See the example below.  I also posted some more before & after example pictures on the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/SageEdit

I thought I’d mention it here, since I am just not ready to release it today and should have a version out by tomorrow, the next day at the latest.

A Small Introduction to the Light Blender

I’ll be explaining more about it when I release it, but it turned out to be a very large undertaking, and the result is a set of tools in Sagelight that really represents an entire program within a program, much like a number of other tools in Sagelight.

The Light Blender is based on some technology I developed (and then abandoned) last year around Ansel Adams’  Zone System methodology and a technique called Painting with Light.  Both Zone Masking and Painting with Light had their problems, as I saw them, and the Light Blender basically merges the two concepts in a way that works out very well.

In a nutshell, the Zone Masking system I wanted to implement didn’t work out for one reason: Halos!   This is a common and pervasive problem with image-editing.  Since I wanted each zone to be a different layer, when the layers overlapped, you could not avoid generating halos.

Painting with Light, on the other hand, is very nice to work with, but it is also very difficult — you have to use a brush and be very precise.   I had this experience, and someone mentioned it the other day: you can spend hours with the Paint with Light methodology just to get a similar result you could get more easily by other methods.  You really have to understand what is going on and then it is still hard to deal with — it just requires a bit of experience to do it right (I think that last line may generate some comments…)

The Light Blender allows you to play with the light in many different ways.  You can brighten up a very dark picture, or deepen a bright picture.  You can just reorganize the light of your image with a few controls.  You can work with an easy set of controls, or move on to a set of controls that allow you to blend and change the light while avoiding halos or completely eliminating them.

The main thing is that it is done fairly easily without a lot of work and with a lot of control.  Here is one example:

Original Image

Brightened Image after using the Light Blender with just a few slider movements.

This is just one small aspect of the Light Blender.  See more examples at: www.facebook.com/SageEdit

I should have a release out by tomorrow sometime.

picture credit: Mike Baird

Sagelight LightBlender (version 1.0)

(The LightBlender comes with Sagelight and is located in the PowerBox)

The Light Blender is a powerful “program within a program”-level tool in Sagelight that allows you to adjust and manipulate the light in your image in many different ways.  It can help you brighten shadows, add or remove contrast, make small changes, dramatic changes, and make surrealistic images.

This article has many different examples, all of which are clickable to their larger sizes – the larger-sized examples is important because one of the main elements of the LightBlender is that it allows you to get these powerful changes without halo effects and without blowing out highlights, which is a typical problem when dealing with bring out the light in your image.  At the larger sizes, you can inspect the results and see how well the LightBlender is doing.

LightBlender Examples and Descriptions

Normally this is the wrong order, but I am going to put all examples below before I discuss LightBlender.  This is because you can do so much with Light Blender, it’s worth keeping in mind all of the varied examples as I discuss how it works.  Scroll through the examples, and then you can refer back to them as I refer to various elements of the LightBlender.

There are notes about the LightBlender on most examples.

The LightBlender can help in just about all areas of your image, as well as open up new ideas.  The set of examples is fairly small in relation to what the LightBlender can do.  The examples run through a few different types of images and effects you can do with LightBlender.

Below are the examples, split into logical sections where certain aspects of the LightBlender is useful.  They are more-or-less in order of general types of images to more specific types.

Bringing up the Shadows and Brightening Images

One of the most straightforward and general uses for the LightBlender is to bring up the shadows in an image.  Sagelight already has the Smart Light function, which is very useful and still the “go to” tool for brightening up your image and bringing down the highlights.  Sagelight also has the “Fill Light Slider” to bring up the shadows.

The LightBlender extends these  principles.  It works on its own and also works with the Fill Light Slider and Smart Light (read more in the general description section).  In fact, the LightBlender has been carefully crafted to work well with all of Sagelight’s tools, particularly the Fill Light Slider, Definition Sliders, and Vibrance Sliders.  The LightBlender works on the principle of using different blending modes (such as Overlay, Vivid, etc., depending on the setting you choose), and can bring up the light in a way that also keep the colors brilliant.

Mono Lake

Original Image (Picture Credit: please let me know who sent it to me!)

After using LightBlender (click for larger image)

It’s important to note here that this image was also augmented after using the LightBlender.  The LightBlender helps you bring up, down, or otherwise change the light.  It can make an amazing difference, and sets you up to be even more artistic with your image.  As such, this image (and some others – which will be noted as they occur) in its primary result is what the LightBlender was able to do to the image.  That is, the brightness and overall light came from the LightBlender.  Some of the more subtle factors, such as Dodging and Burning and a subtle vignette, were added after the LightBlender was used.  In the case of this image, for example, the LightBlender put me in a great position to do very little work once the LightBlender was used.

For this picture, that really is the notation: the LightBlender brought it out nicely and then I was able to do just a few things to it to get this result.  All I really had to do is add the vignette and then unevenly dodge and burn the foreground to get the scattered look that looks like a nice uneven (i.e. realistic) tone, as if the sun was coming through some cloud or the texture was even more varied.

As I’ve mentioned in other articles, one of the things that can really subdue an image and really make it less plain and generally work is adding a very subtle vignette.

Statue

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger size)

This is a good example of a few things going on with the LightBlender:

1. No Halos or blown-out highlights. This type of image is very difficult to brighten without halos and without blowing out highlights
2. Low Resolution Source. The original source for this image is a highly compressed 8-bit jpeg, and look at how much definition was in the shadows that were so deep the face does not show at all.
3. LightBlender retains data. One of the end-results of the LightBlender is that it is able to keep a high quality level when bringing out data from the shadows.
4. Imagine RAW, or high-quality compression. If this is the sort of definition available in such a low-quality original, imagine what can be brought out of a RAW image, lossless or even a JPEG with maximum quality set.
5. Definition (aka Clarity for Lightroom users) is part of the LightBlender. The LightBlender is located in the Power Box along with the Definition Sliders.  The LightBlender image clearly has a much higher definition to it than the original. The LightBlender, in total, actually consists of the LightBlender controls and the Definition Sliders together.  They’ve been programmed to work together when the LightBlender is active.  It’s a little involved, but basically the Definition Sliders work in a very integral manner with the LightBlender to help the Light Blending along and to achieve great results.
6. LightBlender sets you up for more. There is definitely a “wow” factor for how this image was able to change this image so drastically in basically one set of controls.  But, its still a little dry.  It’s a technical result in that it really gives me a lot of room to work with it now.

After Augmentation (click for larger size)

After I used the LightBlender, I was able to get this result, which really darkened the image even more than it was originally.  I gave it a nice, cool blue hue, a vignette, and otherwise sought to make it moody.  Only this time, I had a lot more to work with and was able to get the dark image I wanted but with the face and hands showing, as well as a whole lot more definition to the image in general – with no halos.

City Street

Original Image

After LightBlender (click here for larger size)

I could have left the sky alone here, but I thought it looked too unnatural to leave it a the same darkness, so I brightened it up a little, too.

Pictures Taken Directly into the Sun

Pictures that are taken with the sun directly in front of the camera deserve their own class.  This is because they traditionally very difficult to deal with.  The LightBlender makes it easier.

Thanksgiving Day

Original Image (picture credit: please remind me!)

After LightBlender (click for larger image)

This image is the result after the LightBlender and some other functions to bring out the foreground and subdue the background.  The light factor comes from the LightBlender.

Multiple LightBlender-Pass Images (and Pictures Taken Directly into the Sun, continued)

These next two images are specific examples of how you can use the LightBlender, apply your image, and then use the LightBlender again in another pass.  The first image was also taken directly into the sun.

Ancient Arch

Original Image

After LightBlender (pass 1) (click here for larger image)

Pass 1 looks great and sets up the image for even more work.  It really brought out the rocks in the upper arch nicely, and I’d like to see some more brightness, contrast, and definition.  In this case, we can just use the LightBlender again.

After LighBlender (pass 2) (click here for larger image)

Now it looks much better.  It has more definition and a nice overall tone.

This image points out a couple things about the LightBlender:

1. False Halos.  When working with bringing out light in pictures, halos often occur.  An interesting thing that happens is false or imaginary halos.  Sometimes a halo will appear that is natural to the picture.  This can be important, because if a natural area is mistaken as a halo, a lot of time can be wasted fixing something that doesn’t need to be fixed.  For example, in this image, the fact that the white area in the middle-left of the picture is not a halo is easily seen, especially since we have the original as the reference.  But, this is not always true.  Sometimes apparent halos appear after the LightBlender has brought out the contrast of the image when these are natural parts of the picture.  You can use the various controls of the LightBlender (especially the Reduce Halos Slider) to determine whether or not it is natural to the image.
2. Uneven Light. In somewhat of an example of a “false halo” mentioned above, note the upper arch area and that it is brighter in the middle than it is on the edges.  Sometimes this can be an artifact of light blending in general, but in this image it is not the case.  The original picture shows the same issue – it’s just that it has such a low brightness and contrast it is hard to see.  However, upon inspection, you can see the same light issues in the original.  On the other hand, uneven light can make a picture look much more natural.  As an example, the second pass picture didn’t create the uneven light but it did magnify it as the contrast and brightness was brought out simultaneously.  Realistically, this probably looks better than completely even light which can sometimes give an artificial “HDR” look.
3. Adjusting Uneven Light.  Even so, it is very possible to adjust for the uneven light if desired.   Using the LightBlender with the Undo Brush or the Dodge and Burn Brushes are very useful for this.
4. LightBlender sets up the Dodge and Burn Brushes. The Dodge and Burn brushes turn into very natural resources for use after the LightBlender.  One of the reasons for this is that one of the main uses for the LightBlender is to bring up the shadows and to bring down the highlights.  This removes contrast for the image and basically prepares the image for a much wider range of editing.  For example, notice that pass 1 did exactly that – it reduced contrast and gave me a canvas to work on with a wide range of possibilities.  As it turns out, I just used the LightBlender again for the most part, but I also Dodged and Burned the image here and there.  The Dodge and Burn helps you create contrast where you want it, which is exactly what the LightBlender helps you with.

