Photomatix Plug-in for Aperture
Contents
1. White Point Le Black Point Gamma Temperature Show Advanced Options Method Defaults ka aiae Default Adjustments panel PR The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual To undo changes made during the adjustment process click the undo arrow at the bottom of the adjustments panel To redo adjustments click the redo arrow to reapply changes 4 2 Presets There are two types of presets built in and custom Only built in presets are displayed in the Preset Thumbnails panel Your own custom presets can be saved and loaded using the Preset menu located at the bottom of the Adjustments panel 4 2 1 Built in Presets The Presets panel shows the available built in presets giving a preview of the effect of the preset on your image When you click on a preset thumbnail that preset is applied to the Preview Built in presets are factory presets that are provided with the software 32 built in presets are available when you are processing bracketed photos and 27 when you are processing a single file The pop up menu at the top left of the Thumbnail Presets panel lets you view subset categories of built in presets Show Preset Thumbnails Y All Short List Artistic Realistic Black amp White Fusion Preset thumbnails panel category menu There are four categories of built in presets Artistic Realistic and Black amp White and Fusion You can also display a selected subset of pre2. 0 7 Life Mersdans Date ms Show vaums CRI Right click or CTRL click to access the Edit with Plug in menu The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 3 2 General Merge to HDR Options After the bracketed images are selected you can customize how the images will be merged for processing Options include aligning the images and removing ghosts Refer to the following list for a description of the options when merging bracketed images 3 2 1 Alignment Options The Align images option is checked by default It corrects misalignment problems when the camera moves slightly between the bracketed frames Hand held photographs have camera movement but even images shot on a tripod may have 4 Note The Align source images option should not be checked when your source images are stitched panoramas or when they are fake exposures derived from a single RAW file some slight camera movement as well such as movement caused by wind for example e taken on tripod Select this alignment method when you used a tripod to take automatic bracketed photos This method is fast but corrects only for horizontal and vertical camera movement and not for rotation or other types of motion e hand held Select this method when you did not use a tripod or when the images are difficult to align The hand held method corrects for several types of camera movement including horizontal and vertical motion rotation and f
3. global contrast and reduces shadows clipping Midtone Adjusts the brightness of the midtones which also has an impact on the overall contrast Moving the slider to the right brightens the midtones and decreases contrast Moving to the left darkens the midtones and increases contrast Color Saturation Adjusts the color saturation of the image The greater the saturation the more intense the color Setting the slider to its lowest value 10 produces a grayscale image Color Temperature Adjusts the color temperature of the tone mapped image relative to the temperature of the HDR source image Moving the Strength Tone Compression Lighting Effect A White Clip Black Clip Midtone Color Saturation Color Temperature B 360 image Contrast Optimizer Settings slider to the right gives a warmer more yellow orange colored look Moving it to the left gives a colder more bluish look A value of 0 default preserves the original color temperature of the HDR source image 360 Image Checking this option eliminates the seam between the left and right sides of a panorama viewed in a 360 degree panoramic viewer This option is intended for a stitched panorama it should not be used for individual frames of a panorama that have not yet been stitched The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 14 5 3 Tone Mapping Tone Compressor Settings Brightness Adjusts the overall brightness
4. is not possible in this mode Smooth Highlights e Lighting Effects Mode Affects the overall look controlling the extent to which the image looks natural or surreal White Polat a More Options Black Point Smooth Highlights Reduces contrast enhancements in the highlights a preventing white highlights from turning grey or preserving a uniform Puut blue sky It is also useful for reducing halos around objects placed A against bright backgrounds Temperature White Point Sets the maximum value of the tone mapped image Moving the slider to the right sets a lower maximum value which Details Enhancer More Options brightens the image and increases global contrast Moving to the left sets a higher maximum value which decreases global contrast and reduces highlights clipping The default value is 0 25 The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 12 Black Point Sets the minimum value of the tone mapped image Moving the slider to the right increases global contrast Moving to the left sets a lower minimum value which decreases global contrast and reduces shadows clipping Gamma Adjusts the brightness of the midtones which also has an impact on the overall contrast Moving the slider to the right brightens the midtones and decreases the contrast Moving to the left darkens the midtones and increases the contrast The default value is 1 0 Temperature Adjusts the color temperature of the tone mapped image relat
