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Light Crafts All Deals Design, Photo & Graphics Software Photo Manipulation Software

Aurora

"Like Turning on a Light Inside of Your Photos"

$49.95

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Platforms: Windows XP, Vista, 7

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Professional photo producers command a lighting crew, a wardrobe crew, a handful of assistants and a few models; and they take about 10,000 pictures for every one that gets published.

You don't have an unlimited budget or access to lights and models. Heck, you don't even have the cash to pony up for that "other" photo editing app that requires a PhD to operate.

But there's another, much less-expensive solution for pro-looking digital photographs: Aurora is an elegant, easy to use photo suite that lets you edit, organize, publish and store all of your photos with a few swift mouse strokes!

Using an intuitive visual interface, Aurora turns your computer into a digital darkroom. Select what aspect of the image you want to improve: contrast, brightness, color balance, tint, or crop, and Aurora will give you a banner of thumbnails to choose from. Just click on the one that looks good and you're done!

For even faster professional results, try the crown jewel of Aurora's editing room: the auto-relight tool. It's like "turning a light on inside your photo"!

Once you leave the editing room, Aurora gives you quick access to publishing on Flickr, Facebook, and numerous other photo hosting and social network sites. A drag-and drop filing cabinet makes organization as simple as possible, and easy to scroll thumbnails make browsing a snap!

Review Written by Andrew Dick

The Conversation

Features

The Fine Print

Your discount coupon code will be applied to your purchase when you click the 'Buy Now' button.
BitsDuJour downloads use a discount coupon code that comes direct from the software vendor, so you'll always get the latest version of the software app sold under the same terms as a regular sale, just at a great promotional price.
Prices do not necessarily include taxes, which will vary by country.

Expand All Email Updates

Peter pereh Any chance that we will also see LightZone here? ;-)

Apr 23 2010 at 2:49am Copy Link

Jerry S What are the differences between Aurora and :LightZone, which I already own?

Apr 27 2010 at 6:13pm Copy Link

Light Crafts Customer Support Peter -- We're excited to offer Aurora for visitors to this site. We're still dipping our toes into the waters here, but based on the response we see... I think it's certainly a possibility.

Apr 27 2010 at 6:58pm Copy Link

Light Crafts Customer Support Jerry -- We built Aurora specifically to cater to the needs of photographers looking to bring out the true beauty in their images. With an easy-to-use selection-based interface, Aurora can help improve almost any image, even those shot under less-than perfect conditions. Aurora includes much of the same technology found in our profressional-grade LightZone package, but Aurora's focus encompasses technology to improve photos and share them with friends, family and others, either by email or via social networking sites like Facebook, Flickr and others. A number of our LightZone customers have added Aurora to their digital toolkits, and if you're interested in knowing more about Aurora's features we invite you to explore our web site at http://www.lightcrafts.com for more information.

Apr 27 2010 at 7:14pm Copy Link

Jon Koerner Is there an upgrade path from Aurora to Lightzone?

If we purchase Aurora now and you do later offer LightZone here, (e.g., at the same 60% discount -- a sale price of $40), could we "trade in" the Aurora for Lightzone?

Also - what is the licensing on this deal? Can we install on more than 1 computer (1 user - e.g., laptop + desktop)?
And what version upgrades/updates does this license entitle?

Apr 28 2010 at 5:57am Copy Link

A. Goyal Yes, I would also be interested in the Lightzone for the BDJ discount for $40 today.

Apr 28 2010 at 6:59am Copy Link

Gary H This week, I just started using Picasa for picture sharing and basic photo processing ... cropping, lightening, etc. I notice one of your feature/benefits specifically lists Picasa among a number sites it can "Quickly Publish to ...". I know that Picasa (free) also seems to have a filmstrip / folder interface and has a number of fixes / tuning / effects just as Aurora does.

I don't have a lot of time today to research and conduct a detailed comparison of Picasa features to Aurora ... to identify what primary differences might warrant my spending $19.98 today (or $49.95 reg. price after today).

As today is the only day for the 60% off $49.95 deal (through the Iconico Daily Deals), might you answer the question or point me to a thread on your Light Crafts Forums that might get to the heart of the answer(s) to my question(s)?.

In other words, what does Aurora do that Picasa doesn't do at all?
Or, what does Aurora do better than Picasa?

For instance:
One The Aurora screenshots I've seen seem to show that for any given photo you're working with, there are smaller thumbnails above it to dynamically preview what certain settings would result in ... such as: Darker -2, Darker -1, Original, Ligther +1, Ligther +2. (While handier than an "Undo button", in and of itself it does not seem so much of an improvement/convenience to warrant a purchase.)

Thanks for any additional guidance/input!

Apr 28 2010 at 7:00am Copy Link

Light Crafts Customer Support Jon -- We don't currently offer an official upgrade path between Aurora and LightZone, although this may be something we'll look at in the future. In addition, since purchase prices between the two products aren't identical we typically haven't allowed one-for-one swap deals between Aurora and LightZone. However, Light Crafts licensing does permit customers to perform dual installs of our software, so you can use our software on a laptop in the field and a desktop back at home base via a single license. Note though that any installs beyond the first two do require separate licenses for each machine.

Apr 28 2010 at 7:03am Copy Link

Jon Koerner By "trade-in" I did not mean an even one-for-one swap -- What I meant is -- would you apply our Aurora purchase price ($19.98) toward the purchase price of the LightZone?

You should think about making an official upgrade path between them.

Apr 28 2010 at 7:15am Copy Link

marty rudoy How do I get the discount code? Adobe AIR had an error and wouldn't initialize on my computer.

Apr 28 2010 at 7:54am Copy Link

Light Crafts Customer Support Jon -- I'm sure we'll be looking at some type of official upgrade path between Aurora and LightZone but, for the moment, we do not have such a program in place.

