HDR Soft Pro - 3.0 - Macintosh User Manual
Photomatix Pro 3.0 User Manual
Photomatix Pro User Manual
Introduction
Photomatix Pro proc es s es multiple photogra phs of a high cont ras t s c ene into a single imag e
with details in both high lights and s hadows.
This manual offers st ep-by-ste p ins t ructions fo r using the main featu res of t he Photo m at ix Pro
software. The first s ec t ion of f ers tips for t ak ing photogr aphs intended for High Dynamic R ange
(HDR) proc es s ing. The s ec ond secti on describes how to cre at e HDR images and pr oc es s t hem
through to ne mappin g. T he t hird secti on deals wit h t he Exposure Blending f unctions , and t he
fourth section with th e Batch Proc es s ing tool. Fi nally, sect ion f iv e provides s ome advanced tips
and techni ques for wo rk ing with im ages in Photo m at ix Pro.
The follo wi ng ic ons are used throug hout the m anual:
Useful informat ion and im portant not es .
Tips and recommendati ons .
Photomatix Pro User Manual
Wor kflow S h ort c ut s Pa ne l
The functi ons of Photo matix Pro can be ac c es s ed via the me nus . To allow faster access , s ome
core funct ions c an be launc hed via the “Workflow Short cuts ” panel shown here:
Workflow Sh ortcut s Pane l
Drag & Drop
You can drag files fro m the Finder or ot her imag e browsers a nd drop them to the Photomatix
Pro icon on y our Dock. I f y ou drag & drop multiple im age files, you will be abl e t o ac c es s t he
HDR creation or Exp os ure Blending processes.
Photomatix Pro User Manual
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Section 1: Tips for taking photographs intended for HDR processing ..........................................1
1.1 Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB)..............................................................................1
1.2 Manual Exposure Bracketing for DSLR cameras...............................................................3
1.2.1 Manual Exposure Bracketing with Compact Digital Cameras .....................................4
1.3 Film photo techniques for creating HDR source images....................................................4
Section 2: HDR Generation and Tone Mapping...........................................................................5
2.1 HDR Generation................................................................................................................5
General settings for Generate HDR.....................................................................................8
Generate H DR settin gs when the sourc e images are JPEG, TIF F or PSD files:..................8
Generate HDR settings when the source images are RAW files:.........................................9
2.2 Tone Mapping.................................................................................................................11
2.2.1 Tone Mapping with Details Enhancer ....................................................................... 11
2.2.2 Tone Mapping with Tone Compressor......................................................................17
Additional To ne Map ping Set tings .....................................................................................19
Section 3: Exposure Blending ...................................................................................................22
3.1 Blending Exposures ........................................................................................................23
3.1.1 Highlights & Shadows – Adjust.................................................................................24
3.1.2 Highlights & Shadows – Auto ...................................................................................24
3.1.3 Highlights & Shadows – 2 Images............................................................................25
3.1.4 Highlights & Shadows – Intensive.............................................................................25
3.1.5 Average....................................................................................................................25
Section 4: Automate ..................................................................................................................28
4.1 Batch Processing............................................................................................................29
4.1.1 Batch Processing Settings ........................................................................................29
4.2 Single File Conv ers ion ....................................................................................................37
Section 5: Advanced Tips and Techniques................................................................................38
5.1 Chromatic Ab err ations (C A) ............................................................................................38
5.2 Image Alignment.............................................................................................................40
5.3 Process ing RA W files in 3rd party raw converters............................................................41
5.4 Blurred Images................................................................................................................42
5.5 ISO and Noise.................................................................................................................42
5.6 Photomatix Pro and Color Management ..........................................................................42
Resources.................................................................................................................................43
Photomatix Pro User Manual
Section 1: Tips for Taking Successful Source Images
Section 1: Tips for taking photographs intended for HDR processing
Photographing a high contras t s c ene requires t ak ing several exposures in orde r t o c apture
information in both the brightest highlight s and deepest shadows of t he s c ene.
Photographs can be made with di git al or film- based cameras . The only requirement is t hat t he
exposur e c an be adjusted when tak ing pictures . I f y ou use a film- bas ed camera, y ou will nee d t o
scan them i nt o y our comput er before processin g t hem. Photo m at ix Pro can mer ge image files
saved in JPEG, 8-bit or 16-bit TI F F, and PSD formats. I t als o s upports RA W files of s everal
camera models .
