Is there software that can show tonal zones in a black-and-white photo?
Asked 11/1/2013
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I want software for Windows or Mac that can analyze a black-and-white image using the Zone System concept and show how the tones are distributed across zones. Ideally it would indicate how many tonal zones are present, or at least let me visualize which parts of the image fall into each zone.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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It isn't quite the report-oriented output you're asking for, but you can do something similar with LightZone, an open source (formerly proprietary, but the company went belly-up) RAW conversion program for Linux, Windows, and Mac.
This screenshot shows the zonemapper tool, and you can see visually how different zones correspond to parts of your images, and make adjustments in a workflow designed around the Zone System. It's a little hard to see exactly (click for bigger view), but the top left mini-window has grayscales flattened into the individual zones, to make it easy to visualize.
Also, LightZone doesn't precisely use Ansel Adams' zone system, so the 11-step scale (traditionally in roman numerals from zero to Ⅹ) is replaced with a 16-step one. These are in half EV stops instead of the full stops, and middle gray is pushed towards the top of the scale. That's not a design choice I would have made, but there it is. (The justification they give is that this is better suited to computer screens.)
Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1943
12y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—LightZone is a relevant option for this. It’s a RAW editor available for Windows and Mac (also Linux) with a ZoneMapper tool designed around Zone System-style tonal editing.
It does not appear to generate a simple report like “this image contains X zones,” but it can visually show how tones in the image map to zones and let you see which image areas fall into each zone.
One caveat: LightZone does not use Ansel Adams’ traditional 11-zone system exactly. Instead, it uses a 16-step scale based on half-stop increments. So it’s better for visualization and workflow based on zone principles than for strict classical Zone System measurement.
If your goal is to inspect and adjust tonal distribution by zones, it should be useful. If you need an exact automated count in the traditional Adams zone numbering, the provided answers do not identify software that does that directly.
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