Ilumax

Ilumax Light guide

A photo library and raw developer for choosing your best shots, organising them and adjusting light, colour and detail. Edits stay separate from the original picture.

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What Ilumax Light is for

Ilumax Light brings your photos into a library, helps you choose and organise them, and develops camera raw and other picture files. Use ratings, flags, albums and keywords to find your work. Adjust light, colour, curves, detail and selected areas, then export finished copies.

Developing is non-destructive: you can change an adjustment later without rewriting the original picture. Light works offline. Optional face-recognition models, a noise-reduction model and place names download only when you ask. Model downloads show their terms before you accept.

Install and first launch

Install Light with the Ilumax Launcher or from My downloads. The one-time confirmation steps for your Mac or PC are in Installing Ilumax apps.

Light normally keeps its library in Pictures/Ilumax Light Library. A new library starts with sample photos to explore. Use File ▸ New Library… to create another library, or File ▸ Open Library… to open an existing one.

The library is a folder, not a photo file. Keep a backup of it and of the original photos it references.

Develop your first photo

  1. Choose File ▸ Import Photos…, or press CommandShiftI (Mac) or ControlShiftI (Windows), and select a few photos.
  2. In the import review, check the photos you want. Under Transfer, choose Add in place to use them at their existing locations, or Copy to work with copies. Click Import.
  3. Select a photo in the grid and press D for Detail. Press E to open Edit.
  4. Open Light and adjust Exposure. Try Highlights and Shadows to recover a useful balance between bright and dark areas.
  5. Press C for Crop & Rotate. Adjust the crop, then press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows) to finish.
  6. Press Y to compare before and after. Press it again to return to your edit.
  7. Choose File ▸ Export…. Set Format to JPEG, choose the output Folder and click Export.

Light keeps edits in the library; you do not need to save a project after each adjustment. Export creates a separate picture with those edits applied.

Find your way around

  • My Photos on the left is your library navigation, including albums. Local lets you browse folders without first importing their photos into the library.
  • Photo Grid and Square Grid show thumbnails. Press G to switch between them. Detail shows one photo; Compare and Survey help choose among similar shots.
  • The search box and Filter Bar narrow the photos on screen. View ▸ Filter Bar, or ShiftF, shows the filter controls.
  • The right panels include Edit, Crop & Rotate, Remove, Masking, Presets, Info, Keywords, Versions and History. Open them from Window.
  • Edit includes a histogram, Auto, and sections such as Light, Color, Effects, Detail and Optics. Expand the section you need.
  • The Filmstrip shows thumbnails while you work on a photo. Toggle it with View ▸ Filmstrip, or Slash.

If panels have moved out of reach, choose Window ▸ Reset Panel Layout. Press Esc to return to the grid.

Everyday tasks

Bring photos into the library

  1. Choose File ▸ Import Photos… for individual files, or Import from Folder… for a folder.
  2. Review the thumbnails and check the ones to import.
  3. Choose Add in place or Copy under Transfer. For Copy, check Copy to and the folder options.
  4. Choose an album, preset or keywords in the import options if you want them applied now. Click Import.

Add in place references the files where they are. Copy leaves the source files there and uses the copies. Move transfers files and removes the source copies after verification; choose it only when you intend to relocate them.

Keep referenced drives available. If a photo is missing, use File ▸ Find Missing Photos…, or the photo’s Locate Missing File… command, to reconnect it.

Choose your best shots

  1. Select a photo and press D to inspect it. Use Z to toggle zoom for a closer look.
  2. Press 1 to 5 to set a star rating, or 0 to clear it. Press P for a pick, X for a reject, or U to clear the flag.
  3. Select similar shots and use View ▸ Compare (ShiftC) or Survey (N) to choose between them.
  4. Use the Filter Bar to show the ratings or flags you want to work on.

Rejecting marks a photo; it does not delete the original. In the grids, ratings and flags apply to all selected photos. In Compare and Survey, they apply to the active photo.

Photo ▸ Auto Advance moves on after a rating or flag. Holding Shift while rating or flagging also advances to the next photo. Keys 6, 7, 8 and 9 set red, yellow, green and blue colour labels.

Organise photos into albums

  1. Choose File ▸ New Album…, name the album and confirm.
  2. Select library photos in the grid. Right-click and use Add to Album to choose the album.
  3. Open the album from the left panel to work on that set of photos.

Albums organise library entries without making another copy of each original file. Photos browsed under Local must join My Photos before they can belong to an album.

Use Window ▸ Keywords to add searchable words. File ▸ New Smart Album… creates an album whose contents follow rules rather than a hand-picked list.

Adjust light and colour

  1. Select a photo, press D, then E for Edit.
  2. Try Auto for a starting point, or adjust Light yourself: Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites and Blacks.
  3. In Color, adjust Temp and Tint for white balance. The White Balance Selector (W) lets you sample a neutral area of the picture.
  4. Use Curve for tonal shaping, and Color Mixer or Color Grading for more detailed colour changes.
  5. Press Y to compare before and after. Use Photo ▸ Reset Edits if you want to start again, or Edit ▸ Undo to step back once.

Check sharpness and noise at 100% zoom. A small preview can hide both.

Crop and straighten

  1. Open a photo in Detail and press C for Crop & Rotate.
  2. Adjust the crop edges and choose the aspect ratio you want. Rotate or straighten the picture as needed.
  3. Press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows) to finish. Reopen Crop & Rotate whenever you want to change the crop.

Cropping changes the developed picture, not the source file. In the crop panel, X swaps the crop aspect instead of rejecting the photo.

