AKVIS LightShop: Is it Worth the Price?

Written by:  • Edited by: Rhonda Callow
Published Mar 30, 2009
• Related Guides: Photo Editing Software
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Despite being fun and versatile, the cost of AKVIS LightShop may take the application out of most people’s budgets. In this review, we’ll take a closer look at the software’s capabilities and see if it is worth the price.

Overview of AKVIS LightShop V.2.5

If you’re having trouble getting that perfect lighting effect with your digital camera, you can always edit the effect into the photograph later using photo editing software. AKVIS LightShop is an application developed especially for this purpose, and it includes a huge library of customizable light effects that can be used in a variety of different ways. Along with this library, the software offers the flexibility of letting users build their own light effects either by modifying existing configurations or by starting from a blank slate.

LightShop is available for both Mac and Windows systems. Additionally, it can be purchased as either a standalone program or as a plugin that is compatible with a number of today’s popular photo editors, including Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop Elements.

Installation and Setup
Rating Excellent

In this review, we’ll be looking at the Windows version of LightShop. The installation and setup of both the plugin and independent application was quick and straightforward. No problems were encountered. It should be noted that plugin users may have to make a few other changes before the host photo editor recognizes the new addition. If you’re a Paint Shop Pro user and having trouble, see these instructions for installing third-party plugins.

Ease of Use
Rating Excellent

User Interface of LightShop
click to enlarge
LightShop’s user interface is extremely intuitive and quite easy to use. You can select a predefined lighting effect from a collection of over 70 default settings and modify it to suit your own personal tastes. The drag-and-drop feature makes it simple to place the effect in the desired area of the photograph, and the preview window allows you to see potential results before you actually have to apply them to the photograph.

Even if you have no experience whatsoever with photo editing, you should have no problems using the software. If you do have questions about any of the settings, hovering over that area with your mouse will bring up a brief help message describing its function. However, the best way to see what one of these settings will do may be just to change it and see how the image in the preview window is affected.

Next: Continue to page 2 of this review of AKVIS LightShop to find out more about the software's features and price as well as our overall rating of the product.

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