Photomatix Essentials User Manual
Contents
1. Preferences Photomatix Essentials offers Image Alignment Ghost Removal and Noise Reduction You can choose whether to use these features and adjust some of their options in Preferences To access the Preferences dialog click on the Allanrnent method Preferences button located at bottom left of the window where you load your images in Step 1 A Crop aligned images of the Photomatix Essentials workflow Gal Preferences Align images ES Remove ghosts 4sk me whether to remove Alignment Options Image alignment is an important feature of HDR processing as bracketed photos are always mis aligned when taken with a hand held camera and ala gia Nico ee cerexposed imageis only may even be slightly mis aligned when taken with the aid of a tripod Image alignment is turned on by default but you can turn it off by selecting No on the Align images option You can also choose a to be prompted whether to align your photos each time by selecting Ask me whether to align Image alignment is recommended whenever you are processing bracketed photographs but there are a few cases when it should not be selected One example of such case is when you have derived different exposures from a single RAW file by adjusting the Exposure setting of your RAW converter Another example is when you are processing stitched panoramas tetes HN sk me whether to reduce There are two methods offered for aligning images e The By correcting horizo2. Manual 15 Resources You can find more tips techniques and regularly updated information in the Photomatix FAQ on the HDRsoft website at http www hdrsoft com support faq_photomatix html Additionally the resources page at http www hdrsoft com resources lists Internet tutorials book and DVDs on the subject of HDR photography that along with your own experience will help deepen your understanding of it Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual 16 www hdrsoft com
3. Photomatix Essentials Version 3 0 User Manual 2011 HDRsoft All rights reserved Contents OGC COR escenes a De a a S 1 Section 1 HDR High Dynamic Range photography ss 1 E TEPI PRO OS OCR a caer or nme 2 hil SEUNG DO DC GCI cierren rine inire A E ArT EE E EAO 2 L12 Toko TNC POLS ed een et on ee uNe 3 Section 2 Using Photomatix Essentials sens 4 2 1 Loading and Managing Photos Step 1 esessssssseeeesssssescersssssseceressssseeeeeessseseeressssseseeesssssses 4 2 2 Adjusting the Image with Fusion or Tone Mapping Step 2 8 22 1 Details ERROUCORS TERNEL ne eo om ed ee intel 10 222 Tope Compressor SelUnNgS ES td ane action da ed ue een 10 223 EXPO Ue FUSION SC COS ne eat pe de Dee no Don 11 SOCUONR PHOTOS a en a ee ane a aan ee ee et eee 12 O S E EEE 13 Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual Introduction Photomatix Essentials processes multiple exposure bracketed photos into a single image either by a process known as fusing the exposures together or through a process known as HDR High Dynamic Range tone mapping This manual is organized into three major areas The first section is a general description of HDR photography and how to shoot it The second section is a detailed tutorial on how to use Photomatix Essentials The third section explains how to use the Image Alignment Ghost Removal and Noise Reduction features offered by Photomatix Essentials At the end of the manual is a glossary of some of the
4. and prints It has become very common to define HDR image as the result of processing the 32 bit HDR image with tone mapping i e the tone mapped output but this is not technically correct Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual 14 JPEG Noise Pixel PPI RAW file TIFF Tone mapping A common image file format with two primary strengths a relatively small file size and universal compatibility JPEGs use a lossy compression scheme and should not be edited and re saved Statistical variations inherent in the sensor system cause noise Noise is always present but higher sensitivities and smaller sensors usually generate more noise Digital pictures consist of pixels the smallest units Each pixel has a color that can be represented by 8 or 16 bits or as a floating point number 32bit HDR Pixels per Inch Can be used to describe the actual pixels per inch of a print Often confused with DPI Dots per Inch used by color printers to print an image A file containing the raw data from the camera sensor RAW files do not have a color profile or other stylistic preferences permanently applied A comprehensive image format that offers lossless compression schemes for smaller file sizes with higher quality This format is suitable for editing and printing but not publishing on the Web Processing a 32 bit HDR image into an image that can be properly viewed on monitors and in prints Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User
