We use Photoshop 7.0 (Mac OS 9) to process photos 
taken in many different light conditions (including 
lots of low-contrast Gray here in the Northwest).  

But what we have yet to find is a plugin that can 
take these various images and intelligently "correct" 
the light levels on them to make them clear and bold 
with the appropriate amount of contrast.  The Photoshop
"equalize" command sometimes does this, but other
times its effect is bizarre.  

Is there any plug-in for Adobe Photoshop 7.0/Mac 
(or built in feature we might have overlooked) that
intelligently reads a file's light levels and adjusts
it, like the light meter of a sophisticated camera 
might do?  We're looking for a tool that actually
"reads" the image, not just a set of general filters.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't something like that out there.
I've used alot of plug-ins and I've tried alot of different ones. But
I've never looked for one like you're talking about because I prefer
doing that manually with the Photoshop program. Although most plug-ins
are very intuitive, even using an auto-mode, which is what I think
you're looking for, you still will have to do some minor  'tweaking',
based on what your perception and experience tell you is a good
photograph, regarding, contrast, brightness, etc. Here are some
websites you might look at --  Andromeda Software, Inc. HomePage or go
to
www.andromeda.com/  --  this company has some very good plug ins that
are compatible with OS 9, and they are moderately priced. Another
company is PhotoTune Software -- you can find them at  
http://www.phototune.com/  --   They make something called 'Test
Strip' which is very good and might be what you are looking for. They
have demos to download as a tryout. You can find the directions to the
downloads on their homepage. If you are uncertain how to use the
'manual ' adjustments for brightness and contrast in your Adobe
Photoshop program, post a reply and I will be happy to give you a
quick primer -- it's very simple and I know you will be pleased with
the results. I hope I have been somewhat helpful. Good luck in getting
the result you want in your photography.

The "Auto Levels" command does something similar to this.  It's not a
plug-in, but can be found in the menu at:
Image >> Adjustments >> Auto Levels

You probably already know about it though, since Equalize is in the
same submenu.

Just trying to help...

- Prophet

Thank you very much for your comments, thatsafactjack-ga and
prophet-ga.  Yes, we've tried Auto Levels, but its effect is very
subtle and we need something that can make dramatic adjustments in
light levels where necessary -- something like a software version of
the image correction algorithms that are inside digital cameras.  It
would have to be available for Mac OS 9.  Maybe you're right, and
there -is- something out there, I'm going to double the price of the
question to $15.00 and who knows, maybe it will turn up.  Thanks
again!