LightMachine is a plugin for performing all kinds of light adjustments in photos. It combines shadow/Highlight, virtual lighting and color-based correction tools for performing sophisticated corrections without the need for time-consuming selections and Layer stacks. It lets you selectively correct photos taken under bad light conditions or with inadequate camera settings and achieve results that rival photos taken under the best circumstances. Additionally LightMachine can achieve special effects like glows, sunsets, high key and selective b/w effects, replace one color with another and simulate polarizing filters. LightMachine works in dozens of graphics applications including Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, IrfanView, Photoshop Elements, PhotoImpact, Photo-Paint and Fireworks under Windows as well as MacOS X. It also runs natively in Photoshop CS3 on Intel-Macs. LightMachine can be applied to 8bit and 16bit RGB images.
LightMachine corrects brightness, contrast, color and saturation in specific image areas independently from each other. It basically consists of four different filters each split up into a simple mode suitable for beginners and a Pro mode with more features for more flexibility. The Brightness/Contrast modes adjust brightness and contrast throughout the image which is nice as a starting point. The Shadows/Highlights modes give you complete control over dark and bright image areas and let you correct them completely independently from each other with the help of sophisticated masking options. The Virtual Studio modes allow you to place an unlimited number of shadow and light spots as if you were placing studio lights in a real photo studio. The intensity, size, ovality, angle, hardness and reflection properties of each spot can be adjusted precisely. Finally, the Colors modes let you selectively correct image objects of a specific color by clicking on them.