5. of the image Tonal Range Compression Controls the compression of the tonal range Moving the slider to the right has the effect of shifting both shadows and highlights toward the midtones Contrast Adaptation Adjusts the contrast in relation to the average brightness Moving the slider to the right tends to decrease contrast and give more pronounced colors Moving to the left tends to increase contrast and give a more natural look White Clip Adjusts the amount of highlights clipping Moving the slider to the right brightens the image and increases global contrast Moving to the left decreases global contrast and reduces highlights clipping Black Clip Adjusts the amount of shadows clipping Moving the slider to the right darkens the image and increases global contrast Moving to the left decreases global contrast and reduces shadows clipping Color Saturation Adjusts the color saturation of the image The greater the saturation the more intense the color Setting the slider to its lowest value 10 produces a grayscale image 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 preserves the original color temperature of the HDR source image The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual B
6. use your camera s histogram preview in playback mode In your most overexposed photo the left part of the histogram should be empty until 1 3rd of the histogram s width If this is not the case 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 is 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 The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 2 installing To install the Photomatix Plug in for Aperture open the folder into which you downloaded the plug in which by default is your Downloads folder and open the folder named PhotomatixPlugin 3 0 2 1 Use the Installer or Install the Plug in Manually
7. Checking this option is recommended given that chromatic aberrations tend to show around high contrast edges and are particularly an issue for HDR images The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 3 3 Working with Single Image Files The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture supports Tone Mapping of single image files To load a single image simply select the image you wish to work with and then right click CTRL click on one of the selected images to access the contextual menu and then select Edit with Plug in Photomatix HDR When processing single images there are no merge options to set However one or two dialog may appear to let you choose whether to reduce the noise and whether to reduce chromatic aberrations before tone mapping Do you want to reduce noise Click Yes to apply a high quality noise reduction to your photo before tone mapping This is particularly recommended if your photo is underexposed Note You can choose not to show this prompt via the Preferences accessible from the plug in EE Mes To bypass these dialogs an option can be preset in Preferences either to always reduce or to never reduce noise and chromatic abberation in single images The Preferences window is accessed from within the plug in The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 4 Note Tone mapping with the Details Enhancer method makes any noise present in the image much more visible so it is
8. File Format JPEG TIFF 8 bit and TIFF 16 bit are the options JPEG is the default Suffix Will be applied to every image you save HDR is the default Noise amp Chromatic Aberration Reduction The options for whether to apply these filters when you open a single image are Yes Always apply this filter No Never apply this filter Ask me whether to reduce Prompt me to decide individually every time load an image When using the plugin with a single image Reduce noise Ask me whether to reduce Reduce chromatic aberrations No Single image default settings for noise and fringe reduction The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 18 7 Registering the Plug in with your License Information To register your copy of the Photomatix plug in for Aperture click on the Save button You will then get a window where you can enter your license key If the window letting you enter your license information does not show when you click on the OK button this means the plug in is already registered on your computer which will be the case if you bought a license of Photomatix Pro Plus Bundle and already registered Photomatix Pro The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 19 8 Getting More Information and Help The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture FAQ on the HDRsoft com website has the answers to commonly asked questions related to the plug in The Photomatix FAQ offers several tips and gen
9. Photomatix Plug in for Aperture Version 3 0 User Manual 2014 HDRsoft All rights reserved Table of Contents OU CIO RE a era ern mene 1 1 Taking Photos for HDR eeaeee oea earste nee dass ASAE o i ane rene nee en rec ESES LEAs 2 Ie ESetngupthe C amera aae a a E A E A E en E E E eee ees 3 PRT el CtIN NE EXO Sre Sa nn E A E N M 3 2 a aTe SR ee RER 4 2 1 Use the Installer or Install the Plug in Manually ns 4 3 Selecting and Pre Processing Images sseccscesccecscecseecccecscecsccccscecscesscecsecsssesscecsseesseo 5 3 1 load a Bracketediimage Sot ane de ne nee nl ete ne cere 5 3 2 sGenenaliWerge to RIOR O DtlOMS Re a ne 6 5 2 ITAIM ENN O DUO RSS ne E ee A 6 2 2 P DENOS tind OPON Se a en den ie eee dt ic UE eer tn ue 6 32 NOISE ROGUCTION ODIOS nn en E nd are ee ni EA RRR ne 7 3 2 4 Reduce Chromatic A DERFATIOME Sn caen nn ne 7 3 be SVVORKING with inde MAGS Elles ra aaa a A E A E E E aarsc One ne 8 4 Adjusting Images Using Tone Mapping or Exposure FUSION ses 9 A Ae Milimage AGIUStHIENINVONKHOW S a n a a E A a E E A ae 9 TAR CRESET E E a A a e ea A A eee estan a eRe nee ar ener Seen a 10 AD RABUN RESETS E A A E E E AA a E A R rece 10 4 2 2 Save Load amp Share Custom Presets A en a a N E ARE ate renee ante 11 5 Image Adjustment Settings 2i55c5c 250sccccceccctessccccencsscevcccccassccoseccecouesesccceccsccssstescecsvesescs 12 5 1 Tone Mapping Details Enhancer Settings nn 12 5 2 Tone Mapping Contrast Optimizer Set
