HDR Soft Pro - 3.2 - Macintosh User Manual
Introduction
Photomatix Pro 3.2 User Manual
Photomatix Pro User Manual
Introduction
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Drag-and-drop ................................................................................................................................ 4
Workflow Shortcuts panel................... .................................................................................... ........ 4
Section 1: Taking photos for HDR ................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Camera set up ............................................................. ............................................................ 1
1.2 Selecting the exposures ...................................................................................... ....................3
1.3 Taking photos for HDR with film-based cameras...................................................... ............... 3
Section 2: Creating an HDR image and processing it with Tone Mapping.................................... 4
2.1 Creating a 32-bit HDR image ................................................. .................................................. 4
2.1.1 Settings for Generate HDR............................................................................................ 5
2.1.2 Comments on the generated HDR image ..................................................................... 7
2.2 Processing the HDR image with Tone Mapping.................................................. .................... 8
2.2.1 General controls ........................................................................................................... 9
2.2.2 Details Enhancer controls ........................................................................................... 11
2.2.3 Tone Compressor controls ......................................................................................... 14
Section 3: Exposure Fusion.......................................................................................................... 16
3.1 Fusing Exposures........................................................................... .............................. .......... 17
3.1.2 Highlights & Shadows – Adjust ................................................................................... 18
3.1.2 Highlights & Shadows – 2 Images............................................................................... 18
3.1.3 Highlights & Shadows – Intensive ............................................................................... 18
3.2 Processing and saving the fused image ................................ ...... .. ... ... ..... ... .. ...... .. ... ..... ... ... ..19
Section 4: Automating with batch processing .............................................................................. 20
4.1 Using Batch Processing ........................................... ............................. ................................ 20
4.2 Settings specific to Batch Processing ................... ................................................................ 22
4.3 Batch processing subfolders ............................................. ............................. ........................22
Section 5: Tips and Techniques ................................................................................................... 24
5.1 Exporting images from Lightroom to Photomatix Pro............................................................24
5.2 Using Photomatix Pro with a single image file ......................... ............................. ................ 24
5.3 Processing RAW files in third-party RAW converters ...........................................................25
5.4 Dealing with noise ..................................................................................................................26
5.5 Photomatix Pro and color management ................................................... .............................26
Photomatix Pro User Manual
Introduction
Introduction
Photomatix Pro processes multiple photographs of a high contrast scene into a single image
with details in both highlights and shadows.
Photomatix offers two types of processes to increase the dynamic range. One process is called
HDR Tone Mapping, the other Exposure Fusion. Both processes are designed to produce an
image with an increased apparent dynamic range, but their results are different. You should try
both and then choose the result that works best with your images.
The first section of this manual provides tips for taking photographs intended for High Dynamic
Range (HDR) processing in Photomatix Pro. The second section describes how to create HDR
images and process them through Tone Mapping. The third section deals with the Exposure
Fusion functions, and the fourth section with the Batch Processing tool. Finally, section five
provides a few tips and techniques.
The following icons are used throughout the manual:
Useful information and important notes.
Tips and recommendations.
Photomatix Pro User Manual
Introduction
Drag-and-drop
You can directly access the HDR creation or Exposure Fusion processes by dragging and
dropping to Photomatix Pro a group of image files of the same scene taken under different
exposures. On Windows, you can drag the files from Windows Explorer and drop them on the
opened Photomatix Pro program. On Macintosh, you can drag the files from the Finder and drop
them on the Photomatix Pro icon on your Dock. You can also drag images from other image
browsers.
Note that you need to drag the image files belonging to the same exposure sequence together
in order to have them taken into account for the HDR creation and Exposure Fusion processes.
Workflow Shortcuts panel
The functions of Photomatix Pro can be accessed via the menus. To allow faster access, some
core functions can be launched via the “Workflow Shortcuts” panel.
Photomatix Pro User Manual
Section 1: Taking photos for HDR
Section 1: Taking photos for HDR
The shooting phase is essential for getting good results with Photomatix. To photograph a high
contrast scene, you need to take several exposures in order to capture information in both the
highlights and the shadows of the scene. The exposures taken will have to properly cover the
dynamic range of the scene, especially the shadows.
The number of photos you need depends on the scene. It also depends on the Exposure Value
(EV) spacing separating the photos. If you take them in one-EV steps (e.g., -1, 0, +1 EV), you
will need more photos than if you take them in two-EV steps (e.g., -2, 0, +2 EV). We
recommend shooting in two-EV steps whenever possible.
High contrast scenes can be grouped into roughly two types depending on their dynamic range:
Medium dynamic range scene: Most landscapes and other types of outdoor scenes fall
into this category. Three exposures taken in two-EV steps (i.e. –2, 0 +2 EV), or five
exposures taken in one-EV steps, are usually sufficient for this type of scene.