Gate Lion

Original Image (image credit: Paul Lawrence)

After LightBlender, pass 1 (click for larger image)

After LightBlender, pass 2 (click for larger image)

If you’ve looked at other articles I’ve written, you’ve seen this image before.  The first time I wrote about it, I was pointing this image out as an image that was an example of an image that is rather hard to deal with. This particular image is hard to deal with for a couple reasons, most notably the sky can get blown very easily with just about any operation.  Brighten the image, add definition/local contrast; just about anything will kill the sky because it is a bright areas mixed in with very defined dark leaves and branches.  This is a formula for halos or blown-out highlights, so the sky needs to be handled with care.

Another reason this image is hard to deal with is because it has a bright centerpiece surrounded by a dark area.  We want to brighten up the image and keep the contrast all at the same time, while preserving the sky.   This image started off as a RAW image, and, while I haven’t seen the JPEG image, I doubt very much it remained intact as a camera-written jpeg.

In the previous example with this image, I used it to point out the power of the Power Box.

Now that the LightBlender is part of the Power Box, bringing out this image is that much easier. Here were the steps involved in create this image:

1. Pass one with the Light Blender (as shown)
2. Pass two with the Light Blender
3. Small amount of Dodging and Burning (pretty much as shown)
4. Small amounts of touch ups here and there

This image points out another thing about the LightBlender

1. Sagelight Vibrance is part of the LightBlender.  As mentioned earlier, the Definition Sliders is a part of the design of the LightBlender.  If they didn’t already exist when the LightBlender was designed and implemented, they would have needed to be created anyway.  In the same vein, this is true of the Vibrance Slider, too.  It isn’t so much an integral part of it, as much as dark images, or images where you’re reducing contrast tend to look better if you can add some color to it.  As it turns out, the Sagelight Vibrance Slider in the Power Box works great for this, and typically works much better than just adding saturation.  So, the LightBlender consists of the LightBlender controls, the Definition Sliders, and the Vibrance Controls.  Or, the Power Box just encapsulates all of it.  Either way, the controls work very well together.

Subtle Tones, Skin Tones and Black and White Images

The examples so far have introduced some drastic changes to the samples shown, adding brightness and contrast.  Many more examples show a lot of work with the same sort of philosophy because that is a popular thing to do with images.

Adding subtlety to images is also a strength of the LightBlender.  The LightBlender is great for bringing out elements in images and is very good for bringing down highlights and bright skin tones. It also turns out that the LightBlender is great for black and white images.

Dolphins

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger image)

The Lightblender was used to bring down the brightness but to also bring up the shadows while keeping the contrast reduced. The end result is a much more colorful image (see note below) that adds a lot more detail to the dolphins.

This image points out an interesting factor with the LightBlender

1. The LightBlender can Deepen Color. The fact that the LightBlender turned the water to such a deep blue was fairly surprising.  It turned out that the deep blue is the color in the image corresponding to the lower light level.  You can adjust this with the LightBlender controls.  The end-result is changing the image from a mid-day image to a late-afternoon image. Note that the colors of the dolphins deepened, as well.
2. The Color can be Blended Back into the original image. Since the color is the natural color for the image, a great side-effect of this is that you can blend the image back into the original very naturally (i.e. with the Undo Brush).  Wanting to blend the result image back into the previous or original image happens often.  However, to get deep colors, this can mean masking and otherwise changing the color and the light, which makes blending back in difficult and can lead to unnatural results.  The benefit of the LightBlender keeping the correct, though more saturated color (due to the lower light level) is that you can blend it back into the original image much more naturally, because the color will blend back in accurately with the light changes.

Mohammed Ali

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger image)

As mentioned above, it turns out that the LightBlender is very suited towards black-and-white images.  This image, for example, was adjusted with the LightBlender, and then the noise in the upper-left was removed with the Image Smoothing function in Sagelight.  The result is a very nice black-and-white image with subtle tones and high definition.

notes:

1. This (and the next picture) are examples of very low-resolution, highly-compressed pictures.  This was more-or-less done on purpose to show how the LightBlender keeps the quality very high as it adjusts the light dramatically.

Restoration

Original Image

After Light Blender (and then some) (click for larger image)

This image points out a couple things about the LightBlender:

1. The LightBlender helps set a picture up for further editing with other tools. Once the cracks and tears were removed from the image, the Lightblender was used to bring the shadows and highlights in the image to a more natural look.
2. Sagelight is a multi-level, multi-faceted image editor.  The Light Blender adds to the large volume of tools already in Sagelight, and can help make the most out of what is already there.

Flower

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger image)

This is another image I’ve used in another article.  This turned out to be a good example of reducing the light while keeping the contrast low.  This image has more contrast than the original, but it is also a very light touch.  It’s a little hard to see in the thumbnail, but you can see the larger image to see how the LightBlender brought down the light but still kept the shadows a little higher to keep the definition in those areas.

Portraits and People

The LightBlender is great for dealing with portraits, either in bringing out the definition in a picture or providing for or setting up various effects.

Homeless Man

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger image)

This is an example of taking a dark picture and bringing out the definition.  The larger picture provides much more detail.

The LightBlender really brought out the definition, and I purposely made this a high-contrast picture to bring out the details of the man’s face and expression.  The beard, for example, really shows up now, as well as the blemishes which really are an integral part of the picture and were subdued before.

This picture now has almost a 3-d effect on the 2-d monitor.

Guy in Airplane Lavatory

Original Image

After LightBlender (et. al) (click for larger image)

With this image, I was just playing with different aspects of Sagelight, such as the Color Contrast and Blending controls.  The LightBlender set up the initial deepening of the contrast without killing the highlights.  I also added some monochromatic noise.

The reason I liked this picture is because I added two vignettes, around each face, and now the picture in the mirror looks like his evil twin staring back at him.  Strangely, the man in the mirror not only has a sneer the man on the left doesn’t have, but he also seems more in control, and seems as if he is peeking around the corner with some ulterior motive.  It was a strange juxtaposition, and now when I look at the picture, I see the man in the mirror looking at the man in the bathroom, not the other way around.

The Dramatic (and other various images)

This sections presents some various examples using the LightBlender, many of which have a flair for the dramatic statement.

The Cat

Original Image

After Light Blender (click for larger size)

Now “Evil Cat”

This image was made with two passes of the LightBlender.  One pass was for the overall tone, and the second pass was specific to the eyes – to bring out the reflections and to make the image that much more dramatic.

Stunt Planes

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger image)

A couple points with this image:

1. No Halos. This image really works well and couldn’t work as well with a larger feather or with halos.  With Halos, the image wouldn’t work, and it was important to have an even tone across the clouds.  This represents a very technically challenging image.
2. The People are not falling.  If you click on the larger image, you’ll see the people are attached to the plane.  Just thought I should mention that.

HDR Arch

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger size)

Notes:

1. LightBlender as HDR. The LightBlender (when using the more advanced features such as the Halo Reduction) is technically an HDR tool.  It is not promoted too much because its real purpose is to help you with creating realistic images. But, this image turned out well, and I left some haloing in on purpose to give it an artificial HDR feel, and because I was just experimenting with it.
2. Real HDR.  By the same token, you can use “real HDR” techniques in the LightBlender to accomplish some surreal and photo-realistic effects outside the range of the typical process. The picture of the homeless man above, for example, uses some of those to bring out a very details, somewhat surreal quality.  I will be writing some articles in this specific subject.

HDR Docks

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for large size)

Another HDR approach to the LightBlender.  As mentioned, though its not its main purpose, the LightBlender is capable of a very wide range of changes to your image, including images like the HDR-look above.

Medieval Girl

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger size)

1. In many ways, this image represents nothing special.  But, that’s exactly the point with a lot of what the LightBlender can do.  While the LightBlender is very powerful and there is a natural tendency to show examples of its power, it can also be used as a tool to do some fairly easy things, such as bringing out the definition and clarity in this picture.

The end-result is a picture that has a lot of color and much more of a 3-D effect that the original.  I focused on the reds in the wall, the woman’s hair, and the girl’s dress and complexion (and, to some extent, the red in the bricks) to give this picture a theme.

This operation is very easy with the LightBlender, and the LightBlender, an addition to its more powerful elements, is a great “go to” tool for general editing.

Condor

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger size)

This image represents how you can really get definition from an image.  This image has a totally different look than the original image. The LightBlender was used in two passes, one to get the overall result, and one more to bring out the eye.

The detail in the eye is really the LightBlender comment for this example – the eye really makes a difference, especially for such a small part of the picture.

Tiger Cub (Artistic Example)

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger size)

This image is a good example of how different an image can be that is not so apparent.  The LightBlender was used to bring the light down quite a bit on the tiger cub while keeping the contrast at a nice level.  It was also used to bring out the eyes.  It turns out that the light levels are very different even though they don’t look too different from picture to picture.  If you desaturated both pictures, for example, they would look very different.

I then used the duotone feature in Sagelight to add the brown tone to the tiger cub.  My intention was more artistic, rather than photorealistic.  I could continue on this image, such as blending it, softening it, adding a vignette, etc.

Truck

Original Image

After LightBlender (click for larger size)

A couple notes:

1. An Easy LightBlender Example.  This is a good example of a very easy-to-do example of the Light Blender.  It uses both layers with simple movements on the 5-band equalizers on each layer (shadows and highlights), and that’s it.
2. LightBlender brings out the color.  As mentioned earlier, the LightBlender really bring out the color, which you can control.  In this case, I went for the colorful image on purpose, so I also added a touch of Vibrance.