10. Use the Installer 1 Double click on the file InstallerPhotomatixPluginForAperture to start the installer 2 Follow the on screen instructions to complete the installation Install Manually 1 Move the file PhotomatixPlugin ApertureEdit to Library Application Support Aperture Plug Ins 2 If there is no Plug Ins folder in Application Support Aperture create this folder manually 3 Start or restart Aperture so that Aperture will load the newly installed Plug in The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 3 Selecting and Pre processing Images 3 1 Load a Bracketed Image Set To load a bracketed image set into the plug in 1 Select a bracketed image set in the Browser or Viewer the following screen shot shows the 3 lighthouse images selected in the Browser Aperture amp Fa 2 CIE Move io Trash imepector Export Original Flag Lk ao 7 Date las Sl J sebected F ibema disclarped Show Waults B A 3 photo bracketed set is selected 2 Right click or CTRL click on one of the selected images to open the contextual menu 3 Select Edit with Plug in Photomatix HDR as shown in the following screen shot CRE Aperture u i ar amp O amp FQ amane ese Name Keywords Share Move io Trash llespector Export Original Flag Loupe Split View uara ifo tem fe A ie al DE ie Phol s Faces Places LDRARY RECENT SHARED PACJECTS lk oi di
11. a good idea to pre process your image with noise reduction before tone mapping Exposure Fusion is not available when processing a single image 4 Adjusting Images Using Tone Mapping or Exposure Fusion The plug in s window has three main sections Adjustments panel on the left Preview in the middle Thumbnail Presets on the right This section describes the workflow for adjusting previewing and processing images and describes each Tone Mapping and Exposure Fusion setting 4 1 Image Adjustment Workflow After you have merged your source images or loaded a single image the next steps within the Plug in are 1 Adjust the image to your liking Choose a style you like from the Preset thumbnails shown at the right side of the plug in window You can then refine the effects of the chosen Preset in the Adjustments panel See to Sections 4 3 through 4 6 for detailed descriptions of the settings Refer to Section 4 2 3 for more information about using presets 2 Process the image When you are satisfied with the adjustments apply your settings to the image at its original resolution by clicking Save The processed image will now be saved in your Aperture project Details Enhancer Contrast Optimizer Tone Compressor Fusion Natural Strength Color Saturation Tone Compression Detail Contrast Lighting Adjustments amp E Lighting Effects Mode T Hide More Options Smooth Highlights amp
12. 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 e Limits of auto bracketing Most cameras that auto bracket are limited in the number of photos and the EV range that can be captured automatically If your camera cannot auto bracket at least 3 photos in two EV steps or 5 photos in one EV steps your options for capturing the full dynamic range of a typical scene are 1 Manually Three exposures of a medium dynamic range scene in two EV steps Manually shoot all exposures of the bracketed set 2 Manually extended auto bracketed set Shoot an auto bracketed set and then augment this set with additional manual exposures as necessary above and or below the exposures of the automatically shot frames 3 Two auto bracketed sets offset by Exposure Compensation A camera that is limited to three frames at one EV steps can cover the necessary dynamic range by combining two bracketed sets This may be more co
13. d Tagging Tag saved image with keyword will save a keyword in your saved image s metadata where it can read by Aperture and similar applications In Aperture keywords can be accessed by choosing Show Keywords HUD in the Window menu 6 1 Import Options Pane When Import saved image is checked as it is by default the image edited by the plug in will be imported into your current Aperture Project once it has been saved Importing the image edited by the plug in allows you to change the edited image file format and name Import saved image however has the drawback of moving the saved image at the top of your current project when viewed in Aperture s Browser and Viewer When Import saved image is unchecked the image edited by the plug in is saved in place and therefore saved with the file name and in the file format Aperture used when exporting Import saved image Import options Vi Stack with selected images editable versions of the selected images to the Save image as JPEG plug in This is why the saved image shows JPEG Quality 100 next to the selected images when this option is D T HOR unchecked Default settings for Import options Stacking Behavior When Stack with selected images is checked the imported image will be stacked with the source images from which is was created New images stacked or not are found at the top of your current Aperture Project The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 17