There are t w o general rec ommendations fo r c reat ing differently exp os ed source images:
1) Make sure t o t ake a suffic ient number of exposures to p roperly cov er t he dyna mic
range of th e s c ene, from the darkest s hadows to the brightest highlights.
2) Use a tripod whenever possibl e. Photomat ix Pro incorpo rat es Image Alignment
functions , but us ing a tripod is s t ill recomm ended.
1.1 Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB)
Shoot with availabl e light whenever possible. The f las h may try to ba lance the exposure
of all the images, whe n a range of exposures is t he goal.
Select a lo w ISO to minim iz e image n ois e.
Select Continuous shooting mode on the cam era’s drive s et t ing (Note: Co nt inuous
shooting m ode may not always be the best strat egy because cam era shake m ay build
up. We recommend us ing a method that ens ures the leas t pos s ible shake f or each
single shot, e. g. mirror lock -up functi onality, if available). Consult yo ur camera m anual
for model-specific i ns t ruc t ions on using this sett ing.
If possible, use the ca m era’s self-timer setting, or a cable releas e t o minimize camera
shake.
Set your camera to Aperture priority (A setting) so that on ly t he s hutter spe ed v aries
between the exposures.
Set the cam era to Auto Ex posure B rac k et ing (AEB), wh ic h t ak es s everal ph ot ographs of
a scene in a r ow: one at the proper ex pos ure, on e or more underexposed, and one or
more over ex posed.
o Most ca mer as allow you t o s elec t t he amount of over/under exposur e in one-thir d
or one-half increment s . T he suggest ed exposure incre m ent is +/- 2 for optim al
exposur e range. If your c amera do es not of f er +/- 2 exposure increments , s elec t
the maxim um possibl e. Consult the c amera ma nual for model-specif ic
instructio ns on choosing this sett ing.
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Section 1: Tips for Taking Successful Source Images
AEB Settings on top LCD of a Nikon D80 (3 shots with +/- 2EV)
Canon Rebel XTi/400D LCD showing AEB with +/-2 i ncrements selected.
o Select an a ppropriat e number of auto-brack eted frames if your c amera offe rs
different opt ions for th e number of f rames. For ins tance, if y our camera c an autobracket at a m ax imum of +/- 1 EV increments, then s elec t 5 or more frames if
your camera allows it . Five frames spaced by +/- 1 EV incr ements will g iv e y ou
the same dy namic range coverage as three f rames s pac ed by +/- 2 EV
increments .
After capt uring the bracketed im ages, check t he histogram previews in play bac k
mode to ensure that y ou have capt ured an adequate range of expos ures.
It is important t o remember that the n umber of ex posures needed depends on th e dynamic
range of th e s c ene, in addition to the ex posure increment. Fo r most outdoor scenes, t hree
exposur es t ak en at +/- 2 expos ure incre m ent will be suf f ic ient , provided the scene does not
include th e s un. Howeve r, f or t he interior of a room with a bright view out of t he windo w, y ou will
need at leas t f iv e images taken with an ex posure i nc rement of +/- 2, or nine imag es t ak en with
an exposu re increment of +/- 1.
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Section 1: Tips for Taking Successful Source Images
1.2 Manual Exp os ure B racketing for DS LR cam er a s
In scenes with extrem e dif f erences between light and dark detail, m anual expos ure bracket ing
over a great er exposure value ra nge may prov ide better s ource images than A ut o Exposure
Bracketing. t is the only opt ion if your c amera do es not offer automatic bracketing over a wide
enough ra nge to cove r y our scene. Th e f ollowing s uggestions w ill help you to t ak e optimal
pictures us ing manu al ex posure b rac k et ing.
Choose a l ow ISO to minimize nois e.
Keep a cons t ant apertur e and ISO. C ont rol image ex posure by c hanging th e s hut t er
speed in ful l-s t op incre me nt s . W hen taking pic t ures, us e eit her the A or M set t ing,
Either of which will allow you to fix t he aperture.