Coming in Part II

The examples above just scratch the surface of the capabilities of the LightBlender.  I will add more examples and tutorials over the next few weeks.

Part II will be about how to use the LightBlender, the controls and the the multi-level approach.  I Will have that out tomorrow.

(The LightBlender comes with Sagelight and is located in the PowerBox)

The LightBlender has two basic modes: Simple and Advanced.

This article is about the simple mode where you can make dramatic changes to your image with basically one set of controls (a 5-band equalizer) and two buttons.  The Advanced mode allows you to do much more, and I will discuss that in another article.

The LightBlender enables you to bring out the light in your image without blowing out the highlights or causing murky or lost shadows – which is typically hard to do in image editing.

Video Tutorial

Watch a video tutorial of the LightBlender (basic mode) with many real-time examples

LightBlender Basic Tutorial. Watch on Youtube in 1280×720 HD

The Strength Slider and the Equalizer Controls

The LightBlender initially comes up in the power box as a set of a couple sliders and a few buttons. The LightBlender consists of two layers that you control independently.  Initially, these are set to a “shadows” layer and a “highlights” layer, where the focus of the LightBlender’s actions on these layers are in their respective tonal areas.

5-Band Equalizer (after the Strength Slider has set them)

When the Strength Slider is moved, the 5-band equalizer pops up.   When moved to the right (and in the initial Shadows mode) the image will generally brighten from the shadows.  When moved to the left, the image will deepen.  The idea behind the Strength Slider is two-fold: it provides a good starting point where you can set up the equalizer values and then move the equalizers independently, as well as a way to learn how to use the equalizers by watching how the Strength Slider uses them.  The Strength Slider is not linear and purposely goes through a number of variations of the Equalizer to get a good starting point for your image.

The Strength Slider provides a very small subset of total possible equalizer values and is only meant to form a starting point, though it often provides a value that is just fine, as well.

Example Image

Original Image

If we want to change the picture of this truck, for example ,one of the first thing we can do is to move the Strength Slider to a value that gives us something to work with.  Since this image is already bright in areas, we will probably want to adjust the Equalizers, though this is an interesting picture in that it shows how the Shadows layer (layer 1) and the Highlights Layer (layer 2) work well together.

Step 1: Move the Strength Slider Out to get something to work with

If we set the Strength to 81, it would appear as above, giving us the following image:

This is the image after moving the Strength Slider to a value that gives us a perceptually nice image that brightens the shadows. Note that the midtones were brightened a little too, and that the colors were kept bright.  You can adjust the how the colors are treated by pressing the “CLIP” button.  Most of the time this will scale the colors back – especially when red become too bright.

When the Strength Slider is moved to a value of “81” this is how the equalizer will appear.  The Equalizers move in real-time with the Strength Slider to give you an idea of how the Equalizers work as they are moved.  The Equalizer window pops up automatically when the Strength Slider is moved.

LightBlender’s Power

That was just the beginning steps of using the LightBlender.  You can use the Strength Slider to get a starting point or press the “Controls” button to open the Equalizers and use them directly.  A good way to start with the Equalizers is to grab the leftmost equalizer, move it to the top, and then adjust the remaining equalizers downward.  This will generally set up a good starting point.

The Highlights Layer

The second layer, the Highlights Layer, becomes useful here.  In reality, we don’t need to do too much to the Shadows Layer we just created with the Strength Slider/Equalizer, because we really just wanted to bring up the shadows.  The Shadows Equalizer could have been adjust to bring down the sky.  But (here’s a tip), the Highlights Layer is performed before the Shadows Layer, so all settings performed with the Equalizer on the Shadows layer is based on whatever we do with the Highlights Layer.

The LightBlender is powerful with just one layer.  You can do quite a lot with just the Shadows layer or Highlights layers alone.  But, when you combine them, you get a synergistic effect that gives more power then A+B.

The Definition Sliders and the LightBlender in its Entirety

The actual, overall definition of the LightBlender includes the Definition Sliders and the Sagelight Vibrance Slider.  Underneath the hood, the Definition Sliders work to help out the LightBlender Sliders. By definition, some settings in the LightBlender lose contrast.  One of the great aspects of the LightBlender is that you can raise shadows and lower highlights, which is a great help in getting dramatic results without blowing out the highlights or shadows of your image.

A natural consequence of that is that contrast is sometimes lost and you want it back. You can use the LightBlender sliders to bring back the contrast, but you can also use the Definition Sliders to bring in overall local contrast.   The fringe benefit of this is that, since the contrast is typically lowered, this helps prevent halos and the washing out problems commonly associated with Local Contrast functions.

Sagelight Vibrance Slider

The Sagelight Vibrance Slider is also very useful with the LightBlender.  Sometimes you may want to use just the Saturation Slider in the Quick Edit or Pro Quick Edit panel.  Outside of the LightBlender, the rule-of-thumb is that sometimes the Saturation Slider is useful and sometimes the Vibrance Slider is useful.  Inside of the Light Blender, particularly if the Definition Sliders are used, the Vibrance Slider becomes useful more often than not (though, with skin tones, the Saturation Slider is usually a better choice).

A basic rule of image editing is that adding Saturation looks better as local contrast is added.  Sagelight Vibrance is technically a superset of Saturation, so as you add definition, and since this already works well with the LightBlender, the Sagelight Vibrance function will add deep color as definition as added, which can help keep the newly created focus/definition in the image, where normal saturation can cause overflows and color brightness that doesn’t always look natural.

An Example

With just the LightBlender settings and one of the Definition Sliders used, here is a result:

Image with LightBlender and Definition Slider applied (i.e. without the Sagelight Vibrance Slider)

This image has a much more even tone, but also has more contrast than the original – but without sacrificing highlights are shadows.

Basically, this is one session and one set of control settings in the Power Box, which consists of the following:

1. Lightblender Settings (highlights and shadows layers)
2. Definition Slider
3. Sagelight Vibrance Slider

So, not really too many settings for such a change.  Here are how all of the settings as they appear (note that the Equalizer Window only appears once with one layer showing at a time; two are shown here for clarity):

I wanted to show you this image because the idea of adding color is different for everyone.  The next example is the image with the same exact settings, but with a bump on the Vibrance Slider:

Same image with Vibrance Setting applied.

As you can see, each successive thing done starts to bring out different elements of the image more and more.  The image now has a nice overall tone, is bright and colorful, but is not overflowing in the highlights or too murky in the shadows.

Notice that the Shadows Equalizer in the end-result did not really change from using the Strength Slider.  This particular image did not require too much from the LightBlender to change as much as it did.

Other controls and notes

1. The Clip Button.  As mentioned, the “CLIP” button will cut the colors back.  The LightBlender tends to bring out the colors, making the image to appear bright and vibrance.  Sometimes this can be too much, especially with the reds.  The CLIP button will clip the colors back to prevent this from happening.
2. Natural Button.  The “Natural” button will use a different type of blending to apply the light.  This can make quite a difference and is always worth trying.  Once you’ve used it a couple times, you’ll see how it works.  Typically, it can give a more even and natural tone, where the default mode can be harsher.
3. Backlight Slider. This slider provides a backlight function which can brighten the image or darken the image from the type of layer.  For example, the Backlight on the Shadows Layer will add (or remove) a backlight from the shadows, where the Backlight Slider in the Highlights Layer will work more on the highlights.  The Backlight Slider is a great way to control the result.  For example, if you move the Highlights Slider to the left, the image will brighten quite a bit. If you move the Backlight Slider (in the Highlights Layer) to the left as well, it will start to balance out the image, and this is a great combination with the Shadows Layer to bring up the light and keep it looking very natural at the same time.
4. Backlight Slider with very dark images.  You can also set a small positive setting on the backlight in the Shadows Layer to help the LightBlender work with very dark images.  Also see the Fill Light section below
5. Fill Light Slider and Shadows Layer.  These two layers work very well together.  The Fill Light has a much more subtle approach and can help with very dark images.  Also, since the Fill Light Slider does not brighten the colors, you can mix it with the Shadows layer of the LightBlender to mix-and-match subtle vs. more harsh tones for a great result.
6. Smart Light vs. the LightBlender. One of the questions that immediately comes up with the LightBlender is “Is the Smart Light replaced by the LightBlender”.  The answer is “not at all” and “in some sense”.  As with the Fill Light Slider, the Smart Light uses a much more subtle approach and has specific and intensive algorithms to bring out the light and bring down the highlights in your image.  The three sections of the Smart Light (Shadows, Smart Contrast, and Highlights) have been carefully developed to work together and provide very natural results.  The LightBlender, on the other hand, is more extensible and can have a wider range than the Smart Light, but this is more for the advanced areas of the LightBlender not discussed in this article.  The LightBlender has more controls where the Smart Light is setup for one set of functions, so it is overall easier to use in some sense, though the LightBlender is also easy to use.  If you’re not getting the results you want in the LightBlender (i.e. they’re too bright, too harsh, or not picking up the shadows you want), try the Smart Light.  In fact, for a lot of images, a great way to start is to use the Smart Light and then use the LightBlender, because the Smart Light will help the LightBlender – just do a more subtle approach on the Smart Light so the LightBlender can work with your image more.

Conclusion

This discussion has been about the Simple-mode of the LightBlender which consists of basically a 5-band equalizer that allows you to adjust the light in every area of the image.  The LightBlender is powerful with the use of just one layer, but consists of two layers (a highlights layer and shadows layer) that, when combined, make the LightBlender that much more powerful.

In its simple form, the LightBlender is easy to use and can make a dramatic difference in your image with just a few settings, especially when combined with the Definition and Vibrance Sliders, which are part of the overall and integral design of the LightBlender.

A preview of the Advanced Mode.