High dynamic range scene: A typical example is the interior of a room with a view
outside the window on a sunny day. You need to take at least five exposures in two-EV
steps (or nine exposures in one-EV steps) to capture this type of scene, but you may need
more. Taking the exposures manually is recommended in these cases.
The source photographs for HDR processing can be taken with digital or film-based cameras.
The only requirement is that the exposure can be adjusted when taking pictures. If you use a
film-based camera, you will need to scan the photographs into your computer before processing
them (see subsection 1.3 below).
1.1 Camera set up
Set your camera to
varies between the exposures.
Select a low ISO (e.g., ISO 100 or lower).
Turn the flash off. The flash may try to balance the exposure of all the images, when
a range of exposures is the goal.
Whenever possible, mount the camera on a tripod. Even though Photomatix Pro
offers automatic alignment of hand-held photos, using a tripod is always better.
DSLR cameras and some compact digital cameras offer Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB).
This enables you to automatically take three or more exposures in a row: one at the proper
exposure, one or more underexposed, and one or more overexposed. Follow these steps if
your camera offers AEB mode:
Select the
camera manual for model-specific instructions for using this setting.
Set the camera to Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB)
If possible, use the camera’s self-timer setting, or a cable release to minimize
camera shake.
Set the exposure increment to +/- 2 for optimal exposure range. If your camera does
not offer +/- 2 exposure increments, select the maximum possible. Consult the camera
manual for model-specific instructions for choosing this setting.
Continuous shooting
Aperture priority
mode on the camera’s drive setting. Consult your
(A setting) so that only the shutter speed
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Section 1: Taking photos for HDR
Note: The continuous shooting mode may not always be the best strategy because camera
shake may build up. We recommend using a method that ensures the least possible shake for
each single shot, e.g. mirror lock-up functionality, if available.
AEB settings at the top of the LCD of a Nikon D80 (3 shots with +/- 2EV)
Canon Rebel XTi/400D LCD showing AEB with +/-2 increments selected
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Section 1: Taking photos for HDR
1.2 Selecting the exposures
To get good results with HDR processing, your capture sequence must include photos that
correctly expose highlights and photos that correctly expose shadows. The latter is especially
important to avoid noise showing in the processed HDR image.
In the lightest photo of the sequence, the darkest shadows should be at least in the mid-tones.
You can check that with your camera’s histogram preview in playback mode. In your most
overexposed photo, the left part of the histogram should be empty until 1/3
width. If this is not the case, you will have to add one or more photos taken with longer exposure
times. Another option is to re-shoot the exposure sequence with the normal exposure set one or
more EVs higher if your most underexposed image in the exposure sequence was too dark.
This is the case when the histogram of your darkest image is completely empty on the right half.
The number of exposures needed depends on the dynamic range of the scene, in addition to
the exposure increment. For most outdoor scenes, three exposures taken at +/- 2 exposure
increments will be sufficient, provided the scene does not include the sun. However, for the
interior of a room with a bright view out the window, you will need at least five images taken with
an exposure increment of +/- 2, or nine images taken with an exposure increment of +/- 1.
In scenes with extreme differences between light and dark details, you should change the
exposures manually to ensure you capture a wide enough range to cover your scene.
rd
of the histogram’s
1.3 Taking photos for HDR with film-based cameras
Follow the camera setup listed at the top of subsection 1.1 and the tips on selecting
exposures in subsection 1.2. Keep in mind that you will not have the option of previewing
the live histogram to determine your exposure range.
Scan film or slides, not prints. Photo labs will attempt to make the best print from each of
your source images, and you will not achieve good results scanning these for HDR
generation.
Turn off your scanner’s auto-exposure options. This allows you to manually control the
exposure.
Make sure you select the “Align images” option in Photomatix Pro when combining your
images.
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Section 2: Creating an HDR image and processing it with Tone
Mapping
There are two steps involved in creating and processing HDR images:
Step 1 merges your photos taken under different exposure settings into a single 32bit HDR image. Because of its high dynamic range, the 32-bit HDR image will not display
properly on conventional monitors.
Step 2 processes the 32-bit HDR image via the Tone Mapping tool. Tone Mapping
will ‘reveal’ the dynamic range captured in the HDR image and produce an image that
can be properly displayed on conventional monitors and is ready for printing.
2.1 Creating a 32-bit HDR image
The easiest way to load the bracketed photos you want to merge into an HDR image is by
dragging them to the open Photomatix Pro application (Windows) or to the Photomatix icon in
the Dock (Macintosh). Then, select the “Generate HDR image” option.
Alternatively, you can also click on the “Generate HDR Image” button of the Workflow Shortcuts,
or choose Process > Generate HDR.
If you have Lightroom, you should use the Lightroom Export Plug-in to Photomatix Pro for
your RAW files. Please refer to section 5 of this manual.
If you have not dragged and dropped your images, click on the “Browse” button of the
“Generate HDR – Selecting source images” dialog. An Open panel will be displayed to allow
you to select your photos taken under different exposure settings. Highlight the image files that
you want to merge into an HDR image. Then, click on the “Select” button, and click “OK” to
proceed further.