Apr 28 2010 at 8:17am Copy Link

Light Crafts Customer Support Tony -- If you're having trouble purchasing Aurora, or if you need help installing the software, please contact our customer support team at support

lightcrafts.com for immediate assistance.

Apr 28 2010 at 8:21am Copy Link

Jon Koerner Tony -- my question was -- IF/WHEN you offer lightzone here on BDJ, will you at that time give me $19.98 credit (the price I'm paying for Aurora) toward purchase of Lightzone?

That would effectively be an "upgrade" - I would no longer use Aurora after purchasing Lightzone.

I don't need or want to purchase both products. I would prefer the Lightzone but you don't have it on sale today. You have indicated that you *might* offer it at BDJ in the future. So I am wondering whether to purchase Aurora today or not. I would do so if I knew that it could be used toward future Lightzone purchase on BDJ.

Apr 28 2010 at 11:15am Copy Link

Roger Thomasson Folks, the vendor has been clear -- there is currently no upgrade path from Aurora to Lightzone. If and when there is one, you would presumably be eligible were you to purchase Aurora via today's promotion.

We have yet to officially discuss promoting LightZone on Bits. And if we do, that discussion will not be on these comment boards. I'd advise all of our customers to make purchasing decisions based on the details of the current promotion, not future eventualities.

-r

BitsDuJour Admin - Apr 28 2010 at 11:41am Copy Link

Jonathan Keener Is the license obtained here today only for the PC version, or does it work with the MAC version as well?

Apr 28 2010 at 11:51am Copy Link

Jon Koerner @Roger -- I get your point, but in a circumstance like this, where the vendor also makes a more full-featured version of the product -- (and there are many such instances where a vendor will offer a Standard and a Pro version) -- when someone asks the vendor whether they might offer their Pro product on BDJ at some point and vendor indicates yes, then it simply is NOT possible to make a purchasing decision independent of considerations about the other version.

You are like asking people to pretend that they don't know what they know, and to pretend it convincingly enough so that they believe that they don't know it!!!! That's an impossible paradox - for humans, once you know something, you cannot un-know it!

Apr 28 2010 at 11:59am Copy Link

Roger Thomasson @ Jon

Again, as yet there has been no discussion regarding a LightZone promotion. I'm sorry, but it's simply not on our schedule. I'm not being tricky, it's just a fact: both Light Crafts and Bits du Jour need to gauge the success of this promotion before considering the next one.

And furthermore, as the vendor previously stated, this is not simply a matter of 'Pro' vs. 'Standard', as you imply. Aurora and LightZone are discrete products that, while they may share similarities, serve independent functions. One does not necessarily replace the other.

As always, it's up to you to purchase or not. If you're convinced that LightZone is the right product for you, I'd recommend that you pass on Aurora. You can always wait and see if LightZone pops up on Bits, but it's your gamble. We're absolutely, positively not going to guarantee it. That would disrupt the purpose -- and I dare say, the fun -- of Bits du Jour.

BitsDuJour Admin - Apr 28 2010 at 12:33pm Copy Link

Light Crafts Customer Support Jon -- Regarding Apple OS X to Windows license transferability, please note that Aurora licenses are not platform-specifc. This means the same license will work on either operating system, Windows or OS X.

Apr 28 2010 at 12:40pm Copy Link

Tony Spicuzza Thanks, I was able to purchase.

Regarding Light Zone:

This is all over $20. You don't have to buy Aurora, and you take the risk they never have a deal for LightZone. If later they have a deal, I'll be happy. If they don't , that's the way it goes.

TS

Apr 28 2010 at 12:41pm Copy Link

Light Crafts Customer Support Jon -- Roger's comment is correct; we do not yet have an official upgrade path from Aurora to LightZone, nor do we think we're going to have one in place before the current BitsDuJour discount period ends. In addition, as Roger also pointed-out, the Aurora software we're offering though BitsDuJour is a separate, stand-alone application offering a significantly different user interface and feature set from our LightZone package. We never intended to promote Aurora as a limited version of LightZone, and if you compare the two applications together you'll see they are not at all the same software.

If you feel Aurora meets your needs we certainly encourage you to purchase today at the discounted price offered though BitsDuJour. If what you really want is LightZone you're welcome to purchase a copy via our web site at http://www.lightcrafts.com/store/.

Apr 28 2010 at 1:02pm Copy Link

Jon Koerner Wasn't trying to be a pitb. It's only the Relight feature of Aurora that I was interested in -- and that is the feature that Aurora has in common with Lightzone. I've gone ahead and purchased Aurora, in case you don't have a BDJ sale on Lightzone.

Apr 28 2010 at 1:14pm Copy Link

A. Goyal LightCraft/BDJ folks: With a storm in our city, my internet connection was down and i wasn't able to purchase aurora timely. Would you be kind enough the offer to me? I am 4hrs too late! Thanks

Apr 28 2010 at 8:54pm Copy Link

Light Crafts Customer Support Ash -- COuld we ask you to email our support team with your request? The address is support

lightcrafts.com.

May 3 2010 at 12:51pm Copy Link

JT What happened to LightCrafts.com and their products Aurora ... has the website changed or is the business closed... please let me know.

Also, what is an alternative product to Aurora.

Look forward to your advice.

thanks,
TJ

Oct 13 2011 at 2:35am Copy Link

Exolon Miner I had issues activating my Aurora licence on my new Windows installation and wrote an eMail to the LightCrafts support. They told me Aurora is discontinued and they can not help me with my activation issue. So, I think they are out of business. I'm now using 'PaintShop Photo Pro X3'. Here you find the current BitsDuJour Deal: http://www.bitsdujour.com...to-pro-x3/

Oct 13 2011 at 4:50am Copy Link