When the “Show Pro Controls” button is checked, a number of other controls and options come up which will be discussed in another article.  However, they are fairly intuitive and are explained with the help (activated by pressing ‘?’) and the tooltips that come up when you hover over any control.

Here is a preview of the controls that are available in the LightBlender Advanced/Pro mode:

In the Advanced mode, you have access to a 7-band equalizer, as well as a number of sliders that make the LightBlender much more powerful.  You can also use the curves window to get a very high-resolution approach to the LightBlender.  You also have control of the blending modes (Highlights, Shadows, Full) as well as the type of light that is applied to the image (such as Soft, Natural, Vivid, Hard, etc.) which adds much more range to the LightBlender.

The Curves window gives you a 1024×1024 canvas to define the LightBlender curve which has much more resolution than regular curves (i.e. you can place points very close together with far-apart settings and not create banding).

note: notice that the 7-Band Equalizer and the Curve have the same shape.  The Equalizer is setting nodes on the curve, which makes it easier than manipulating the entire curve.  Much as the Strength Slider sets up a good starting point for the Equalizers, the Equalizers set up a good starting point for the Curves Window.

Press the ‘?’ button in the Equalizers when the window is extended for a description of the extra controls.

http://www.facebook.com/SageEdit?sk=app_2373072738

or just go to http://www.facebook.com/SageEdit  and click “discussions”.

When I get vBulletin up I will transfer the discussions over.   In the meantime, it seems pretty informal and is very easy to use.

• It's very easy and anyone can edit it.
• There are video tutorials at http://www.dokuwiki.org/screencast (The first two videos are short and all you need)

Introduction to the Tone Blender

A new addition to the Sagelight in version 4.1.5 is the B/W & Color Tone Blender, or just the Tone Blender for short.

Click here for release notes and download information for Sagelight 4.1.5 (latest version and 30-day trial)

The Tone Blender allows you to add color tones to your black-and-white or color (or color as black-and-white) picture in many different forms, from subtle sepia, warm & cool tones, washed out effects, color burned effects, or just color toning to blend in to your image for moody or surreal effect.

In addition to color toning, the Tone Blender also has a powerful vignette feature that allows you to add a vignette of any color and many different styles to the image.  By itself, the vignette can add a very dramatic statement to your image, especially when used with some of the color burn modes.

The Tone Blender features 60+ presets to help get you started.  You can select a preset from a list or a random preset – when you see something you like, you can then use the controls from there  After a few presets and experimenting with the controls, it becomes pretty clear how powerful the Tone Blender can be.

Try it yourself with loadable profiles/presets

How to do it:

• Load the original image link (see below)
• Load the profile link and save it somewhere on your disk.
• When running Sagelight, load the original image.
• Go to the “B/W & Color Tone Blender” under the “Pro Menu”
• Load the saved preset.  It will create the same results.

Tone Blender Types

As with many Sagelight features, the Tone Blender really is a Program within a Program, in that it offers a number of features with a lot of control.  There are a few basic areas of the Tone Blender:

• Simple Monochrome Toning and Duotoning
• Multi Color Mode
• Washed Out Effects
• Burned Color Effects
• Using the Vignette
  • Simple Vignette
  • Color Vignette
  • Harsh Vignette
  • Burned & Burned Color Vignette

Simple Monochrome Toning and Duotoning

When you first come into the Tone Blender, two menus come up, the Image Controls Menu with various controls for light type and pre- and post-disposition of the image.  Another menu that comes up is the Color Blending Controls (Simple Mode):

This menu allows to change the basic color tone, the amount (i.e. how much of the color), and brightness of the color of the image.  You can also press the “Layer Fill Color” button to pop up a window where you can select the color more visually.

If we use the above picture as a start point, we can use this simple menu to make a nice black-and-white sepia tone image out of it. (click on image or here  for original size)

With the new image, all I did was to do the following:

• Turn the image black and white with the Black and White Slider (see below)
• Set the color to 30 degrees, which is about the same as the default entry (see the above menu to see the color)
• Select “Solid Color”. This keeps the picture bright.  I will show another example below where I don’t use that switch for a more pronounced effect.
• Put the Saturation to 21 – this brings down the amount of color, since I want a subtle toned effect for this image.
• load the preset: click here to download “dog1”.

The Image Controls

Another menu comes up when you launch the Tone Blender:

These controls allow you to make changes to the image before it is process and after.  For example, I used the Black and White Slider (at 100%) in the above example to turn the image black and white before I toned it.

Adding a Vignette

Now let’s add a vignette to this image.  I am also going to make one more change: I will uncheck “Solid Color”.  Instead of blending with the color selected, it will now blend with a copy of the image toned to that color, which adds contrast to an image and makes it more moody:

As you can see, this image is a lot different.  Here is what I did with this image:

• Set the Vignette Opacity to 80%.  The other vignette controls are already set.
• Move the vignette with the mouse slightly to make the center closer to the dog’s head (but not completely centered, as that didn’t look as nice)
• Unchecked the “Solid Color” checkbox to create a deeper tone.
• Increase the Color Amount in the “Color Blending Controls” Window to about 35.  I did this because it looked better with the deeper tone after unchecking the “Solid Color” checkbox
• load the preset: click here to download “dog 2”

Simple Changes

Now, if I want to, I can create a different mood just by moving the Color Slider:

With this picture, here is what I did:

• Move the Color Slider to about –135 degrees.
• use the preset from above, and move the Color Slider.

and that’s it!

Another thing I can do (to the previous ‘warm’ duotone), I can select the “Hard Light” setting to create a harsher light onto the image:

With this image, I did the following:

• Reloaded the Profile “Dog2”
• Selected the Hard Light Option
• Increase the Saturation to about 25 for effect (to add slightly more color)
• load the preset: click here to download “dog3”.

Things to try:

• Move the vignette with the mouse.  Also try the softness and other controls
• Select presets.  Then change the controls set by the presets.  This is a great way to learn how to use the tone blender and to see how versatile it is.
• Try a vignette color.  Then try a Burn Mode (under Vignette Mode) with a wide softness value.
• Try different blend modes.
• Try different mixtures of the Black and White Slider and the Post Saturation Slider.

Conclusion (for Part I)

The Tone Blender allows you to do simple to more aggressive toning with just a few controls.  The first part was a basic introduction show a small set of controls to perform simple toning of a black-and-white image (or color image converted to black-and-white, as in this case).

Coming Next in Part II: Blending with Color Images and the Multi-Color Mode

Image Credit: “My dog is soo dog gone cute” by katherinejoy101

The recent release of Sagelight 4.1.5 supports even more C*I*E LAB color space functionality.  The Unsharp Mask, Gaussian Blur, Tone Blender, High Pass Filter, Power Curves, Pro Quick Edit Mode, and other modes openly support C*I*E LAB channels as separate options over RGB color space, and much more is done with C*I*E LAB mode behind the scenes.

If you’ve read much of the blog or release notes, you’ll see that I mention LAB mode a lot lately.  Not just LAB mode, but C*I*E LAB mode.  I think now is a good time to write about it because Sagelight is making it more and more visible in the menu items.  The reason is because LAB mode is not always the most desirable mode, but is a mode that hobbyists, enthusiasts, and professionals want to use a lot.

As I’ve mentioned here and there Sagelight really wants to work on dual planes: to do powerful things behind the scenes so you don’t have to know what’s going on to get great results, but also to give you the power to do advanced things, if that’s what you want to do.

Sagelight has always used LAB mode behind the scenes, both C*I*E LAB mode and Hunter LAB mode (Hunter LAB is very close to C*I*E LAB mode, and has some advantages).

C*I*E LAB Color Space and Sagelight

Ok, so what’s so good about LAB Color Space, and what is LAB Coloor Space in the first place?

In a nutshell, C*I*E LAB space allows you to work with just the light in an image without affecting the color, and vice-versa. There are other modes that let you do this, but typically not with the quality and control of C*I*E LAB color space.

For example, the most common method of removing color noise is to just blur the colors without changing the light.  But, not all spaces the separate the color from the light are equal.  If you blur the colors in a non-C*I*E space, the colors can become muted very quickly.  C*I*E LAB modes keeps the colors and light as pure as possible.

Basically, C*I*E LAB Color Space is a way that you can deal with the luminance component of your image without changing the color.

Another example is to sharpen just the light without affecting the color; this allows you to avoid color edges and sparkling that can occur with sharpening.

Why don’t all editors support C*I*E LAB space?

The C*I*E LAB space calculation is very intensive, and to use it real-time and integrate it into an editor is not that easy.   A lot of editors don’t support it, or use different modes (such as YCrCb or YUV) to do calculations which do not deliver the same quality level.

C*I*E LAB vs. Other Color Spaces

The reason the term “C*I*E” is used a lot is to differentiate between C*I*E LAB color space and other color spaces such as YUV and YCrCb.

The C*I*E L channel calculation is designed to approximate the human perception of the light as closely as possible.  So, when you convert your image to black-and-white with the C*I*E color space, you’re getting the image you’d see if you didn’t see color.

I personally don’t think that a C*I*E-based grayscale image looks as perceptually as nice as just averaging the RGB image, but it does mean that Sagelight can work with the luminance and color separately and at a level that makes perceptual sense and has a very high degree of accuracy.

Each color space has a great use, but substituting YUV and YCrCB inappropriately when C*I*E LAB space should be used typically reduces the quality in your image.

Where and When to use C*I*E LAB Space in Sagelight

Sagelight supports C*I*E LAB space in many places, and there are many places where C*I*E LAB mode is used by functions within Sagelight and called another name – typically, when you see a term such as “Keep Luminance”, this means Sagelight is using C*I*E LAB Space.

