Below is a chart comparing the features of the Lucis series software. Below the chart is further software comparison information.

Overview

Buy LucisArt ED if you process 8-bit images and you want to easily and accurately enhance image detail- from sublime enhancements to HDR looks to revealing extreme image detail. LucisArt 3 has an enhance detail slider that allows you to enhance image detail in increments of 2 intensity levels. That is 125 settings for an 8-bit image. LucisArt 3 ED provides greatly improved access to image detail when compared to LucisArt 2, which only had the effects Exposure (7 settings) and Whyeth (5 settings).

Buy the LucisArt ED/SE software bundle if you process 8-bit images and you want the LucisArt 2 special effects except Klimpt. LucisArt 3 ED provides greatly improved access to image detail and LucisArt 3 SE provides the LucisArt 2 special effects Winslow, Sculpture, and Plaid 1-3. Winslow is a watercolor effect. Sculpture reveals mid-range contrast patterns. Plaid 1-3 is like Sculpture only radial artifacts (texture) is added.

Buy Lucis Pro 6.0 if you want 1) the ability to process 16-bit images, 2) full access to image content using two sliders, one to enhance detail/features and one to smooth detail/features, 3) the ability to process the intensity information in each RGB channel separately, 4) the ability to increase or eliminate radial line artifacts, and 5) the ability to reduce or eliminate any color shifts from the Lucis processing. Lucis Pro 6.0 is a thousand times more powerful and flexible than LucisArt 3ED/SE and it is incredibly easy to use. Lucis Pro 6.0 is by far the best value and the product best suited for professional photographers.

What are the key features of Lucis® Pro 6.0?

What are the differences between LucisArt 2 and LucisArt 3 ED and LucisArt 3 SE?

What are the differences between LucisArt 3 ED/SE compared and Lucis® Pro 6.0

What are the key features of Lucis Pro 6.0?

Please note that the following description assumes that you are familiar with LucisArt 2. Lucis Pro 6.0 is an Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 and an Adobe® Photoshop® Elements (or higher) plug-in.

Shift and view the entire content of your RGB or grayscale image using two sliders, one which enhances image detail and features and one which smoothes image detail and features. Each slider can be altered in increments of two intensity levels. That’s 125 settings for an 8-bit image and 16,000 setting for a 16-bit image.

Process the grayscale information in each RGB channel separately using split channel mode. How these grayscale images overlap determine image detail and color. Changing these grayscale images creates shifts in detail, accents, and color. It is another way to add drama or surrealism to your image. Also it is a way to completely control image contrasts. Each RGB channel contributes 1/3 of the contrast of the full image. You can enhance the contrast information in each channel separately and then remove any color shifts using the Assign Original Image Color slider.

Time-saving color control. Lucis Pro processes intensity information. So there are color shifts when processing color images. These color shifts may or may not be desirable. Lucis Pro has a color assign slider so you can assign a percentage of the original image’s color to the Lucis Pro image. With LucisArt 2 you had to use layers in Photoshop to correct any color shifts.

You have the option to increase or decrease the Scan Lines*. Increasing the number of Scan Lines eliminates radial artifacts that sometimes occur, especially when you are smoothing an image (something the LucisArt 2 could not do). Decreasing Scan Lines creates radial artifacts, which is the basis for the special effect Plaid1 to Plaid 3 in LucisArt 2 and LucisArt 3 SE.

There is a Mix slider so you can mix the Lucis image with a percentage of the original image, just like LucisArt 2.

Process 8-16 bit grayscale and color images in a variety of formats.

Improved user interface. Adjustable preview window and improved zoom controls.

Process 8-16 bit grayscale and color images in a variety of formats.

Faster image processing and less memory use.

Intel Macintosh and Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Elements 6 (or higher) compatible.

32-bit Windows Vista, Windows XP and Photoshop CS3 Photoshop Elements 6 compatible.

TO BE ADDED- FREE UPGRADE: Windows 64-bit operating system compatibility including Photoshop CS4x64 compatibility.

TO BE ADDED- FREE UPGRADE: The ability to have user-defined presets.

TO BE ADDED - FREE UPGRADE: The ability to enhance very large images.

*A note about Scan Lines: During Lucis Processing each pixel is compared to every other pixel along Scan Lines. Increasing the number of Scan Lines removes any radial artifacts that can be produced by the Lucis processing. With LucisArt 3 you cannot increase the number of Scan Lines so if artifacts are produced you can’t remove them. (However the number of Scan Liens has been set to a high level in LucisArt 3 so radial artifacts should be an infrequent or nonexistent issue, depending on the image and how you want to process it.) Lucis Pro 6.0 lets you increase the number of Scan Lines so the radial artifacts can be removed if they appear. Setting the Scan Lines to the lowest values (1-4) creates numerous radial artifacts which create an interesting artistic effect. This is the basis for the LucisArt 2 special effect Plaid.

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What are the differences between LucisArt 2 and LucisArt 3 ED and LucisArt 3 SE?