Shoot a ser ies of images starting wit h y our brightest image elements (highlights)
being slight ly underex posed (see Figure 2.1 below ) t o t he darkest i ma ge elements
(shadows) being sli ght ly overexposed (see Figure 2.2 below). You may or m ay not
want or nee d t o use every ex posure in the series f or HDR proces s ing, but it is eas ier
to delete a picture at processin g t im e t han to return to a locati on t o t ake additional
images. Ex periment with different comb inations of t he brac keted s ource images in
Photomatix Pro to achieve your desired eff ec t .
Check yo ur DSLR's Histogra m pr ev iew in playback mode t o ensure that you hav e
captured the entire tonal range of t he image. You should have at leas t one picture
without a large peak at t he left side of t he histogram and one pic t ure without a large
peak at the right side of t he image.
Use self-timer mode and mirro r loc k -up, or a cable releas e and mirro r loc k -up
options, if av ailable. These will help minimiz e any camer a s hake, esp ec ially for
exposur es s lower than 1/ 15 second.
Figure 2.1 Histogram depicts the brightest
elements (highlights) underexposed.
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Section 1: Tips for Taking Successful Source Images
Figure 2.2 Histogram depicts the darkest
image elements (shadows) overexposed.
1.2.1 Manual Exposure Bracketing with Compact Digital Cameras
Consult y our c amera’s user manual to determine if ma nual exposu re is possible. I f t his is
possible, y ou can follow the steps f or Manual Exposur e Bracketin g with a DSLR.
If your com pac t c amera do es not have an A EB setting, or allow you t o s et t he exposure
manually , y ou c an use the ex posure compensat ion setting to manually bracket . Th e s eries
below shows the same scene captured at -2, 0 and +2.
LCD display
1.3 Film photo techniques for creating HDR source images
Follow the advice for shooting with a digital camera. Keep in mind that you wil l not have
the option of prev iewing the live hist ogram to det ermine your exposure range.
Scan your film or slides , not prints. Ph ot o labs will at t empt to mak e t he best print f rom
each of your s ource i ma ges , and you will not achiev e good result s s c anning these f or
HDR generat ion.
Turn off yo ur s c anner's auto-expos ure options . This allo ws y ou to manually contr ol t he
exposure.
Make sure y ou select the Align im ages option in Photo m at ix Pro when combinin g y our
images.
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Section 2: HDR Generation and Tone Mapping
Section 2: HDR Generation and Tone Mapping
Creating i m ages that display the High Dyna m ic Range captured by photogr aphs taken under
different ex posure set t ings is a two-s t ep process :
The first st ep is t o merge your different ly ex posed photographs int o a single 3 2-bit
HDR imag e. Because of it s high dyna mic range, a n H D R i m age will not display
properly on c onventional monitors.
In the seco nd s t ep, the H D R i ma ge is t hen processed, or ‘dev eloped, ’ v ia t he Tone
Mapping t ool. Tone Mapping will 'reveal' the dy namic range captured in the H D R
image and produce an image which can be properly dis played on conventional
monitors. T his c an t hen be properly printed.
The order of f iles in a bracket ing seque nc e does not m at t er. Photomat ix Pro will
systematically sort the ima ge f iles based on exposure infor m at ion retrieved from th e
EXIF data. I t will use their rel at iv e brightness levels wh en t he exposure infor mation is not
available.
2.1 HDR Generation
The easiest way to start t he generat ion of the H D R i m age is by dragging your brackete d images
that cover the desire d ex posure ra nge to the Ph ot omatix Pro icon. Then s elec t t he option
Generate H DR imag e
As an alter nat iv e, y ou can also c lic k on the Generate HDR Image button of the Work f low
Shortcuts , or go t o t he Process menu and select t he G enerate HDR item.
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Section 2: HDR Generation and Tone Mapping
The Gener ate HD R – Selecting sourc e images windo w will display .
Click Browse. The Select differently exp os ed imag es wi ndow will dis play to allow you to selec t
the source images t o be c ombine d.
Highlight the images that you wish to use for HDR Generation. Then click on the Select button.
The select ed image files will be liste d on the Gen erate HD R - S elec t ing source images wi n do w.
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Section 2: HDR Generation and Tone Mapping
Photom at ix Pro can gen erate an HD R i m age fro m 8- bit , 16-bit and RAW source files.
