Editor's Choice 2007: Digital Compacts

EDITOR'S CHOICE Imaging Software

Light Crafts LightZone

This unique image editor is a great fit for photographers who've migrated to digital from the traditional darkroom. Its simple, straightforward interface lets you easily identify the areas you want to fix based on their tonal value. Working with a grayscale version of your image (color or black-and-white) called a zone map, you lighten or darken the brightness of those areas with a slider on a gradient tool. If you want to alter the tone only in a specific part of the image, rather than everywhere that tone occurs, you can use one of LightZone's selection tools to quickly define the area. (Unlike Photoshop and much like Apple's Aperture, the tools you use stack up on a palette and can be edited without affecting original pixels.) However you make such selections, our experience is that they're very accurate, probably helped by the software's automatic tone-sensitive feathering. Basically, LightZone simulates an optical printer's thought process and approach. About $100.

Read more on Light Crafts LightZone. Next product: Microsoft Windows Vista.