Instructions for Windows

Downloading the LightZone 3.9 installation package

If you don't already have LightZone installed, or if you've got an older version installed, you'll want to install the 3.9 version (which was the last version produced by Light Crafts). The LightZombie Project doesn't directly supply that file, out of respect for Light Crafts' copyright, but you can download it from Archive.org's Wayback Machine by clicking here.

If you have trouble with the download, it could be that your browser isn't recognizing that the file that the Wayback Machine is sending is supposed to be downloaded rather than displayed. If that happens, follow these instructions:

  1. Click here.
  2. You'll get a page that says, "Welcome to Wayback, Loading..."
  3. Toward the bottom right of that page is a link that says, "Impatient?"
  4. Right-click that link and select "Save Link As".

Don't dawdle too long before Right-clicking the "Impatient?" link.

Updating dcraw

If you have a newer camera whose Raw files aren't recognized by LightZone 3.9, you'll need to do two things. The first one is to updated the dcraw.exe program.

  1. Locate the LightZone installation folder — usually C:\Program Files\LightZone
  2. Rename the dcraw.exe file to something else, just in case you want to recover it.
  3. Right-click this link, choose "Save Link As", and save it into the LightZone installation folder.

Sometimes there are "beta" versions of a more recent update to dcraw. In that case, if you want the beta version right-click this link, choose "Save Link As", and save it into the LightZone installation folder.

Obtaining a new Raw Tone Curve template

The second part of updating LightZone to handle Raw files from a newer camera is to install the Raw Tone Curve template. The Raw Tone Curve is essentially a ZoneMapper in RGB mode that LightZone uses to adjust the brightness and contrast of the Raw image. If your camera doesn't already have a Raw Tone Curve built in to LightZone, you'll want to get one. The LightZombie Project provides a number of Raw Tone Curve templates.

  1. Locate the Raw Tone Curve template for your camera, starting from this link.
  2. If there isn't one, make a request for one either on the LightZombie forums or at the github Issue Tracker.
  3. Click on the profile and a page comes up that shows you what the profile looks like (you probably don't care).
  4. In the toolbar just above the profile data, right-click the "raw" link and choose "Save Link As".
  5. Locate your LightZone templates folder, where all of the styles templates are. They're usually in My Documents\LightZone\Templates
  6. Check the name of the file to be saved. A lot of browsers mess it up. It should be "Camera Default;BRAND MODEL.lzt". If needed, fix the file name to match the original name.
  7. Click the Save button.

Obviously, if you need to fix the file name afterward, you can simply rename it using Windows Explorer or any other handy tool.

If LightZone isn't picking up the Raw Tone Curve template file, the name is probably wrong. Look in the lightzone.log file (located in My Documents\LightZone) and there's probably a message in there complaining that LightZone couldn't find the Camera Defaults file. That message will give the exact name that LightZone is looking for.

The Raw Tone Curve template will appear in your Styles panel under "Camera Defaults" but you can ignore that.