Supported f ile types include JP EG, TIFF, PS D, DNG and RA W f iles from m any c amera
models. As t he lis t of s upported camera mo dels often changes whe n a new sub-v ersion
of Photo matix Pro is rele as ed, we sug ges t t hat y ou consult t he Photomat ix Pro FAQ o n
the www.hdrsoft.com
camera mo del is recent, y ou may have to upgrade to a new versi on, or wait till
Photomatix Pro adds s upport for it.
Click OK t o procee d f urt her.
If the exposure information can not be found i n t he metadat a of t he image fil es ,
Photomatix will show a w indow where you can input the relative Ex posure Val ues f or
each one of y our images. T his window wi ll also show if two or mor e s ource images
share the same expos ure infor m at ion.
The Generate HDR - Options windo w will appear.
website t o c heck whether your camera model is supported. If your
This window will displ ay when the s ource images are JPE G, TIFF or PSD files. Whe n t hey are
RAW files, a different wi ndow will be displayed (read mo re below).
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Section 2: HDR Generation and Tone Mapping
General settings for Generate HDR
Alignment s et t ings
The Align source images option is c hec ked by default. The Align im ages option corrects for
misalign m ent problems if t he c amera moved slightly betwe en t he bracket ed frames. This is
the case with hand-held photo graphs, but may also ha ppen when shooting with the aid of a
tripod.
Photomatix offers tw o alignment methods based on diff erent algor it hms. The first one By
correcting horizontal and vertical shifts is fast but corrects for translation movements only.
The second one By match in g features correct s f or both rotat ion and transl at ion.
The Don't crop option is usefu l w hen the result ing imag es must have t he same wi dt h and
height as the source images. As an example, Real viz Stitcher requires th is of images it
processes.
Ghosting r eduction s et t ings
If the scene has movi ng objects a nd y ou find the resulting ' ghosts' are not desira ble, t hen
check Attempt to reduce ghosting artifacts with th e option Moving objects/people selected. If
there are elements i n t he s c ene that foll ow a rhyth mic pattern (f lowing wat er f or instanc e)
oscillating between s hadows and highlights, then select the opt ion Back grou nd mov em ents
instead. I n bot h cases, f irs t t ry leav ing the Detection option set to Normal. If you find that the
resulting H D R i m age still sho ws t oo much ghosting, t hen t ry again with t he option set t o High.
Only check t he At t empt to re duce ghost ing artifacts box with t he Moving objects/people
option if it is nec es s ary. Check ing the m in other cases wi ll lower the qu alit y of t he resulting
HDR imag e.
Generate HDR settings when the source images are JPEG, TIFF or PSD
files:
The reco m m ended opti on Take ton e c urve of colo r prof ile is selected by default. This is us ually
the best ch oic e when the images f iles c ome from a D SLR came ra or have be en c onverted
from RAW files. This option loads the To ne Repro duc t ion Curve data from the ICC color profile
associat ed with the source images in orde r t o det ermine the non-linear function applied to the
raw sensors data. If no profile is av ailable, it us es t he t one reproduc t ion curve of t he Adobe
RGB color prof ile.
When the i m ages are sc anned fil ms or t ak en with a c ompact camera, it may be worthw hile to
check the o pt ion Attem pt t o rev erse-en gineer tone c urv e applied.
If your source images are 16-bit TIFF files th at have been converted f rom RAW files with a
special option in the RA W converter to leave t he image in li near space, t hen check the opt ion
No tone curv e applied – pixel values are linear. O nly check this option if you are 100% sure that
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Section 2: HDR Generation and Tone Mapping
the tonal values of the i m ages are lin ear relative to the values of light capt ured. Please note that
the terminology line ar may be us ed with a different meaning depending on t he RAW co nv ert er
(in Adobe Ca m era RAW, for instanc e, linear is rel at iv e t o t he Adobe R GB color space and not to
the values of light).
Generate HDR settings when the source images are RAW files:
The Generate HDR - Options windo w will dis play with ad dit ional opti ons :
It is important t o note that the selecte d c olor space is used fo r t he c olor prima ries only, and not
for the tone reproduc t ion c urve. Sinc e t he HDR i m age values are in linear s pace, they do not
have a ton e c urv e. The tone c urve of the pr of ile assoc iat ed with the i m age will only be applied
during the tone mapping step, and not to the HDR image itself
Once you a re s at is f ied with th e s et t ings of the G enerate H D R - O pt ions window, click OK to
create the 32-bit HD R i m age.
