Ilumax

Ilumax Photo guide

Crop and correct photographs, paint, and combine images with layers and masks. Ilumax Photo runs entirely on your computer, with no account or internet needed.

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What Ilumax Photo is for

Ilumax Photo is an image editor for photographs, painted artwork and compositions. You can crop and straighten a picture, change its brightness and colour, paint with brushes, and combine pictures and text on separate layers.

Masks hide parts of a layer without erasing them. Adjustment layers let you change the look while keeping the picture underneath. Save your working document as .ilxphoto, then export a picture to share.

Install and first launch

Get Photo from My downloads. Follow Installing Ilumax apps for the one-time steps on your Mac or Windows PC.

Choose File ▸ Open… to start with a picture. For an empty canvas, choose File ▸ New…, set Width, Height and Resolution, and click Create.

Edit your first photo

  1. Choose File ▸ Open… (CommandO on a Mac, ControlO on Windows) and open a JPEG or PNG picture.
  2. Choose File ▸ Save As… and name your working file Edited photo.ilxphoto. Include the .ilxphoto extension; Photo may suggest a different format. This keeps your original picture separate.
  3. Choose the Crop Tool (C). Drag the crop edges to frame the part you want to keep. Press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows) to apply the crop, or Esc to cancel it.
  4. Select the picture layer in Layers, then choose Image ▸ Adjustments ▸ Brightness/Contrast….
  5. Adjust Brightness and Contrast. Use Preview to check the result, then click OK. Cancel leaves the picture unchanged.
  6. Press CommandS (Mac) or ControlS (Windows) to save your working document.
  7. Choose File ▸ Export ▸ Export As…. Choose JPG or PNG under Format, set the output size, and export to a new file.

Find your way around

  • Menus: File opens, saves and exports; Edit has undo and transforms; Image changes image size and colour; Layer, Type, Select and Filter hold editing commands. View changes your view and Window opens panels.
  • Toolbar on the left: tools for moving, selecting, cropping, painting and typing. Point at a tool to see its name. Related tools share a toolbar group.
  • Options bar across the top: settings for the active tool, such as brush size and opacity or crop settings.
  • Canvas in the centre: the image you are editing. Tabs switch between open documents. Zoom changes the view, not the image’s pixel dimensions.
  • Layers: the pieces of your image, with visibility, masks, blend modes and Opacity. Click a layer before editing it.
  • Properties: settings for the selected layer, adjustment or mask. History lists editing states. Color and Swatches help you choose colours. Open these panels from Window.

Before painting, check both the active layer and its selected thumbnail. Painting on a layer changes its pixels; painting on its mask changes what shows.

Everyday tasks

Crop a picture

  1. Choose the Crop Tool. Drag a box or adjust the existing frame. Drag inside it to reposition the crop.
  2. Check Delete Cropped Pixels in the options bar. Turn it off if you want to keep the pixels outside the crop for later changes.
  3. Press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows) to apply, or Esc to cancel. To show retained pixels outside the canvas again, choose Image ▸ Reveal All.

Resize an image

  1. Choose Image ▸ Image Size… (CommandOptionI on a Mac, ControlAltI on Windows).
  2. Set Width and Height. Use Resample when you want to change the number of pixels. With resampling off, changes to print size or resolution keep the existing pixels.
  3. Confirm the dialog and check the result. Save the document, or export a smaller copy for sharing.

Image ▸ Canvas Size… changes the space around the image instead. Use it when you want a larger canvas or a tighter boundary.

Adjust brightness and colour

  1. Select the picture layer in Layers. Choose Image ▸ Adjustments ▸ Brightness/Contrast… for a simple correction, Levels… for tonal range, or Hue/Saturation… for colour.
  2. Change the settings while watching the preview. Click OK to apply them or Cancel to leave the image alone.
  3. For an adjustment you can edit later, use Layer ▸ New Adjustment Layer and choose the adjustment there instead. Select that adjustment layer and use Properties to change its settings.

Work on separate layers

  1. Open Window ▸ Layers. Click the layer you want to edit.
  2. Choose Layer ▸ Duplicate Layer… to make a working copy, or Layer ▸ New ▸ Layer… for an empty layer.
  3. Use the visibility icon beside a layer to hide or show it. Change Opacity to make it more transparent.
  4. Use the Move Tool (V) to position the selected layer. For resizing or rotating, choose Edit ▸ Free Transform, adjust the handles and press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows). Esc cancels the transform.

A pixel selection limits many edits to part of the active layer. If an edit affects only a small area, check whether a selection is still active.

Select part of an image

  1. Select the layer, then choose the Rectangular Marquee Tool and drag a box. Use the Lasso Tool for a freehand outline.
  2. Make the adjustment or paint within the selection.
  3. Choose Select ▸ Deselect (CommandD on a Mac, ControlD on Windows) when you want to edit the whole layer again.

Hide part of a layer with a mask

  1. Select the layer in Layers and choose Layer ▸ Layer Mask ▸ Reveal All.
  2. Click the mask thumbnail beside the layer thumbnail. Choose the Brush Tool and a black foreground colour.
  3. Paint on the canvas to hide those parts of the layer. Paint with white to reveal them again. Grey gives partial transparency.
  4. Click the layer thumbnail when you want to paint on the picture itself again.