14. eral information that are applicable to the plug in even though it is intended for the standalone Photomatix applications If you cannot find the answer to your question in the FAQs you are welcome to contact us Please refer to the Photomatix Support page for contact information The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 20 Glossary AEB Mode Aperture Priority Bit Bit Depth Bracketed images Chromatic Aberration Contrast Ratio dSLR Dynamic Range EXIF Exposure Exposure Fusion EV Exposure Value HDR 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 over exposed 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 Sec tion 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 taken with the Automatic Exposure Bracketing function of a cam era resulting in photos of the same scene taken
15. et with another user 1 In the Finder select the menu option Go Go to Folder 2 Copy the folder path below and paste it into the Go to Folder dialog and hit return or click Go Library Containers com apple Aperture Data Library Application Support Plug Ins Photomatix Presets If you have made any custom presets they will be located here 3 Copy the preset to your Desktop or other location from which it will be easy to find so that you can share it by email or another method Load a Custom Preset To import a custom preset created by other Photomatix users select the menu item Load Preset in the drop down list Then browse to the location on your computer where you downloaded the preset files Preset files have a xmp file extension The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 11 5 Image Adjustment Settings 5 1 Tone Mapping Details Enhancer Settings General Settings SE Strength Affects the amount of enhancement given to contrast TE and detail in the image A value of 100 gives the greatest enhancement Moving the slider to the left gives a more natural Meet effect The default value is 70 _ e Saturation Adjusts the color saturation of the image The greater the Mae cuUks itt Saturation the more intense the color Setting the slider to its lowest a value 0 produces a grayscale image Details Enhancer General settings The default value is 46 e Tone Compression Adjusts t
16. exposure one or more underexposed and one or more overexposed Follow these steps if your camera offers AEB mode e Select the Continuous shooting mode on the camera s drive setting Consult your camera manual for model specific instructions for using this setting 20 ol N EH AdobeRGB E ce ODF FS A A amp e Set the camera to Auto Exposure Bracketing AEB i AEB settings on a Nikon D7000 If possible use the camera s self timer setting a cable release or 3 frames at 2 EV a wireless shutter release to minimize camera shake e Set the exposure increment to 2 for optimal exposure range V Note If your camera does not offer 2 exposure increments select The continuous shooting mode may not the maximum possible Consult the camera manual for model always be the best strategy because camera specific instructions for choosing this setting shake may build up It is recommended to use a method that ensures the least possible 1 2 Selecting the Exposures shake for each single shot such as mirror lock up functionality if available To get good results with HDR processing your bracketed sequence must include photos that correctly expose highlights as well as photos that correctly expose shadows The latter is especially important to prevent noise in the processed HDR image In the lightest photo of the sequence the darkest shadow areas of the scene should be shifted at least into the midtones To check this
17. he dynamic range of the tone mapped image Moving the slider to the right decreases the dynamic range brightening the shadows and darkening the highlights Moving to the left has the opposite effect giving a more natural look Note This setting was previously named Luminosity e Detail Contrast Controls the amount of contrast applied to detail in the image Moving the slider to the right increases the contrast TE E of details and gives a sharper look to the image but also has a darkening effect Moving to the left decreases the contrast of details ns ighting Effects Mode and brightens the image Lighting Adjustments pane The two lighting adjustment modes Details Enhancer l i Lighting Adjustment settings affect the overall look controlling the extent to which the image looks natural or surreal Lighting Adjustments slider Affects the overall look controlling i heing Austen CIT the extent to which the image looks natural or surreal Moving the PRET _ Natural slider to the right makes the image look more natural Moving to the Ane TE Lor left makes it look more painterly or surreal Lighting Effects Mode checkbox Lighting Effects Mode lets you rois Sa cde switch between two modes for the Lighting Adjustments setting Le where each mode produces slightly different results Checking the box tends to produce results with a type of Magic Light effect Note that finer control