Here are some good places to use C*I*E LAB mode in Sagelight

Kayak/Pro Quick Edit Mode

You can just press the icon on the Kayak/Pro Quick Edit Mode and that will put Sagelight into C*I*E LAB mode.  Any function you use while in the Kayak/Pro Quick Edit Mode will be executed in C*I*E LAB mode.

Now, when you use the toning controls for color or light, these will operate on those channels individually.  If you pop up the Curves Box, the channels will now be L, A, and B, meaning you can adjust these channels by themselves.

While you’re at it, also try the icon – this will put you into HSL mode, which also has advantages.

Power Box

The Power Box can be used in the Pro Quick Edit mode and the Quick Edit Mode.

When you’re in the Power Box, try moving over to the Kayak/Pro Quick Edit Mode and using it there.  You might notice that a couple things disappear.  The Vibrance and Color Toning options disappear because they are not compatible with the C*I*E LAB mode.

The LightBlender, Definition Sliders (i.e. local contrast), and all other functions will now only operate on the C*I*E L channel. This can provide great effects and keep your image cleaner by not touching the color.

Also try this in the HSL Color Space (described above) for interesting effects.

Unsharp Mask

The Unsharp Mask in Sagelight offers three C*I*E LAB color space options.  You can sharpen all three channels in the C*I*E color space, just as you would in RGB.  This can be cleaner, but can also cause color drift.

You can sharpen just the L channel, which is a way to sharpen your image and keep color noise (i.e. sparkling) from occurring. This is generally a function used by hobbyists, enthusiasts, and professionals to keep the image quality higher.

You can also sharpen just the A & B channels. The only real reason to do that is for effect, as it doesn’t have any serious image-enhancement effect.

Gaussian Blur

The Gaussian Blur can blur on all C*I*E channels or just the L or A & B channels. The main usefulness here is to blur on the A&B channels, as this has the effect of just blurring the colors.

Blurring the A&B channels is how color noise reduction is done in most editors such as Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom.

High Pass Filter

The High Pass Filter has some interesting options for C*I*E LAB Mode.

The High Pass filter is generally used on an image prior to image blending.  It allows you flexibility in creating local contrast effects for your image.

You can perform a high pass on the RGB channels and then blend it back in for a great local contrast or sharpening effect.  Sometimes, though, you want to just use the C*I*E LAB channel.

You can do this in the High Pass Filter to keep the image cleaner and to provide different local contrast effects (through the blending).

You can also create an L-channel-only image (i.e. just black-and-white).  This has the advantage of creating an L-channel-only image that can then be used to blend just on the L-channel later, keeping the entire process only on the L channel.

Blend Undo Image

In the Blend Undo Image, you can blend two image layers together in various blend modes such as Soft Light, Hard Light, Vivid, Difference, etc.

When you select the Luminance channel, this uses only the C*I*E L channel for the blend. Similarly, if you choose the Color channels, this blends only on the C*I*E color channels (A&B).

Power Curves

The Power Curves, by far, has the most flexibility with working with different color spaces.  The Power Curves was built specifically to work with different color spaces.  It can work with XYZ, YXY, RGB, and other color spaces.

It can also work with the C*I*E LAB mode on each channel, as well as an extra Chroma channel to make the curves more useful.

C*I*E LCH space

Probably more useful than just C*I*E LAB color space, the Power Curves can also work on C*I*E LCH space, which converts the color channels into two components: Chroma (i.e. saturation) and Hue.

Try using these curves.  You can adjust the saturation, color, and light independently for some very powerful results.  In fact, this mode is so useful, this mode will either be added or replace the C*I*E LAB color space in the Pro Quick Edit Mode.

Vibrance Curves

Similar to the Power Curves, the Vibrance Curves also support C*I*E LAB color space (in the form of C*I*E LCH color space).

This creates a very stark and controllable set of vibrance functions.

Sagelight Saturation

The Sagelight Saturation modes (known as “Pro Saturation” in the menu list) provide an array of very high-quality saturation functions.

Among those is Hunter LAB, C*I*E LAB, XYZ, Sagelight Saturation, and True Color (another Sagelight algorithm).  All of these modes use C*I*E space (i.e. C*I*E XYZ, which must be converted to prior to C*I*E LAB mode) for great color control and minimum noise.

Tone Blender

The Tone Blender offers the “Keep Luminance” function that uses the Sagelight Luminance Protect feature.  This uses Sagelight RGB/C*I*E space that was developed just for Sagelight, which in turn uses C*I*E LAB as part of that space to control the light value.  This basically provides a much truer luminance than C*I*E LAB can by itself by correcting problems that can occur in C*I*E LAB space.

When Not to use C*I*E LAB Space

C*I*E LAB space is not always the best color space to use for every function.  It is an extremely useful tool to have in any editor, including Sagelight, but it is not the best at everything – otherwise it would be the only mode supported!

Here are some places where C*I*E LAB space is not always the best

Color Toning

In general, color toning is best performed in RGB space.  C*I*E LAB is not very perceptual to work with, and getting the right color and tone is just often not very possible.

C*I*E LAB is great for subtle changes here and there, but not always for overall toning.  C*I*E LAB, in this sense, is more of a “go to” set of tools, where its always worth trying, especially if you’re having some trouble getting what you want.  Sometimes it works very well and even better than RGB.

But, for general toning, it’s better to stay in the RGB space

Saturation (sometimes)

C*I*E LAB, and moreover, Hunter LAB (which is C*I*E-based) is often used for Saturation in image editors, including Sagelight (in some places).

This issue is a bit of a double-edged sword, so the following is really more of a guideline and something to think about.

C*I*E LAB is great for splitting the light and color and doing certain operations.  However, it can change the color of an image. This is because the light and colors run through two successive non-linear transformations in each direction (to C*I*E LAB and back to RGB space).  This can cause color drift.

When saturating, this typically shows as a yellowish-to-warm tone on an image.  Sometimes, this ‘warming’ effect can be nice, and since many pictures involve landscapes or are outdoors, this can be a nice extra tonal additive to your picture. 

For skin tones, though, this is sometimes not the best.

This is why Sagelight Saturation and True Color Saturation was developed for Sagelight.  In the Pro Quick Edit Mode, try switching between LAB/Perceptual mode (same thing for saturation) and True Color mode. 

Also try the Pro Saturation Mode, where you have 13 different methods to get what you’re looking for.  When it comes to adding color, its worth trying different modes, because each color space and method looks at your picture differently, and even though some methods will change the color of your image, the fact is that sometimes it just makes it look nicer because its toning your image in an aesthetic direction as it saturates, even if it isn’t technically a nice thing to do.

General Toning (most of the time)

General toning (i.e. when you’re adjusting the light properties, such as shadows, midtones, and highlights).

C*I*E LAB mode is useful for this, but only in certain circumstances.  Overall, general toning in C*I*E mode will start to make your image look artificial.

RGB mode is usually better for this, because it brings the color with it in a more natural manner, where in C*I*E LAB mode, you need to adjust the color yourself. For example, when you bring the light down in an image, you want to bring down the saturation too, and vice-versa when adding light. RGB color space does this naturally, but C*I*E LAB color space L-channel toning does not change the color, so you must deal with this yourself.

C*I*E LAB general toning (i.e. on the L channel) is useful for specific circumstances when you know this is what you want – it’s also very useful to work with bringing up shadows (it avoids noise, and generally doesn’t have the same color issues as described above).   It’s a good tool to try when you’re looking for something specific that you’re note able to get from the tools in the default RGB color space.

Conclusion

The C*I*E LAB color space is supported by Sagelight in many modes, some of which are clearly marked as choices, where other modes are behind the scenes to keep the quality of your image as high as possible.

C*I*E LAB color space is known as a way to make changes in your image that keeps the image very clean, keeping color noise from occurring by working just on the luminance channel, without changing the color.  This also lets you make color changes without affecting the light. Both have great advantages over just using RGB space.

There are some very powerful things you can do with C*I*E LAB mode, such as using the Power Curves in C*I*E LCH space (a derivative of C*I*E LAB space) or sharpening with the Unsharp Mask or the Power Box.

Always worth looking into and experimenting, it should also be considered secondary to RGB space – a “go to” color space to perform specific functions where it has specific strengths, but not really to be used as a primary editing space.

Introduction

(check this article out on the new blog at www.sagelightblog.com)

An interesting topic came up on the discussion board (here) that I thought I’d write about.  It’s regarding the issue of working with JPEG vs RAW when it comes to dark (or otherwise hard-to-deal with images).

Or, for that matter, working with JPEG vs. RAW on a general basis.

There’s a lot of thought out there about working with RAW.  Sagelight supports RAW and, for the record, you’re definitely able to get a better image out of RAW.

Having said, that, though, I don’t think it is always the right approach or necessary for everyone.  I’ll go even further to say that I don’t think that most people – including myself – will ever get more out of RAW from most pictures than they would out of Jpeg.

In fact, I will go even further(er) to say that editing in RAW (again, for most people) will sometimes get a you an image that isn’t as good as the one you started with  – this is because when you edit with RAW you sometimes need more expertise that the JPEG has helped you to avoid.

Editing with RAW – The Technical Approach

Before I go too far and get misunderstood, I want to reiterate that, from a technical perspective, RAW is the best way to go, and Sagelight has a lot of devoted functionality for RAW, and quite a lot of technology has gone into Sagelight 4.0 to support RAW. More technology is currently being built into Sagelight to further RAW support.

I’m basically separating the practical from the technical.  From a technical perspective, RAW will always be more useful and able to generate better results than using a JPEG.

However, from a practical approach, which includes most of us (including myself), the enhancement of a JPEG image is just as good for most pictures and can deliver great results.