A mask changes visibility without erasing the layer’s pixels. Save in .ilxphoto or another format that keeps masks if you want to revise it later.

Paint with a brush

  1. Select a pixel layer, or add an empty one with Layer ▸ New ▸ Layer….
  2. Choose the Brush Tool (B). Set the brush size and Opacity in the options bar, and choose a foreground colour.
  3. Drag on the canvas to paint. Undo a stroke with CommandZ (Mac) or ControlZ (Windows).

Add another picture

  1. Choose File ▸ Place Embedded… and select the picture. It becomes an embedded smart object in your document.
  2. Use the Move Tool to position it. Use Edit ▸ Free Transform to resize or rotate it, then press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows) to apply.
  3. Save your working document to keep the pictures on separate layers.

Place Linked… keeps a link to a separate picture file instead. Keep that file available when you move or share the document.

Add text to a picture

  1. Choose the Horizontal Type Tool (T) and click on the canvas to start typing.
  2. Set the font, size and colour in the type controls. Window ▸ Character and Window ▸ Paragraph have more text settings.
  3. Click Commit any current edits (the check mark in the options bar), or press CommandReturn (Mac) or ControlEnter (Windows). The text is on its own layer; select it in Layers to work with it again.

Export a picture to share

  1. Save your editable document first.
  2. Choose File ▸ Export ▸ Export As….
  3. Choose PNG for an image that can keep transparency, or JPG for a photograph. Set the size or Scale, and Quality where available.
  4. Export to a new file. The exported picture combines the visible layers; keep the working document for later edits.

JPEG cannot keep transparency. Transparent areas are composited over white when exported to JPEG.

Zoom and move around

Choose View ▸ Fit on Screen (Command0 on a Mac, Control0 on Windows) to see the whole image, or View ▸ 100% (Command1 on a Mac, Control1 on Windows) to inspect pixels. Use the Hand Tool (H) to drag the view. Zoom In and Zoom Out change the magnification.

Files

  • Native documents: .ilxphoto keeps your working document with its editable layers. Files from earlier versions still open. Use Save As… and a name ending in .ilxphoto to save in the current format.
  • Layered files: opens and saves PSD and PSB (.psd, .psb), TIFF and OpenRaster (.ora). What each format can keep varies; read save warnings and keep a native master for work that the other format cannot hold.
  • Pictures: opens and writes PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, BMP, TGA, ICO, QOI, Netpbm, OpenEXR and Radiance HDR. These image exports combine the layers into a picture.
  • Other imports: SVG, .pdn, .kra, .krz, and .afdesign, .afphoto and .afpub files. Camera raw files are supported too, but support varies by camera and file. Check the imported result and any warnings.

Save updates the working file when its format can keep the document. Otherwise Photo asks for a suitable file. Save As… gives an editable document a new working file; choosing a flat format can save a copy instead. Save a Copy… and Export As… make separate files.

Opening an animated image or a multi-page TIFF imports only its first frame or page. Imported files may contain details Photo cannot reproduce exactly. Keep the original and check the result before sharing.

Keyboard shortcuts

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

ToMacWindows
New documentCommandNControlN
OpenCommandOControlO
SaveCommandSControlS
Save AsCommandShiftSControlShiftS
Save a CopyCommandOptionSControlAltS
Undo / redoCommandZ or CommandShiftZControlZ or ControlShiftZ
DeselectCommandDControlD
Free TransformCommandTControlT
Image SizeCommandOptionIControlAltI
Canvas SizeCommandOptionCControlAltC
Levels / CurvesCommandL or CommandMControlL or ControlM
Hue/SaturationCommandUControlU
Finish typingCommandReturnControlEnter
Zoom in / outCommandEquals or CommandMinusControlEquals or ControlMinus
Fit on screen / 100%Command0 or Command1Control0 or Control1
Move tool groupVV
Marquee / Lasso tool groupsM or LM or L
Crop / Brush / Type tool groupsC or B or TC or B or T
Hand / ZoomH or ZH or Z

These are the default shortcuts. Tool groups share a letter; the selected tool in the group can differ. Use Shift with the letter to cycle through related tools. Single-letter keys do not select tools while you are typing. Edit ▸ Keyboard Shortcuts… shows and changes the bindings.

Tips

  • Keep your original photo and an editable master. Export a separate file for each size or use.
  • Use a mask when you may want to restore an area later. Erasing pixels is harder to revise after saving and closing.
  • Check the active layer, mask and selection when an edit seems to do nothing or affects the wrong area.
  • Inspect at 100% before exporting. A small preview can hide rough edges or over-sharpening.
  • Save regularly. History helps you revisit edits while working, but it is not a replacement for a saved document.

Get help

Help ▸ User Guide opens this guide, and Help ▸ Support opens the support page. You can also visit Support or email [email protected]. Include your app version, your Mac or Windows version, and what you were doing when the problem appeared.

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.

Other companies’ product names mentioned in this guide are trademarks of their owners. Ilumax is not affiliated with them.