In case the exposure information cannot be found in the metadata of the image files, Photomatix
will show a dialog where you can input the relative Exposure Values for each one of your
images. This dialog will also be displayed if two or more source images share the same
exposure information.
The order of the files in a bracketing sequence does not matter. Photomatix Pro will
systematically sort the image files based on the exposure information retrieved from the
EXIF data. If the exposure information is not available in EXIF data, Photomatix will use
the relative brightness levels of the photos.
Photomatix Pro can generate an HDR image from 8-bit, 16-bit, and RAW source files.
Supported file types include JPEG, TIFF, PSD, DNG, and RAW files from many camera models.
As the list of supported camera models for RAW files often changes when a new sub-version of
Photomatix Pro is released, we suggest that you consult the Photomatix Pro FAQ on the
HDRsoft website at http://www.hdrsoft.com/support/raw.html
model is supported. If your camera model is relatively new, you may have to upgrade to a new
version, or wait until Photomatix Pro adds support for it.
to check whether your camera
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A
2.1.1 Settings for Generate HDR
lignment settings
The “Align source images” option is checked by default.
This option corrects misalignment problems when the
camera moves slightly between the bracketed frames.
This always happens with hand-held photographs, but
may even happen when shooting with the aid of a tripod.
Photomatix Pro offers two alignment methods. The first
one, “By correcting horizontal and vertical shifts”, is fast
but corrects for translation movements only. The second
one, “By matching features”, corrects for both rotation and
translation, and is recommended for hand-held shots.
Given that each method is based on a different algorithm,
try the other one when one fails.
The “Don’t crop” option is useful when
the resulting images must have the same width and height as the source images.
Chromatic aberrations reduction
This option attempts to automatically correct color fringing due to chromatic aberrations of the
lens. Checking this option is recommended, given that chromatic aberrations tend to show
around high contrast edges, and are thus particularly an issue for HDR images.
Noise reduction
This option reduces chromatic noise and, to a lesser extent, luminance noise. This option is
recommended when you are processing RAW files directly in Photomatix. Note that the noise
reduction is done on the HDR image itself once it has been created. This means that you don’t
have to check the noise reduction option on the dialog for generating the HDR image when you
need noise reduction. You can apply noise reduction to your HDR image later on by choosing
Utilities > Reduce Noise.
Ghosting reduction settings
Ghosting artifacts appear when combining images of a dynamic scene. Photomatix Pro offers
options to reduce two types of ghosting artifacts. The option “Background movements” reduces
ghosting artifacts caused by background elements that follow a rhythmic pattern (flowing water,
for instance), oscillating between shadows and highlights. The “Moving objects/people” option
attempts to reduce the ‘ghosts’ in the combined image due to moving persons, animals or
objects.
It is important to note that selecting “Moving objects/people” lowers the quality of the resulting
HDR image. Only select this option if it is really necessary, and try first with “Detection” set to
“Normal”.
Tone curve options
The recommended option, “Take tone curve of color profile”, is selected by default. This is
usually the best choice when the image files come from a DSLR camera or have been
converted from RAW files. This option loads the Tone Reproduction Curve data from the ICC
color profile associated with the source images in order to determine the non-linear function
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applied to the raw sensor’s data. If no profile is available, it uses the tone reproduction curve of
the Adobe RGB color profile.
When the images are scanned films or taken with a compact camera, it may be worthwhile to
check the option “Attempt to reverse-engineer tone curve applied”.
If your source images are 16-bit TIFF files that have been converted from RAW files with a RAW
converter that allow the image to be left in linear space (note: very few RAW converters allow
this), then check the option “No tone curve applied – pixel values are linear”. Only check this
option if you are 100% sure that the tonal values of the images are linear relative to the values
of light captured. Please note that the term “linear” may have a different meaning depending on
the RAW converter. In Adobe Camera Raw, for instance, linear is relative to the Adobe RGB
color space and not to the values of light, so you should never check this option with files
converted with Photoshop or Lightroom.
RAW conversion settings
When your source images are RAW files, the dialog shows options to let you select a white
balance and color primaries.
By default, Photomatix will use the “As Shot” White Balance (read from the EXIF metadata)
when converting the RAW data to HDR. You can adjust the White Balance by selecting a predefined white balance from the drop-down menu, or by specifying the color temperature in
Kelvin. A preview lets you see the effect of the change on the source image.
The RAW data is in a color space specific to the camera. Photomatix will convert the data into a
standardized color space (by default Adobe RGB). You can, however, select sRGB or ProPhoto
RGB instead. Please note that the selected color space is used for the color primaries only, and
not for the tone reproduction curve. Since the HDR image values are in linear space, they do
not have a tone curve. The tone curve of the profile associated with the image will only be
applied during the tone mapping step, and not to the HDR image itself
.
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