed with LightMachine and also executed during setup. It lets you copy the LightMachine plugin to the plugin folder of various applications and lets you remove it later again. It can detect the plugin folder of 25 graphics applications.

Improvements / Changes:

• In Virtual Studio mode the spot circle in the preview gets oval now when using the Ovality slider.
• The unit of the Size slider in the Virtual Studio modes was changed from pixel to percent. That way the same setting or preset can now be used with images of different sizes without having to readjust the spots. You need to resave old presets though.
• The Brightness, Contrast and Size sliders work exponentially now. That means smaller values now occupy a larger part of the slider bar, which makes it easier to choose small values.
• When entering a value in edit box of a slider, the preview updates automatically. Previously you needed to press the return or tab key to make the preview update.
• New general key shortcuts: CTRL + O for opening presets, CTRL + S for saving presets and CTRL + Z for Undo/Redo.
• If necessary LightMachine will now look for the html manual, presets and log files in the original installation folder. That means, if you only copy the LightMachine.8bf file into a plugin folder, the mentioned features will work nevertheless.
• A message box is now displayed if you try to use the Logged Settings feature in an host application that doesn't support it.

Updates and Bug Fixes:

• Bug Fix: When clicking the color box on various tab sheets the color was previously not passed to the color dialog.
• Bug Fix: Transparent areas are now correctly displayed with a chessboard pattern when applying LightMachine to a 16bit layer in Photoshop.
• Bug Fix: If the the zoom was not set to "Fit", no preview update occurred after resizing the window.
• Bug Fix: The Last Filter command (CTRL + F) in Photoshop didn't work if LightMachine was in one of the Virtual Studio or Colors modes.
• Bug Fix: The Open/Save Preset file dialog sometimes displayed the folder of the current image instead of the folder of the latest opened/saved preset.
• Bug Fix: Beta screen problems

 

Version 1.0b (File Date: February 28, 2005)

New Features:

• The corrected image and the mask can be viewed side by side now. All you have to do is to activate Split View, Multiple and one of the N,P,S or H buttons
• You can now use the mouse wheel to change slider values. You need to select the slider at first by clicking on it or using the tab key.
• Some new preset files were added

Updates and Bug Fixes:

• The Manual was updated:
  • Step by Step Guide: Using LightMachine as a Masking Tool
  • Switching Modes explained in more detail
  • More explanations on Local Contrast
  • Several other places were updated
• Bug Fix: The Shift slider didn't work anymore with deactivated Stretch check box. This previously led to different final result.
• Bug Fix: On 16bit images using negative values for the Brightness slider previously caused artifacts on images with blown highlights.
• Bug Fix: Applying LightMachine a second time in Serif PhotoPlus caused a black result because of an incompatibiliyt in PhotoPlus. It was fixed.
• Bug Fix: Activating Log Settings on the Prefs tab previously caused an error message in Serif PhotoPlus.
• Bug Fix: Applying LightMachine a second time in ACDSystems Canvas previously caused problems.
• Bug Fix: Streaks previously appeared in Multiple Split View.
• Bug Fix: Adding spots in the Virtual Studio modes wasn't possible with activated Split View.
• Bug Fix: Previously the spot crosses and circles were displayed in the wrong location if you activated the Mulitple check box in the Virtual Studio modes. Now the spot crosses and circles aren't displayed anymore and the spots aren't editable anymore if Multiple is active.
• Bug Fix: Using the mouse wheel to scroll through the combo boxes works now.
• The Demo version now applies a slightly less visible watermark.
• Some smaller bugs were fixed.

Version 1.0 (File Date: January 1, 2005)

• First Release