LucisArt 2 has special effects that were developed from presets taken from the full Lucis algorithm. LucisArt 2 was very powerful software. However it is now older software- the preview window is very small and the zoom controls needed improvement. The Macintosh LucisArt 2 would not work in Photoshop CS3 on an Intel Macintosh computer. LucisArt 2 is not guaranteed to work in Photoshop CS4 or Elements 7 or other future releases.

LucisArt 3 consists of two parts- LucisArt 3 ED (Enhance Detail) and LucisArt 3 SE (Special Effects).

LucisArt 3 ED focuses on one thing only- accurately enhancing image detail. Enhancing image detail using the special effects Exposure and Whyeth were the special effects customers used the most in LucisArt 2. LucisArt 2 had 12 presets for enhancing image detail- seven presets in the Effect Exposure and 5 presets in the special effect Whyeth. LucisArt 3 ED has an Enhance Detail slider that can be altered in increments of 2 intensity levels. This is up to 125 settings for a typical 8-bit image. This is the major LucisArt 3 software improvement

LucisArt 3 ED will allow you to enhance image detail to any level- from subtle to extreme. LucisArt 3 will allow you to create DHR effects from a single image and repair image exposure.

LucisArt 3 SE implements the special effects Winslow, Sculpture and Plaid 1-3 from LucisArt 2. the special effect Klimpt was not implemented. LucisArt 3 SE is only sold bundled with LucisArt 3 ED (called LucisArt 3 ED/SE).

LucisArt 3 ED and LucisArt 3 SE have a Mix With Original Image slider so you can mix in a percentage of the original image.

LucisArt 3 ED and LucisArt 3 SE have an improved scalable user interface and improved zoom controls. When you open the LucisArt 3 ED or LucisArt 3 SE user interface is opens at the same size it was when last closed.

LucisArt 3 ED and LucisArt 3 SE have the ability to save user-defined presets.

LucisArt 3 and LucisArt 3 SE will have a free upgrade to allow the software to process very large images. LucisArt 2 had a maximum image size limitation.

The LucisArt 3 ED and LucisArt 3 SE output quality has been improved by increasing the number of Scan Lines. As part of the Lucis processing contrast variances are mapped out by comparing each pixel to every pixel along hundreds of radial lines called scan lines. Lucis process deals with scan lines in groups of 16, so 16 scan lines is equal to 1 Scan Line. When LucisArt 2 was developed computers were not powerful enough to handle the processing burden of extra Scan Lines and still process images fast enough. So in LucisArt 2 the preview window image was created by using 8 Scan Lines and the full LucisArt processing used 16 scan lines. This meant that sometimes when the LucisArt 2 special effects Winslow and Sculpture were applied sometimes radial artifacts were produced. In LucisArt 3 ED and LucisArt 3 SE the number of Scan Lines has been increased to 32. This means that radial lines from processing images in Winslow and Sculpture will hardly ever occur. (The Plaid special effect creates radial artifacts by deliberately reducing the number of Scan Lines to 1 for Plaid 1, 2 for Plaid 2 and 3 for Plaid 3.)

The Windows LucisArt 3 will work in Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Elements 6 or higher on a 32-bit Windows XP computer or Windows Vista computer. (Operation in Photoshop CS4x64 will be added later.) The Macintosh LucisArt 3 requires an Intel Macintosh computer.

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What are the differences between LucisArt 3 ED/SE compared and Lucis Pro 6.0?

Lucis Pro 6.0 is much more powerful than LucisArt 3 ED/SE. Lucis Pro 6.0 is the best value and the best choice for professional photographers who want a long-term, evolving competitive advantage. Some differences are described below.

LucisArt 3 ED is basically the Enhance Detail slider and the Mix With Original Image slider in Lucis Pro 6.0. So both programs allow you to enhance image detail with a slider that can be altered in increments of two intensity levels. This is 125 settings for an 8-bit image.

LucisArt 3 ED/SE will process 8-bit images. Lucis Pro 6.0 will process 16-bit grayscale and RGB images. So the Enhance Detail slider in Lucis Pro 6.0 has 16,000 settings for a 16-bit image.

All of the effects in LucisArt 3 ED/SE can be easily created using Lucis Pro 6.0.

LucisArt 3 ED/SE cannot process each RGB channel separately, it does not have the ability to remove color shifts from the Lucis processing, it can't process 16-bit images, and it can't alter the number of Scan Lines.

Lucis Pro 6.0 allow you to shift and view the entire content of your RGB or grayscale image using two sliders, one which enhances image detail and features and one which smoothes image detail and features. LucisArt 3 ED/SE does not have the Enhance Detail Slider and Smooth Detail slider present at the same time. It has each slider separately (LucisArt 3 ED is the Enhance Detail slider and then the Winslow Effect in LucisArt 3 SE is the Smooth Detail slider) and it has some presets from using both sliders (the LucisArt 3 SE special effect Sculpture).

LucisArt 3 ED/SE will have demo software and will not be protected by a dongle. Lucis Pro 6.0 will not have demo software and will be protected by a dongle.

Lucis Pro has numerous other features as described in What are the features of the new Lucis Pro 6.0?

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