5. ed photos here or k Browse to find your bracketed photos Organize Include in library Share with gt X Favorites Ga EE Desktop my Downloads Recent Places E Libraries 28 Homegroup Le dl Computer amp Local Disk C RECOVERY D h 3 items Preferences Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual 4 4 Select the files as you would normally 41 Photomatix Light 2 0 32 bit Step 1 Drag your bracketed photos here D or Browse to find your bracketed photos Preferences amp Local Disk C c RECOVERY D bea 3 items selected Date taken 8 10 2005 7 00 AM 5 Drag and drop the photos to Photomatix Essentials You can drag and drop file individually or in groups 1 Photomatix Light 2 0 32 bit Step 1 Drag your bracketed photos here R or Browse to find your bracketed photos E Preview Share with 9 II Search Sample Venice Slideshow Favorites HE Desktop S 5 I i B Downloads E Pa venice_normal venice_over I Recent Places ES venice_under Hl Libraries 28 Homegroup 1 Computer amp Local Disk C a RECOVERY D Preferences 3 items selected Date taken 8 10 2005 7 00 AM Browsing To browse to one or more photos using a file selecti 1 Launch Photomatix Essentials 2 Click Browse si Photomatix Essentials 3 0 32 b
6. fic instructions for using this setting e Set the camera to Auto Exposure Bracketing AEB e f possible use the camera s self timer setting a remote control or a cable release to minimize camera shake e 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 AEB settings on a Nikon D80 3 shots with 2EV Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual 2 1 1 2 Taking the Photos In simplified terms bracketing allows you to stretch the dynamic range of your camera so it can capture the full range of light in a scene Mechanically you accomplish this by taking multiple photos with different exposure settings Although there is no single method that is better than all others in every circumstance indeed cameras vary in their abilities complicating matters a good rule of thumb is to shoot three photos separated by 2 0 EV using AEB However not all cameras have the same AEB capabilities Some limit you to a 1 EV spacing or less Under exposure 2 EV Well balanced exposure 0 EV Over exposure 2 EV You can shoot more or fewer photos separated by more or less EV The final results may vary greatly depending on your bracketing strategy Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual Section 2 Using Photomatix Essentials The Photomatix Esse
7. heir relative exposure compared to their bracketed companions Additionally there is a larger combined thumbnail that shows a preview of the result of processing the photos Finally there is a checkbox beside each photos thumbnail this is checked by default unless you loaded only one photo A checked box signifies that the photo is included in the process Uncheck a photo to take it out of the process You ll see the combined thumbnail update to show the effect Check the photo to put it back into the mix si Photomatix Essentials 3 0 32 bit Step 1 Load Bracketed Photos Drag your bracketed photos here Browse o find your bracketed photos Preferences Reset amp Start Again Starting Over or Continuing To start over select Reset amp Start Again You ll jump back to a clean interface and be ready to select new bracketed photos To continue with these photos select Next Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual 7 2 2 Adjusting the Image with Fusion or Tone Mapping Step 2 The heart of Photomatix Essentials is Step 2 where you choose a method and settings to process your bracketed photos The two tone mapping methods you can choose from are e Details Enhancer Tone Mapping processes the HDR image merged from your bracketed photos revealing its details in highlights and shadows This method excels at creating the so called HDR look enhanced local contrast and accentuated details te Photoma
8. it Step 1 Load Bracketed Photos Drag your bracketed photos here Browse to find your bracketed photos Preferences Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual on dialog box follow these steps 3 Navigate to the folder on your system where the photo s are stored Lookin Sample Venice t venice_ normal lt i ma re venice_over Recent Places venice_under Desktop Libraries in CN Computer amp File name X Files oftype AI mages lt JPG JPEG TIF TIFF PSD PSB in J Sample Venice venice_normal E venice_over ZAR nmammnnnmnmnrrrr emo DINAN a venice under Libraries Ma Computer amp File name venice_under jpg venice_nommal jpg venic Files of type AI Images lt JPG JPEG TIF TIFF PSD PSB Cancel Drag your bracketed photos here Browse to find your bracketed photos Preferences Reset amp Start Again Regardless of the method you choose you can go back and add photos Drag and drop additional photos or choose Browse again to choose more files You may mix and match these two methods Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual Managing Photos Once you load your photos into Photomatix Essentials you should notice a few things in the interface First each photois displayed as a thumbnail This makes it easy to verify that the photos are of the same subject and see t