The Practical Approach

As I said, RAW does have more range, and because of that my personal philosophy is to shoot in RAW (with a jpeg version written out, as well), and to use the jpeg (in the highest quality mode) until I need the RAW.  In fact, this blog entry discuss just that point: Keeping it Simple – Using Sagelight with Small Compact Cameras.  In this article, I took a sub-compact 12mp (which was really more like 8 max) camera to see what I could do with it — both with JPEG and RAW (through CHDK).  In the article, I note that for most pictures I used the jpeg, because I just didn’t need the RAW.  On pictures where I was having problems, I moved to the RAW image with very impressive results I couldn’t get from the Jpeg.  But, I do want to be careful about that point.  In many cases, this has to do with the way the shadows and highlights were clipped in the jpeg.  If they’re not there, you can’t work with them, obviously.  But, if we’re talking about range-compressed items (which is what we’re talking about), then it can be a different issue.

In the case of the sub-compact camera, I definitely got some great results from the RAW images, but they were needed in only a couple of the pictures I took.

Working with JPEG images. in general, as well as those that have high-contrast areas or are dark (or both)

There are many reasons why you can work very well with jpeg images, not to mention those that have lighting issues.  A lot of this has to do with new technology, both in cameras and image editors such as Sagelight  Here are the basic issues, which I will discuss about one by one

1. Jpeg actually has a lot of range.  It’s the compression ratio that becomes the problem.
2. The camera processing makes JPEG easier to work with.
3. A lot of quality problems come from editors (i.e. 8-bit per-channel), rather than the file itself
4. The RAW image needs to be post-processed, which the JPEG inherits for greater quality
5. Image sizes are much larger than they used to be.
6. With noise-reduction and other tools, some of the quality problems can be solved.
7. What you lose with JPEG vs. RAW

Jpeg actually has a lot of range.

It’s the compression ratio that becomes the problem.

It turns out that 8-bits per-channel can get you a long way.  After all, we are talking about 24-bits of information for each pixel.  Is it as good as 14-bits per-channel that a RAW image might give you, at 64 times the quality? No, definitely not.  But, on the other hand, the extra resolution you get from 14-bits or even 16-bits per-channel, while it definitely helps you in certain areas (such as shadows and color noise), for most images it doesn’t matter.  Most images do not require very heavy processing.  With those that do, there is quite a bit that cane be done with jpeg.

A lot of the problems we see with JPEG are compression blocks.  An unfortunate problem with the editing world is that HSL color space is used all over the place for adding color and other functions.  This causes a problem with JPEG compression blocks because the way the hue is calculated in HSL space is one of the primary causes for exacerbating jpeg color artifacting. Fortunately, some editors, Sagelight included, use alternate color spaces such as XYZ, LAB, etc. to help avoid these issues.  Nevertheless, JPEG blocks cause a lot of luminance noise and color noise that we’re all used to seeing.

A lot of this is historical.  A few short years ago, even with the highest quality setting on a camera, even a moderately-complex image (i.e. with tree branches, or details on a mountainside) would become so decimated as to look artificial.  This would also cause a lot of jpeg compression blocks.  In fact, there were certain camera manufacturers that just couldn’t seem to avoid compression blocks even on their best settings.

Today, however, things are different.  By now, it’s clear that if we use the highest quality compression in our digital camera that the quality is much nicer, even if the JPEG file is quite big.  A lot of times we see degraded images because people have compressed them for the web, or set their camera to a lower setting to increase its capacity, which can lead us to believe that JPEG, as a general rule, has lower quality than it can actually achieve.

But, if we’re interested in a very high quality picture, using the lowest compression setting (i.e. highest quality) in just about any decent camera made today will yield an image that has a quality that is very high and nearly lossless, at least to the human eye and where artifacting is concerned.

A lot of what we’ve become used to is seeing pictures from just a few years ago, or pictures across the web, when the pictures we edit ourselves today have a lot of quality we may not be aware of.

A Low-to-Medium-Quality Jpeg Example

Here is a random JPEG image I pulled off the web.  It’s not too highly compressed, but it’s not the best quality, either:

As you can see, it’s a pretty dark picture.

Here’s what I did to it in Sagelight (fairly easily).  As a previously dark picture, a lot of light and color was brought out of it.  Here is a bigger version so you can see how nice it really is.

RAW Noise Issues in this Picture

Interestingly, this picture actually had quite a bit of noise.  Here it is, brought out for display:

Noise in the jpeg & RAW Noise

It turns out that this noise was from the RAW image (i.e. CCD noise)!  JPEG, while lower quality than RAW, does have an ability to keep a lot of quality.  It’s only in certain places that it loses it.  In this picture, the JPEG, while fairly compressed and lossy, was able to bring out the CCD noise with it.

This level of noise, then, needs to be dealt with whether you’re using RAW or JPEG.  Here’s is what I was able to do with it inside of Sagelight (with the Image Smoothing tool):

Much better.  If you look at the larger picture — the jpeg result from an original jpeg (therefore, compressed at least twice), you can see how smooth it is.

Camera processing makes JPEG easier to work with

RAW processing is getting better and better.

The camera knows itself better than a generic editing program.  There is essentially a different RAW format or variation for each camera.  This is because the manufacturers know what the CCD for that camera is likely to do and how it responds through the lens.  All cameras color-shift in one direction or the other, and this can’t be known by the editing program.  Of course, we can use the “As Shot” or “Camera” white balance and other tools to compensate, but is is not the same as what the manufacturers put into the camera based on what that specific CCD is going to do under most circumstances.

This leads to JPEG images that are much easier to work with than the RAW image.  Much of the time, RAW editing it is a two-step process.  You get it from the camera and then you need to process it a little bit so you can work with it some more.  Or, at least, that’s what should be done for better results.

When the JPEG is loaded from the camera, it’s sharpened to the right level for the CCD, corrected for the CCD color variances, the noise is removed based on the typical CCD-noise level, lens distortions are corrected based on the zoom factor, and so-forth and so-forth.   The image editor can compensate for some of this as an automatic process, too, but not like the camera can in many cases.

This ultimately results in a picture that is easier to work with from the start.  If you’re like me, then it just makes it more fun to edit unless your a purist.  I have my purist modes, that’s for sure, but sometimes I just want to get my pictures, add a little light and color, and that’s all I need to do.

With RAW, image editing is a commitment for many pictures that would otherwise be just fine after using just a few controls.

A lot of quality problems come from editors (i.e. 8-bit per-channel), rather than the file itself

This is another historical point that may have inadvertently become a generalized point of view that is now outdated: we’re all used to seeing problems with jpeg images.  As mentioned above, one of those issues is a high-compression ratio rather than a low one.  Another one of those problems is banding caused by editing.  It’s become somewhat of a background concept that if you edit a JPEG that you’re going to experience banding very quickly.

That used to be true.  But, with higher quality JPEGs and 16-bit per-channel editors, this is not nearly as true as it used to be.  If an editor doesn’t work in 16-bits per-channel at every level, you can see banding occur very quickly.  But, this is not a JPEG issue, as you would see this with a RAW image, too.  It’s the 8-bit per-channel operations that are more responsible for this than anything else.

Editors Defaulting to 8-bits per-channel
Some editors that support 16-bits per-channel default to 8-bits per-channel (Sagelight does not have an 8-bit-per-channel mode and is in at least 16-bit-per-channel mode at all times).  It becomes easy to edit in the default mode, as it is typically faster.  With 16-bits per-channel, more memory and horsepower is required.  Sometimes banding occurs even in very expensive editors because the mode is set to 8-bits per-channel by default.

Basically, if you’re in a minimum 16-bit per-channel environment from the beginning of the editing process and stay there, the original 8-bit-per-channel JPEG can go a long way.  This also means that if you save the image out to work on later that you shouldn’t save it as a jpeg, but a 16-bit-per-channel TIFF or some other format that supports the higher quality, saving out the final image as a  JPEG (especially with lower quality settings for the web) in a different file.

The RAW image needs to be post-processed, which the JPEG inherits for greater quality

The higher quality in RAW is not as linear as you might think.

A RAW image in its form in the RAW file or on the memory card doesn’t look anything like the JPEG your camera gives you.  As I mentioned above, the camera compensates for a number of things, such as noise, lens distortion, and so-forth.

Another thing that the camera does is adjust for light.

The reason RAW has all that range is because the picture starts off as a very dark picture so the range does not overflow..  For example, let’s take a look at this picture:

This is basically how a picture looks as a RAW image.  This is the light level in the RAW picture.  When Sagelight (or some other RAW-enabled editor) gets it, there are a number of standard operations that need to occur.  Among them is a gamma curve.  So, when you see the RAW for the first time, it looks something like this:

Image after the gamma-curve adjustment: this looks much better, but still not the way you would get it as a Jpeg

RAW Post-Processing

Editors such as Lightroom, Nikon, Sagelight, et. al., post-process the RAW image for some default settings in order to get it to look more like you would get from the JPEG.  Here is what the image looks like when Sagelight automatically processes the RAW:

Definitely nicer, and much more like what I would expect to see directly from the camera.
Let’s take another look at the two histograms:

When you get the image from the camera, you get a histogram that looks like the one on the right.  Unfortunately, sometimes the camera goes too far and clips the black points and white points in the JPEG (some editors do this as well!), and this is where RAW starts to make more sense.  But, for the most part, a good camera will give you a histogram something like the one on the right for the given image.

This means that the RAW has had to go through quite a process just to become presentable.

This stretches the pixels in the image and basically reduces the quality of the image.  That is, from a technical perspective, it’s still very high quality, but the main thing to note about this is that the JPEG – as delivered from the camera – inherits this quality because it occurs on the RAW image before its is converted to the JPEG.

Therefore, it is not a 1-to-1 correlation that RAW images are always that much better than JPEG, so much so that you are always losing too much to consider if you edit a JPEG.  Don’t get me wrong, RAW will give you more quality, and as I mentioned, I shoot in a dual mode that gives me both the RAW and JPEG on every picture because I do want to edit in RAW when I feel I should.  However, in 90%-95% of the pictures from typical cameras, it’s can be easier to deal with the JPEG in an environment that will incur essentially no visible quality loss.