A progress bar will display in the Ge nerat e HDR - Options window. Once the HDR is
generated, t he HDR image and th e HDR Vie we r w indow will dis play on-sc reen.
By default, Photomat ix w ill use the As Shot
White Bal anc e (read fro m the EXI F
metadata) when converting the RAW data to
HDR. You can adjust t he White Balance by
selecting a pre-defi ned white balance from
the drop-down menu, or by specify ing the
color temperature i n Kelvin. A prev iew lets
you see the ef f ec t of t he c hange on t he
source i ma ge.
The RAW data is in a col or s pace spec if ic t o
the camera. Photomat ix will conve rt t he data
into a standardized color space (by default
Adobe RGB). You can, however, s elec t
sRGB or Pr oPhoto RGB instead.
.
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Section 2: HDR Generation and Tone Mapping
• Step one of t he t w o-s t ep process is now comp let e.
• Until Tone Mapping is applied, t he 32-bit image seen on s c reen cann ot dis play its full
tonal range.
• The small v iew on top of the “HDR viewer” window shows a local sec t ion of the H D R
image vie w ed at t he appropriate exposure.
Savin g t he 32-bit H D R i mage at this point will allow you to a pply different Tone Mapping
settings to t he HDR source image without r epeatedly following the G enerate HDR procedur e.
Since version 3.0, Photomatix Pro saves t he name of t he c olor profile i n t he header of H D R
images sav ed in the Radiance (.hdr) format . T his means y ou will not hav e t o re-assign t he color
profile, pr ov ided the HD R i m age file have been sa v ed as Radiance and the color profil e is eit her
sRGB, Adobe RGB o r ProPhot o R GB
. However, the color profile information of t he source
images will n ot be preserved if the H D R i ma ge has been s av ed in the Op enEXR format.
Photomatix Pro allows you to cre at e a 32-bit HD R i mage from a single RA W file. To do
this, open one RAW fil e us ing File->Open, and P hotomatix will conv ert it int o a pseudoHDR imag e. I t is imp ort ant to note that an image created with a singl e RAW file cannot
really be co ns idered Hi gh Dynamic Range. T he important c haracteris t ic of t his ps eudoHDR image is that it is unprocessed. Its dynamic range is not much larger than the range
of an already c onverted f ile.
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Section 2: HDR Generation and Tone Mapping
2.2 Tone Mapping
The generated HD R i m age cannot be repres ented properly on screen without further
processing. An unp roc es sed HD R i m age is some w hat s imilar to a fil m n egative or t he RAW file
of a digital camera. It needs furth er process ing for display or printing. In Photomat ix Pro, this
processing is called Tone Mapping.
There are t w o t one mappi ng methods f or processi ng t he HDR image: Details Enh an cer and
Tone Compre ss or.
2.2.1 Tone Mapping with Details Enhancer
Photomatix Pro defa ult s t o t his opt ion when the Tone Ma ppi ng wi nd ow is opened. Details
Enhancer ut ilizes a loc al operato r t o ‘develop’ the HDR image. This me ans t hat it takes int o
account t he local brig ht nes s c ontext -- a pixel of a given value in the HDR ima ge will be m apped
differently depending on wheth er it is loc at ed in a bright or dark area of t he image.
Click on the Tone Mappi ng button on eit her the HDR Viewer window, the Workflow Shortcuts
window or the Process > Tone M appin g me nu t o launch the Tone Ma pping tool for t he active
open HD R i m age. If you hav e used the G enerate HDR proc es s t o c reate a new H D R source
image, it wil l be t he active i m age. Otherwise, ope n a saved H D R i m age file via th e File>Open
menu.
Use the slid er c ontrols to adjust the i ma ge. The preview on the right provides an approx imation
of what the i m age will look lik e once Det ails Enhanc er is applied to the entire H D R source
image. In t he c as e of the Details Enha nc er tone mapping meth od, t he previe w is not always an
accurate representation of t he f inal tone map ped imag e.
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