9. mode produces Slightly different results Checking the box tends to produce results with Lighting Adjustments 0 0 no Lighting Effects Mode Details Enhancer Lighting Adjustment Settings a type of Magic Light effect Note that finer control is not possible in Lighting Effects mode 2 2 2 Tone Compressor Settings Brightness Adjusts the overall brightness of the tone mapped image The default value is 0 Compression Controls the compression of the tonal range Move the slider to the right to shift both shadows and highlights toward the mid tones in the tone mapped image The default value is 0 Contrast Adaptation Adjusts the influence of the average brightness in relation to the intensity of the processed pixel Move the slider to the right to create more pronounced colors Move the slider to the left to create a more natural look The default value is 0 Color Saturation Adjusts the color saturation of the tone mapped image The greater the saturation the more intense the color The value affects each color channel equally The default value is 0 Color Temperature Adjusts the color temperature of the tone mapped image relative to the temperature of the HDR source image Move the slider to the right for a warmer more yellow orange colored look Move it to the left for a colder more bluish look A value of 0 default pre serves the original color temperature of the HDR source image Photomatix Essential
10. n with the Automatic Exposure Bracketing function of a camera resulting in photos of the same scene taken with different exposures Digital Single Lens Reflex camera In the context of HDR photography the total range of light intensity in a scene from the deepest shadows to the brightest highlights The amount of light that enters a camera for the length of time the shutter is open Exposure depends on aperture and shutter speed as well as the camera s sensitivity to light controlled by the ISO Exposure is also shorthand for a photograph or frame a frame of film Combination of photos of the same scene taken under different exposure settings in such a way that highlight details are taken from the underexposed photos and shadow details from the overexposed ones A measure of exposure which is the equivalent of a stop In the absolute sense EV is defined as the exposure from a photo taken at 1 second f 1 and ISO 100 In the relative sense the correct exposure is normally 0 EV and any deviation is measured in positive or negative EV from that mark High Dynamic Range Strictly speaking an HDR image is an intermediary image with 32 bits per color channel 96 bits per pixel An HDR image is the result of merging photos of the Same scene taken under different exposure settings and stored in special HDR image format The 32 bit intermediary HDR image must be processed with tone mapping for proper display on standard monitors
11. ntal and vertical shifts method is fast but only corrects for translation movements This method is recommended when your bracketed photos were taken on a tripod e The By matching features corrects for rotation translation and scaling differences as well as perspective distortion The Crop aligned images option removes the unused borders that appear when the images are shifted to correct for mis registration Leave this box unchecked if you need the resulting image to have the same width and height as the source images Ghost Removal Option The Remove ghosts option addresses the problem of artifacts that appear when combining images of a dynamic scene For example if the moving subjects are people walking the people appear multiple times in the combined image as if there were ghosts This is why artifacts arising from movements in the scene are commonly referred to as ghosting and the attempt to eliminate them as deghosting After you have loaded bracketed photos and have then clicked Next Photomatix Essentials shows by default a prompt asking whether you would like to remove ghosts If you prefer not to show the prompt uncheck the Ask me whether to remove box Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual 12 Noise Reduction Options Noise Reduction is often useful when using the Details Enhancer tone mapping method to process the HDR image as enhancing local details has the drawback to enhance noise as well Noise reduc
12. ntials workflow is composed of two main steps 1 Loading your bracketed photos into Photomatix Essentials where you can work with them 2 Adjusting the combined image to your liking then processing and saving it 2 1 Loading and Managing Photos Step 1 To use Photomatix Essentials first select the photo or photos you want to use and load them into the program There are two ways to accomplish this e Drag and drop Drag the photos from a folder on your computer and drop them onto Photomatix Essentials e Browse Use the Open dialog box to identify and load the source photos into Photomatix Essentials NOTE It is possible to select a single photo if you like Click on the Can use a single photo link for more details Dragging and Dropping To drag one or more photos into Photomatix Essentials follow these steps 1 Launch Photomatix Essentials 2 Open the folder on your computer that contains the photo or photos you want to work with gt Ele CON semple venice M Scorch Sample Venice Organize Include in library Share with El v Fill Fr Favorites BE Desktop d Downloads e k El Recent Places venice normal venice over venice under Libraries ed Homegroup j Computer amp Local Disk C RECOVERY D J 3 items 3 Arrange the folder and Photomatix Essentials so you can drag files from the folder and drop them onto Photomatix Essentials Drag your bracket