Image sizes are much larger than they used to be

Another reason that editing with JPEG poses less problems vs. RAW than they once did is due to large image sizes.  Now that images are in the 10+ megapixel range on the smallest cameras, much more error in an image can occur with no consequences.  For example, if you once printed a 1600×1200 image at 8×10, it would not look very good — even if it had no problems to speak of.

Now, with image sizes around 5000×4000, when you print an image at 8×10, that’s roughly 400dpi.  The human eye doesn’t really care about much more than 200dpi. This means we have a lot to work with.  We can have noise, artifacts, and other errors in our image that are now no longer noticed whether we print the image or post it on the web.

Essentially, when we resize the image by printing or posting, we get a technical quality boost by merging the pixels together to average out the noise. With noise-reduction and other tools, some of the quality problems can be solved

With Noise-Reduction and other tools, some of the quality problems can be solved

You may remember this set of pictures:

A random JPEG grabbed from the internet (8 bits per-channel)

The result from using the LightBlender in Sagelight  (a much bigger image for comparison)

If we’re talking about heavy processing of JPEGs — or any image for that matter — it doesn’t get much tougher than this.  I don’t think most people realize that a simple jpeg compressed for Flickr could have such quality.  I was surprised myself.

This image is a good example of working with a dark JPEG, because I really wanted to darken it when I was done for effect.  My result image really didn’t need the quality I was able to get out of it:

Final Image uses less quality then I needed.

Of course, it was great to get that level of quality out of it in the first place, and it helped me create a moody picture that had the same tonal qualities of the original, but much sharper with high-definition on the statue’s face.

New Technology and Tools

One of the reasons I was able to get this level of quality from a simple JPEG was the technology available in tools these days.  In this case, I used the Sagelight Lightblender to help bring out the light, but also other tools like the Image Smoother, Undo Brush, and Dodge and Burn brush to help correct issues are add & subtract tone where I wanted it.

With the tools available today in high-end power editors, you can do much more with JPEGs without requiring the original RAW, but also correct for problems with the JPEG.  See the next section for some details.

What you lose with JPEG vs. RAW

As I mentioned, you do get more data from a RAW.  There’s no doubt about that, and sometimes it shows.  But, as mentioned in the previous section, there is a lot you can compensate for with tools like noise reduction, the Undo Brush, etc.

Here is the image uploaded for the original question about how to deal with contrasty images in Sagelight:

(image credit: Charles McLaughlin)

This does turn out to be a challenging picture from the perspective of bringing out the light as a JPEG.  But, from the perspective of bringing up the light, it’s fairly easy:

Noise in JPEG images you don’t see in RAW

This image certainly has some noise issues associated with data loss at the 8-bit-per-channel level.  Here is an example (it has to be big to show the problems & solution):

As you can see, this part of the image, once lightened, shows a lot of image noise and problems.  This doesn’t look very good, and if it had been loaded as a RAW image, this noise would probably not exist.
However, there are some ways to deal with it.  In Sagelight, you can do the following for the black areas:

1. Use the Median Function.  Set a radius that is large enough to get rid of the splotches.
2. Use the Threshold Slider (in “non-traditional mode”) with a setting that just avoids the splotches.
3. Use the Undo Brush to paint in the changes (i.e. start with the original image, and put back in the median changes).

With the Red areas on the hand:

1. Select these areas with the Auto Masking
2. Set a tiny feather.
3. Reduce the Saturation.
4. Bring up the light with the RGB controls, curves, or whatever you’re comfortable with

Here is the result:

Now that looks much better, and if we were to print it or post it, it would never be discernible that this once had such problems.   It still has a little noise.  I don’t need to worry about what I left behind, because, as you can see from the original picture, this is a 200% closeup of a very large picture: these artifacts will never show.  I just needed to take care of the big stuff.

Conclusion

When it comes to working with JPEG instead of RAW, there is plenty of room for getting great results.

From a technical perspective, you can always get a better picture from a RAW image, as it just has more range and more data, especially when it comes to shadows and highlights.

But, from a more practical point of view, and with 90%-95% of the pictures delivered as a JPEG from the camera, between the ease of working with a JPEG automatically adjusted by the camera, and the quality inherent in today’s JPEG compression methods, working with JPEGs instead of RAW offers a lot of advantages.

Since the JPEG is pre-processed from the camera and inherits a lot of processing at the 16-bit-per-channel level, much of the time, the JPEG can be adjusted for small elements like light and color, but also more aggressively for issues such as shadows and highlights.

It is a good move to have the camera write out both RAW and JPEG, even though it may cost space on the memory card, because then you can choose which to work with – defaulting to the JPEG when it doesn’t matter, and then using the RAW when too much data has been lost due to cut shadows or blown-out highlights.

In many cases, as shown above, some of the damaging factors that do sometimes occur due to the JPEG limitations can be corrected, especially with such large file sizes so that the problems can average out more easily when printed or upload to the web.

While RAW is always going to be the more technical and sometimes more aesthetic choice, working with JPEG images tends to be much easier (and sometimes more enjoyable). For most (but, by no means, all) pictures, the quality loss is not enough to keep from getting great images comparable to RAW results, especially in the realm of powerful editors that can help you along the way.

cat image credit: “Merlin Dark” by Mel B

I was going to write the second part to the Tone Blender introduction, but in the process of looking for examples, I realized that sometimes its just very simple things that can make the biggest difference.

One of those things is a vignette.  A vignette can be very subtle where it focuses the subject, but also not noticeable unless you know it’s there (i.e. you’re the one that added it).  Or, you can add one that is obvious, which is what I want to show here.

A note about dissonance with the examples in this article:

An interesting phenomenon with image editing is that when images that are very different are compared against one another, the result can look artificial.

In the example below, the eyes change fairly dramatically from the original image to the final image, and when you are comparing the images to each other directly (by scrolling up an down), the concept of dissonance between the images may become apparent.  Try putting the result (with brighter eyes) on the screen, go away for a couple minutes, and come back – it should look more natural.

Keep in mind that due to the nature of the blog, the before & after images are shown in close proximity, where a final edit in any other circumstance is the only image presented.

Here is a basic picture

Already, on its own, it is a very cute picture.  If we add a vignette:

Suddenly, the picture takes on a different form. The girl is much more centered in the picture, and the vignette helps to frame the picture in a natural manner.

Vignette Controls in the Power Box

The Tone Blender Presets in the Power Box allow you to use the Vignette very easily.  Just Launch the Power Box, and then Select the “Color Tones Button”.  When the menu comes up with the presets, select “Vignette Only”.

In this case, I used the “Hard Vignette” style and moved the vignette to center more around the girl’s face.

You can try it yourself:

• Load the Image in its original size (click here for a larger version)
• When you’re in the Quick Edit Mode with the image, click on the menu entry “Load Profile” and load the profile listed below.
• Save the profile to your drive: Right-Click here, and then save the link to the same filename on your drive

Just a Couple Touch-ups

The nice thing about image editing in Sagelight is that it is designed to do things in small steps.  It’s the better way to edit, and it allows you to try things to see if they work; if they don’t, you can just undo it and try something else, and if they do, then you can move on to other things to make your image look even better.

Here is what I did with this image with just a few steps:

In some ways, not too different, but in other ways these few changes make all the difference (scroll up to compare to the original).  I did this in a freestyle* editing form with just a few changes:

1. I used the Skin Smoothing function to get rid of the blemishes from her skin (either dirt or perhaps image noise)
2. Use the Soft Focus function to add a glow to the image
3. Brightened the eyes with the LightBlender

In almost all portrait pictures, I also use the Dodge and Burn Brush for just light touches, followed-up by the Undo Brush to blend back in only what I want to keep.

If I were to go further with this image

and some comments/suggestions on the image-editing workflow

In many cases, when I put out examples to the web, I draw back from what I would personally do, mostly because I want to make a point about something and I don’t want to get carried away – I take the risk of doing something to an image I might like, where some people might have preferred that I went another direction, and I want to stay focused on the point.

But, there is another reason.  As a general philosophy, it’s good to take a break from an image, to do it in two pieces.  We can tend to get saturated with how we’re seeing the work-in-progress when we really need to relate it to the world around us.

Another reason I stop short is because I did the above example in one session.  Now that I’ve taken a break from it and have “unsaturated” or defocused myself from the image as I was editing it, I can see a lot of things I’d like to go on with.  Still simple things, but, after being refreshed from editing it, I get a clear impression of what I want to do with it.

If I were to continue on this picture, I would deepen the contrast around the edges and lighten up the face in certain areas – I would use the Dodge and Burn brush for both things, as it gives a great contrast and also is perfect for adding uneven light, which is called for in most pictures, but most definitely when it comes to skin tones and faces.

Also, I would brighten the eyes a little bit (either with the Light Blender or general masking), and then add some color.  I didn’t do it here because I wanted to make sure I didn’t add too much light and color to the eyes and make them look unnatural.  As it is, I see that I really want to go just a little bit further.

(addendum: I came back and brought the eyes up.  The comments  above regarding the eyes refer to the image before I reposted it)

As a tip, when working with the eyes in this manner, my suggestion is to always step back just a little bit and then come back to it (in as little as 30 seconds), because this is an area where adding too much light and color can introduce an artificial sense to an image.  This is a good example of why it’s good to break any more than simple editing (i.e. adding some fill light, color; that is, anything where you’re really going for something) into a couple steps.

When I say “take a break” I really mean something as simple as checking the news on the Internet or checking e-mail – just something to distract you from the editing session for a few seconds so that you can look at the image from a fresh point of view.  I personally like to get to a certain point and then move onto another image or other things, and then return to the image later.  But, from a practical sense, it really is just a matter of defocusing from the image for any length of time.