Adjust part of a photo

  1. Press M to open Masking.
  2. Under Create New Mask, choose Brush, Linear Gradient or Radial Gradient.
  3. Paint or drag over the area you want to adjust. Press O to show or hide the mask overlay.
  4. Adjust the mask’s settings, such as exposure, to affect that area. Use Add, Subtract or Intersect to refine the mask.

With a brush active, Left bracket and Right bracket change its size. ShiftLeft bracket and ShiftRight bracket change feather, which softens its edge.

Reuse an edit

  1. Develop a photo the way you want, then choose Photo ▸ Create Preset….
  2. Give it a name and choose Settings to include. Confirm to keep it in your presets.
  3. Select another photo and open Window ▸ Presets to apply the preset.

For a quick transfer, choose Edit ▸ Choose Edit Settings to Copy… on the edited photo. Select the destination photos and choose Paste Selected Settings…. Check which groups you copy, especially crop and masks.

Photo ▸ Create Virtual Copy makes another edit of the same original without duplicating the picture file. Use it to try a different crop or treatment.

Set up optional local tools

Light works offline for importing, organising, developing and exporting. These extra tools need local data installed first:

  • Faces: open Edit ▸ Settings… and choose Faces to set up the detection and recognition models. Light shows a model’s terms before you accept its download. Photo ▸ Detect Faces finds faces; View ▸ People helps organise named people.
  • AI Denoise: open Settings… ▸ AI Denoise to choose a noise-reduction model. Its terms appear before downloading. In the photo’s Edit ▸ Detail section, enable AI Denoise and adjust its amount. This processes raw photos locally.
  • Place names: Photo ▸ Download Place Names (GeoNames) downloads the place-name data when you request it. Once installed, Info ▸ Fill Location can fill empty city, state and country fields from a photo’s GPS coordinates offline.

The downloads need an internet connection. Installed models and place names are used on your computer; they are not an upload of your photos.

Export finished pictures

  1. Select the photo or photos to send and choose File ▸ Export….
  2. Choose Format. JPEG is useful for ordinary sharing; PNG or TIFF may suit other work.
  3. Choose the size, quality and other options you need. Check the output Folder.
  4. Click Export, then open a result to check the crop, colour and size.

Export applies your current edits to new files. Keep the library if you want to revise those edits later.

Files

Light’s library is a folder containing its catalogue, edits, presets and caches. It has no document extension. It keeps develop adjustments separate from the original picture data.

XMP sidecars stay unchanged in the default library editing workflow. Photo ▸ Save Metadata to File (CommandS on a Mac, ControlS on Windows) writes metadata and edits to sidecars. Automatic writing is off by default; keep Automatically write changes into XMP sidecars off in Settings… ▸ Import if you want to leave them untouched. This key saves metadata, not a project.

  • Opens photos: camera raw formats including DNG, Canon CR2 and CR3, Sony ARW, Nikon NEF, Fujifilm RAF, Panasonic RW2, Pentax PEF and Olympus ORF; plus JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WebP and JPEG XL. The Mac build also opens HEIC. Support can vary by camera and compression type.
  • Exports pictures: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, WebP, AVIF, JPEG XL and DNG. Original files exports an original with an XMP sidecar rather than a developed picture.
  • Saves develop presets: .ilxlightpreset, through File ▸ Export Presets…. Import them with File ▸ Import Profiles & Presets….
  • Saves point-curve presets: .ilxlightcurve. In Edit ▸ Curve, use the Point Curve preset menu to save, import or export them.
  • Files from earlier versions: existing libraries, develop presets and point-curve presets still open.

Back up the library folder and the original photos. With Add in place, those photos may live outside the library. Close Light before copying its library for a backup.

Keyboard shortcuts

These are the default bindings. Help ▸ Keyboard Shortcuts shows and changes them. Keys apply to the photo view when you are not typing in a text field.

On a Mac, ⌘ is Command, ⇧ Shift, ⌥ Option and ⌃ Control.

ToMacWindows
Import photosCommandShiftIControlShiftI
New albumCommandNControlN
FindCommandFControlF
UndoCommandZControlZ
RedoCommandShiftZControlShiftZ
Switch gridGG
Detail view / Edit panelD or ED or E
Compare / SurveyShiftC or NShiftC or N
Crop & RotateCC
MaskingMM
Before and afterYY
Toggle zoomZZ
Zoom to fitCommand0Control0
Set one to five stars1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 51 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5
Clear stars00
Pick / reject / clear flagP or X or UP or X or U
Choose settings to copyCommandShiftCControlShiftC
Paste selected settingsCommandShiftVControlShiftV
Reset editsCommandShiftRControlShiftR
Back to gridEscEsc
User GuideF1F1

Tips

  • Import a small set first and test a raw file from your camera before bringing in a large shoot.
  • If photos seem to have disappeared, check the selected album, search and filters before importing again.
  • Check how many photos are selected before rating, pasting settings or exporting. Grid actions can affect the whole selection.
  • In Detail, bracket keys resize a brush. In the grids, they decrease or increase ratings. The current view matters.
  • Keep separate backups of the library and the original files. An exported JPEG cannot replace an editable library and raw original.

Get help

Help ▸ User Guide opens this page. For a problem, include your app version, operating system, camera and file type, and the steps that caused it. Help ▸ System Info… and Open Log Folder help gather details if support asks.

Email [email protected]. Say which app and version you use, whether you are on a Mac or Windows, and what you did just before the problem.

Or go to Support: what to put in your email, and quick answers on installing, licence keys, renewals and refunds.

Lost your licence key? Email from the address you paid with, and it will be sent back to you. To download an app again, paste your key on My downloads.

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