13. ographs and present them in a unique and inspirational way Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual 1 1 1 Taking Photos for HDR Taking photos for HDR is easy All it takes is a different mindset than traditional photography which emphasizes taking and editing a single photo independent from any others 1 1 1 Setting Up Your Camera HDR photography requires that you set up your camera a bit differently than normal e Set your camera to Aperture priority A setting so that only the shutter speed varies between the exposures ry TT e Select a low ISO such as ISO 100 or lower AEB UE ur Flash exp comp e Turn off the flash The flash may try to balance the exposure of all the WB SHIFT BKT images when the goal is a range of exposures Custom WB e Mount the camera on a tripod whenever possible Even though Color space Picture Style Dust Delete Dati Photomatix Essentials offers automatic alignment of hand held photos using a tripod is always better Canon Rebel XTi 400D LCD showing AEB with 2 increments selected 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 an AEB mode e Select the Continuous shooting mode on the camera s drive setting Consult your camera manual for model speci
14. olor Saturation Controls the saturation of the RGB color channels The greater the saturation the more intense the color Move the slider right or left to change the setting A value of 0 produces a grayscale image The value affects each color channel equally The default value is 46 Luminosity Controls the compression of the tonal range which has the effect of adjusting the global luminosity level Move the slider to the right to boost shadow details and brighten the image Move it to the left to give a more natural look to the resulting image The default value is 0 Strength Color Saturation Luminosity Detail Contrast Details Enhancer General Settings Detail Contrast Controls the amount of contrast applied to detail in the image Move the slider to the right to increase the contrast of the details and give a sharper look to the image Note that increasing the contrast also has a darkening effect Move the slider to the left to decrease the contrast of details and brighten the image Lighting Adjustments Affects the overall look controlling the extent to which the image looks natural or surreal When the Lighting Effects Mode box is unchecked move the slider to the right to make the image look more natural and to the left to make it look more painterly or surreal Lighting Effects Mode The checkbox lets you switch between two modes for the Lighting Adjustments setting where each
15. r on the thumbnails on Ey Siverice normal the right side to select the method and presets that give you the mm results you prefer 2 Adjust the parameter sliders to get the effect you want a When satisfied select Process amp Save 4 Enter a new file name if desired and select a file type hal e TIFF 16 bit This is the highest quality output available and is the best format if you plan on processing the image further in 2 an image editor ee e JPEG JPEGs are the best options if you want to go straight to the Web or other medium with no further processing 5 If you want to automatically open the processed image in an image oe Eo editor select Open saved image with then choose an image gt Sen editor 6 Choose Save Photomatix Essentials aligns your photos and a processes them vvith either exposure fusion or HDR merge followed by tone mapping If set in Preferences this is also when Noise Reduction vvill be applied Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual Ms Computer amp Network File name venice normal tonemapped Save as type ipg lt JPEG gt V Open saved images with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 3 2 2 1 Details Enhancer Settings Strength Affects the degree to which contrast and detail are enhanced in the image A value of 100 gives the maximum amount of enhancement To get a more natural effect move the slider to the left The default value is 70 C