Conclusion

Sometimes something as simple as adding a vignette can make a very big impact in a picture, and it can also lead to other things.

In this image, once I added the vignette, it led me to do other simple things to the image.  All-in-all, the entire editing process for this image was just a few minutes. A few simple things combined together for an image with an entirely different tone that also has brighter eyes and smoother skin.

Sometimes, all an image needs is just one or two touch ups, such as fill light, saturation boost, or a vignette. Other times, just starting with something simple to get the process going can inspire us to go on to a number of things we start to see will make the image nicer.

In this case, the end result started with one simple operation: adding a vignette.

Image Credit: “Cute Eyed Girl” by Ing. Jose Herrera

*Freestyle Editing is defined by editing in a manner that has no plan, but just creative flow.

• The Blues are still not as deep (especially the door), showing some color translation loss.
• I had to create three different curves to get the same result I obtained by experimenting with just one curve.  The light and saturation curve had to be adjusted to get to this point, where I could start to get the deep color from the HSL mode’s natural conversion.

• 5 Blending Modes (Same as in the Tone Blender: Soft, Hard, Burn, Color Burn, Hard Burn), we well as a "solid color" button (default) that, when unchecked uses a softer tone for wider & more subtle image blending (this is useful when you use both layers described below)
• 4 Basic Vignette Shapes: Circular/Elliptical, Square/Rectangular, Gradient, and a Double Gradient (i.e. a top and bottom gradient)
• Saturation Function tied to vignetting -- you can add or subtract color with the strength based on the transparency and softness of the vignette, i.e. the colors change softly according to the size/shape of the vignette only in the areas the vignette is touching.
• Color Selection. You can select any color for the vignette (as in the Tone Blender) to blend in any of the blend modes.
• Angle and Size/Shape Sliders. You can change the angle of the vignette shape, which is very helpful for gradients but also useful for elliptical and rectangular shapes.
• Two Layers. Saturation, Vignette Transparency/Strength, Color, and Blend Mode can be set independently for the vignette-covered area and the non-vignette area (see examples below).
• Mouse Moves the Vignette -- you can move the vignette with the mouse on the screen
• Dockable/Undockable Thumbnail Window. This shows the basic shape of the vignette so you can see it even when it blends smoothly into the main image. You can also use the mouse to move the vignette around and see the result in realtime on the screen. When Undocked, you can get more flexibility when moving the vignette by moving the mouse outside of the window (when the mouse button is down)
• Load/Save Presets (called "profiles" currently, but will be renamed to presets). See examples below.
• Pre-Desaturation ("Black and White" slider) to remove color from the base image prior to any blending.
• Post-Saturation ("Add Color" slider) to add color to the final image (after blending and vignetting is completed)
• Full Histogram Support.

• Adds vignette shapes (Circular (default), Square/rectangular, Gradients, etc.).
• Adds Angle and Size/Shape functionality as described above.

• There's a typo in "Bokeh/Lens Blur panel | Mask Selection | Hightlight Mask". Note the extra "t" in "highlight".
  
• Also, I noticed that when the Bokeh panel is active, it's not possible to access most of the items found in the main "Help" menu. Is this intended?

• %FileNameFull - fully qualified name of current file
  
• %FileName - name of current file
  
• %FileExtension - extension of current file
  
• %FilePath - folder containing current file
  
• %FileDrive - drive containing current file

Original Image Blurred with Sagelight Bokeh/Lens Blur

Blurred Image, Untouched

8-Bit Image, Sharpened

16-bit per-channel image, sharpened.

8-Bit per-Channel Image, Sharpened (pass 2)

16-bit per-channel Image, Sharpened twice.

• a) I know I am going to creatively edit the image more, or I am not sure if I am done with it.
• I have fine gradients, such as a sky, or smooth areas such as the above blur.

• a) Most of the time, because not only are all the edits in Sagelight at 16-bits per-channel, so I really am editing in 16-bits, but also because I do the major core work on the image in one session.
• When I want to edit something just for looks, or to tweak it. But, this sometimes incurs a penalty. I do have to understand that sometimes I will cause banding. But, I can handle that, typically with the Median or Image Smooth function and the Undo brush.
• c) Cloning, Dodging and Burning, effects – typically not necessary to use 16-bits per-channel, even though 16-bits per-channel, as a practice, can be better.

• Basic Controls. This shows how to easily use the basic controls of the Curves Window, which are the same throughout sagelight. After that, things get different, as dicussed in the following sections.
• Color Toning. This section shows how to use the Curves in the Quick Edit Mode for color toning your image, and how the Curves algorithms help integrate into the Quick Edit mode by keeping the luminance the same throughout the toning.
• Correcting Color Casts. This section shows how to use the embedded curves functions to correct color casts in the same way you would with the “Remove Color Cast” function, but with more control since you can change the resulting curves yourself.
• Auto Levels and Auto Color. This shows how to perform the same Auto Balance functions used in the Sagelight functions, but with more control over the result.
• Pro Quick Edit Mode and C*I*E LAB and HSL Color Spaces Color. This shows how the Pro Quick Edit mode curves can be used in the C*I*E LAB and HSL modes. Similar to the Power Curves, but you can use the other controls in the Pro Quick Edit mode together with the curves in these color spaces.

Attached thumbnail(s)

• Shadow and Highlight recovery in high-contrast photos
  
• Sharpening and/or local contrast enhancement to heighten detail (but hopefully without adding noise)
  
• Color balancing, especially since digital photos often look a little "blue" to me
  
• Recovering color in washed-out areas (sky, faces in sunlight, burned areas due to flash, etc.)
  
• Remove/reduce noise in low-light/high-ISO photos
  
• Color/contrast correction for photos taken through windows, screens, etc. (Yeah, not the best way to take a photo, but it happens)
  
• Bring out certain colors (but hopefully without blowing out others)
  
• Touch up/remove unwanted objects from the photo
  
• Make lighting more "dramatic", but without making it look too unrealistic

• Jpegs and Noise. In many cases, the noise caused by adding color is exacerbated when an image starts as a JPEG. In some ways, the noise issue with adding color is inherited by the technology we now use to compress images. Noise when adding color also occurs in non-Jpeg (i.e. RAW, .TIFF images never saved as a JPEG image), but it shows much faster and stronger with JPEG images.
• This is one of the reasons why Sagelight saturation algorithms (Sagelight Saturation, True Color, and Hybrid) were developed, because editing with an image saved as a JPEG can be much easier than starting with the RAW. While starting with a RAW image from your camera is technically more precise and much less susceptible to edges, speckling, and other problems associated with adding color and elsewhere in the editing process, it can also be much more cumbersome and difficult, since you have to deal with a number of elements the camera performs automatically (such as color balance, sharpening, light adjustments, etc.).
• Sagelight has extensive RAW functionality, but doesn’t take an opinion on editing with RAW or JPEG, as both have their advantages. However, if you see noticeable block-shaped edges in your image while adding color, this is probably due to the JPEG compression. When this happens, try different saturation modes to remove it.

• Standard & Advanced/Pro Version. Sagelight is being split into a Standard & Advanced/Pro version, and this is in the process right now. The main desire is to keep Sagelight as cheap as possible, but to also highlight its advanced functionality as well as keep it known as an easy-to-use editor. Splitting it into two versions will help because then I can put out a cheaper version while still putting in more complex functions into it, as well as non-advanced functions that everyone can use. This is why if you buy Sagelight right now you're getting the lifetime version -- the exact nature of the split hasn't been worked out yet, so it wouldn't be fair to limit what you're buying until it can be more defined. So when you buy it right now (or if you already have a regular version), I'm just going to promote them all to the highest-end version until the versions are clearly defined. That way, you don't have to worry about anything -- it's all taken care of forever for the time being.
• Raw Browser. The Raw Browser needs to be put in before the split and price increase. The issue with the RAW browser is actually a complex one. The problem for me has been that most browsers I've seen in editors and other programs leave a lot to be desired. They're either pedestrian or very hard to deal with -- or just all different. Even some of the big companies who have as much money as they could possibly need put in browsers that are very difficult to work with. My hope was that Microsoft, with Windows 7, would put more API support in for applications. But, they didn't. So, it is time to put that in, and that will be in in the next release (4.2). However, it will be a very well-written browser, and nothing ad-hoc or half-hearted. So, it's a big undertaking! I'm looking forward to it at this point.
• Scripting. Advanced scripting is being worked on right now and will be available starting with version 4.2 in one-form or another. The scripting is a fully-fledged OO-based language that will allow basically 3rd-party level applications to be written to control Sagelight. There is already some documentation about it at http://sagelightedit..._Implementation

• Power Curves
• Manual Curves (i.e. Curve Adjustments using the Curves Box attached to many controls)
• Second Power Box Definition Layer
• Advanced LightBlender Controls (the Standard Version will have only the 5-band equalizer, or perhaps will not include the LightBlender)
• Image Blending
• Tone Blending Advanced Toolset (i.e. Multi-Color Tools)
• HSL and C*I*E LAB modes in Pro Quick Edit Mode
• C*I*E LAB extensions on Gaussian Blur, Unsharp Mask, etc.
• High Pass Filter
• Vibrance Curves
• Vibrance Function (the Vibrance in the Power Box will exist)
• Advanced Controls in the Power Box
• Pro Saturation Modes (i.e. the multiple-color space Pro Saturation Functions)
• RGB Channel Mixer
• Upcoming CLAHE (to be put into the next release), which is an HDR-ish effect mode
• Advanced Options in the Quick Edit Mode
• Variable Blur/Blur Vignette (about to be upgraded for more functions)
• Lens Blur (scheduled for an upcoming release)
• A few other items TBD