18. ive to the temperature of the HDR source image Moving the slider to the right gives a warmer more yellow orange colored look Moving it to the left gives a colder more bluish look A value of 0 default preserves the original color temperature of the HDR source image Advanced Options Micro smoothing Micro smoothing Smoothes out the enhancement of small details which has the effect of reducing noise in the sky for Saturation Highlights instance and tends to give a cleaner look to the result o Saturation Highlights Adjusts the color saturation of the ae LE highlights relative to the color saturation set with the Color Saturation slider Values higher than 0 increase the color saturation Shadows Smoothness in the highlights Values lower than 0 decrease it a The default value is 0 shadows Clipping The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual Saturation Shadows Adjusts the color saturation of the shadows relative to the color saturation set with the Color Saturation slider 360 image Values higher than zero increase the color saturation in the shadows Values lower than zero decrease it The default value is 0 Details Enhancer Advanced Options Shadows Smoothness Reduces contrast enhancements in the shadows Shadows Clipping The value sets how much of the shadows range is clipped This control may be useful to cut out noise in the dark area of a photo taken in a low light situation 360 image Checki
19. ng this option eliminates the seam between the left and right sides of a panorama viewed in a 360 degree panoramic viewer This option is intended for a stitched panorama it should not be used for individual frames of a panorama that have not yet been stitched 13 5 2 Tone Mapping Contrast Optimizer Settings Strength Affects the amount of enhancement given to contrast and detail in the image A value of 100 gives the greatest enhancement Moving the slider to the left gives a more natural effect The default value is 50 Tone Compression Alters the dynamic range of the tone mapped image Moving the slider to the right decreases the dynamic range brightening the shadows and darkening the highlights Moving to the left has the opposite effect giving a more natural look to the image Lighting Effect Controls the prominence of the shadows affecting the overall look of the image Moving the slider to the right brightens the shadows giving a more vibrant or surreal look A value of zero disables the effect leaving the shadows unaffected The default value is 20 White Clip Adjusts the amount of highlights clipping Moving the slider to the right brightens the image and increases global contrast Moving to the left decreases global contrast and reduces highlights clipping Black Clip Adjusts the amount of shadows clipping Moving the slider to the right darkens the image and increases global contrast Moving to the left decreases
20. nvenient than shooting 3 frames manually Begin by shooting one bracketed set at for example minus one EV Exposure Compensation and then Shoot another set at plus one EV compensation This produces 6 images 3 of which are the desired two EV separated bracketed set The remaining 3 images can be discarded 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 The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 1 1 Setting up the Camera Exposure comp AEB setting e Set your camera to Aperture priority the A setting so that only shutter speed will vary between the exposures Darker Brighter e Set a low ISO such as ISO 100 or lower if available 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 CRETEIL oo e Turn off the flash The flash may try to balance the exposure of amp Un Il iQ all the images when the goal instead is a range of exposures e A tripod is typically recommended but is not required as the plug in includes options to automatically align hand held Canon Rebel T2i 550D LCD showing photos AEB with 2 EV 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
21. oise Pixel PPI RAW File TIFF Tone Mapping Strictly speaking an HDR image is an intermediary image with 32 bits per color chan nel 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 and prints It has become very common to define HDR image as the result of processing the 32 bit HDR image with tone map ping i e the tone mapped output but this is not technically correct Histograms represent brightness distribution in digital images They help evaluate correct exposure The y axis represents the amount of pixels and the x axis represents the brightness value 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 pres ent 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 printe
22. orward and backward movement When the include perspective option is selected it corrects for every kind of minor camera movement Include perspective correction This option requests that the hand held alignment method corrects for all types of camera movement including rotation in all three dimensions as well as horizontal vertical forward and backward motion e Crop aligned images This option removes the unneeded borders resulting from alignment adjustments Unchecking it disables this so that the resulting image has exactly the same width and height as the source images but may have white areas around the edges 3 2 2 Deghosting Options Deghosting addresses the problem of artifacts that appear when combining bracketed images of a dynamic scene For example if the moving subjects are people walking the people will appear multiple times in the combined image Merge to HDR Options M Align images M Crop aligned images taken on tripod v include perspective correction Very Mild Deghosting KA Medium Strong Very Strong hand held iW Remove ghosts M Reduce noise on Underexposed image s Reduce Chromatic Aberrations Deghosting sets how aggressive the ghost removal is Strong Deghosting settings remove more ghosts but increase the chance of introducing artifacts Use a medium or mild Deghosting setting to preserve the quality of the merged HDR image _ Merge to HDR Set