16. s 3 0 User Manual Brightness a re Compression Contrast Adaptation 0 0 Color Saturation 0 0 Color Temperature 0 0 Tone Compressor Settings 10 2 2 3 Exposure Fusion Settings Accentuation Adjusts the strength of the overall effect Blending Point Adjusts how much weight to give the underexposed or overexposed images When you move the slider to the right the overexposed images are favored which tends to brighten the resulting image The reverse happens when you move the slider to the left Sharpness Increases the sharpness and contrast of details in the image Increasing sharpness may have the side effect of making noise more visible and of creating thin halo effects around strong luminosity edges A value of zero adds no sharpness Values close to the maximum tend to give a surreal look to the image The default value is 2 Color Saturation Adjusts the saturation of the color channels The greater the saturation the more intense the colors A value of 10 produces a grayscale image Midtones Increases or decreases contrast in the midtones of the image Raising it brightens the image but reduces the overall contrast Lowering it darkens the image while increasing contrast Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual Accentuation a es Blending Point Sharpness a ve Color Saturation Midkones Contrast es ees Exposure Fusion Settings 11 Section 3
17. terms associated with HDR Section 1 HDR High Dynamic Range photography The central premise of HDR photography is that there are very few situations where a single photograph can capture the true dynamic range the total range of light in a scene from very dark to very light of a scene accurately In other words today s digital camera can t properly expose everything at the same time in scenes with even moderate contrast ratios This results in two main problems which sometime happen together in the same photo e Blown highlights When the exposure is raised to make sure the foreground or subject is properly exposed brighter areas of the scene suffer They blow out and turn white because they have very little or no usable data in them e Lost detail in shadows Conversely when bright areas of a scene are protected by lowering exposure there is not enough light to register details on the camera s sensor in dark areas of the scene These turn to shadow and blackness HDR photography solves these problems by taking enough photos traditionally 3 to contain the entire exposure range of the scene With that data in hand Photomatix Essentials can merge the different photos and process them to rescue details from shadows and keep highlights from blowing out Aside from that practical rationale HDR photography offers photographers and photo editors a new and powerful tool with which to take and develop their phot
18. tion is particularly recommended when processing RAW files directly in Photomatix or when processing just one photo especially when this photo is underexposed You can turn Noise Reduction on or off or be prompted whether to apply it by adjusting the Reduce noise option As reducing noise takes time you can choose to process only a subset of your source images with noise reduction by adjusting the Apply noise reduction on option Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual 13 Glossary AEB mode Aperture priority Bit Bit depth Bracketed images dSLR Dynamic range Exposure Exposure fusion EV Exposure Value HDR HDR range Automatic Exposure Bracketing DSLR cameras and some compact digital cameras offer this feature It 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 In Aperture Priority mode you select the aperture and the camera determines the correct shutter speed for the available light The shutter speed also depends on ISO sensitivity This is the right mode for shooting bracketed shots for HDR refer to Section 1 for more information Bits represent digital data in computers Digital Images are made of bits A bit depth corresponds to 2 Bit Depth levels e g 256 for 8 bit The number of bits a file type uses to represent a pixel s color at a given location in an image A group of photos take
19. tix Essentials 3 0 32 bit Step 2 Adjust and Preview Method amp Presets O Details Enhancer essi Settings Strength 0 Color Saturation 6 nes Luminosity Detail Contrast Lighting Adjustments Lighting Effects Mode Process amp Save i quasi Te e Tone Compressor Tone Mapping processes the same HDR image as the Details Enhancer method but enhances global rather than local contrast which gives a more natural look and avoids enhancing noise at the same time as details WT Photomatix Essentials 3 0 32 bit Step 2 Adjust and Preview Method amp Presets Settings Brightness Compression _ _ Contrast Adaptation n A Color Saturation e Color Temperature Process amp Save Photomatix Essentials 3 0 User Manual 8 e Exposure Fusion combines your bracketed photos in such a way that bright details highlights are taken from the underexposed photos and dark details Shadows from the overexposed ones The result is a more natural look than tone mapping Note that this method requires more than one exposure and is thus not available when you have chosen to load a single photo A Photomatix Essentials 3 0 32 bit Step 2 Adjust and Preview Process amp Save Follow these steps when you enter Step 2 Savein 1 Sample Venice 1 Click on the radio button on the top left o
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