Crashing during activation on Mac OS X 10.5.5

The latest OS X update includes a bug that blocks the activation engine, causing errors or crashing.  In lieu of waiting for Apple to address this, there is a workaround for this issue that will require you to go through a manual activation process.  You will need a separate computer with internet access.  

1.  Disconnect your Mac from the internet completely, either by turning off AirPort and/or pulling the ethernet cable if you are connected via LAN.
2.  Enter your serial number, and a Product Activation window will come up.  Select the 2nd option, "Activate using a different computer..."
3.  The next screen will generate a system specific Installation ID, starting with the letters 'GDU...'.  
4.  Open a browser on a separate computer, and go to:  http://activate.esellerate.net
5.  Enter your Installation ID from step 3 into the webpage, and click submit.
6.  An Activation Key will be generated.  Enter this number back on the last page of the Activation window on your original computer and click Activate.
7.  You can reconnect to the internet after successful activation.

This is a once time activation process and will not be needed again if LightZone is reinstalled on the same system. 

If you do not have another computer to use in step 4, then email the Installation ID to support@lightcrafts.com and we will email you the Activation Key.


1. LightZone crashes at startup, what can I do?

There are a number of possible issues causing LightZone to halt at start up. From corrupt or malformed images to possible conflict with other applications.
(You can find the log file in Library > Logs > LightZone.log in your home folder on the Mac, and My Documents > LightZone > LightZone.log in Windows)

- If LightZone crashes in a specific folder, there may be a corrupt/malformed/truncated JPG/TIFF/RAW file. To find which file(s) is the culprit, open up the LightZone.log file and look for an error that contains the folder in question. At the end of that path will be a specific file. Once you move/delete this file from that folder, LightZone will be able to start up again.

- If the log shows, "Unable to bind... to parent", then you have an application installed that has added an entry in "My Computer" in Windows. The application may have a setting allowing you to disable that entry. If not, check with the technical support for that product on ways to disable it.

- If the log shows, "Error occurred during initialization of VM, Could not reserve enough space for object heap", LightZone does not have enough memory to start or some other application has taken up the majority of usable memory. A reboot of your system usually fixes this issue.

- "Communication with running instance failed (error 231)". This is message is specific to Windows and occurs when something has caused LightZone to stay in memory even though it appears to have shut down. You can end the lightzone.exe process by opening Task Manager(ctrl+shift+esc), click on the 'Processes' tab, click on 'LightZone.exe' and then click End Task at the bottom.

2. LightZone just crashed and I checked "Send report to Light Crafts", but why haven't I received a response?

The reports sent are anonymous and do not contain personal information about your individual machine. We count the number of automated reports we receive each day, but cannot respond to individual items or investigate specific issues. If you need a response from Light Crafts, please send us a log file from your machine, immediately after you have experienced a problem. Every time you start LightZone, the previous log is cleared and a new log is created.

3. I can't get Lightroom/Aperture/iPhoto to see the changes I've made in LightZone, what can I do?

Lightroom issues are usually specific to the use of non-English OS's with the English version of Lightroom. When an image is sent from Lightroom, LightZone will look for -Edit in the file name. Alternatively, for German and French users, LightZone will also look for -Bearbeiten and -Modifié, at the end of your files. If your file does not follow the language naming convention, LightZone will not be able to edit those images.


4. What file types are supported? I have a TIFF that's 300MB, and it takes a long time to load. What's wrong?

LightZone was designed with the digital SLR cameras in mind, and the files generated from them. LightZone will read supported camera RAW files, JPEGs and TIFFs. Large files coming from scanners that are greater than 200MB may cause performance and stability issues.


5. Will I lose any quality if I save in JPEG?

You will only lose quality if you decide to use that saved JPEG in another application. If you use LightZone by itself without any other program in your workflow, then a JPEG is perfect to help reduce hard disk usage. If you use LightZone in conjunction with other programs, such as Lightroom, Aperture or Photoshop, then you should save your files in TIFF format.

The saved file is merely a visual preview of your edits applied to your original RAW file. If you print within LightZone from a saved file(LZN_JPG or LZN_TIFF), you are actually printing the original RAW file with the tool stack applied, so the print quality from both are identical. This unique ability to embed your edits into a preview image allows you to convert a small 100K LZN_JPG into a 10MB LZN_TIFF file without loss in quality.