23. oving to the left decreases global contrast and reduces highlights clipping Black Clip e Black Clip Adjusts the amount of shadows clipping Moving the Slider to the right darkens the image and increases global contrast Moving to the left decreases global contrast and reduces shadows clipping e Midtone Adjusts the brightness of the midtones which also has an impact on the overall contrast Moving the slider to the right brightens the midtones and decreases contrast Moving to the left darkens the midtones and increases contrast Midtones Fusion Natural Settings The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 6 Preferences The Preferences dialog is accessed from within the plug in The available Preference settings are Initial Image Settings Start with Settings of previous session Start with sets whether to open the plug in with Default settings The settings as you left them the last time you used the plug in or The default settings When adjusting Preview refresh when slider stops moving continuously as slider moves Tag saved image with keyword Slider Behavior Initial settings and slider behavior defaults When adjusting Preview refresh chooses between Refreshing the Preview only after you have stopped moving the slider or Continuously refreshing the Preview as you move the slider Requires a fast processor Performance improves if you zoom out to a small Preview Keywor
24. rightness Tonal Range Compression Contrast Adaptation White Clip a Black Clip a Color Saturation Color Temperature Tone Compressor Settings 15 5 4 Fusion Natural Settings Strength Sets by how much local contrast is accentuated Moving the slider to the right tends to brighten the shadows and to show more details in the highlights Moving to the left produces a more natural effect Brightness Controls the brightness of the fused image by adjusting the influence each of the input photos has on the final result Moving the slider to the right gives the overexposed photos Strength more influence resulting in a brighter result Moving to the left darkens the result by giving the underexposed photos more Brightness influence e Local Contrast Increases the contrast and sharpness of details in Local Contrast the image Increasing local contrast may have the side effect of 4 making noise more visible and of creating thin halo effects around Le strong luminosity edges Values near the maximum tend to give a surreal look to the image The default value is 2 e Color Saturation Adjusts the color saturation of the image The greater the saturation the more intense the color Setting the Slider to its lowest value 10 produces a grayscale image e White Clip Adjusts the amount of highlights clipping Moving White Clip the slider to the right brightens the image and increases global contrast M
25. rs 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 The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 22 www HDRsoft com
26. s the effect of boosting shadows and enables adjusting images for artistic and dramatic effect e Contrast Optimizer Tone Mapping good at producing realistic looking results while still enhancing shadows and highlights e Tone Compressor Tone Mapping adjusts contrast uniformly producing a more photographic look and avoiding noise and halo artifacts e Fusion Natural 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 The settings for each method are described below in Section 5 The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 1 Taking Photos for HDR The shooting phase is essential for getting good results with Photomatix HDR processing 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 must properly cover the dynamic range of the scene especially the shadows The number of photos you need depends on the dynamic renge of 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
27. sets which includes examples from all categories by selecting the Short List option 4 Note When using the Details Enhancer or Contrast Optimizer methods the Preview is not always an accurate representation of the final tone mapped image The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 10 4 2 2 Save Load amp Share Custom Presets Custom presets are those which you configured while adjusting an image and then saved for your future use or to share with other users of Photomatix Or perhaps another Photomatix user shared their presets with you To work with Custom Presets click the Preset drop down list located at the bottom of the Adjustments panel Save a Custom Preset qe Load Preset To save your own custom preset Save Preset 1 In the Adjustments panel click the Preset drop down list Previous Session 2 Select Save Preset from the list Default 3 Enter a name for the preset in the File name field and click Save Balanced Photographic Natural The newly saved preset will appear at the bottom of the Preset menu the Fr Vibrant next time that you open the plug in Rue Deep Surreal Share a Custom Preset SALE Creative Once you have saved a custom preset as detailed above you can share this Le preset with another user as follows Monochrome The newly saved preset will appear at the bottom of the Preset menu the My 1st Custom Preset next time that you open the plug in Preset menu To share this pres
28. ting deghosting strength once for each frame faded and in a different position as if they were ghosts This is why artifacts that arise from movement in a scene are commonly referred to as ghosting and the techniques to eliminate them are referred to as deghosting Select Remove ghosts and then set a Deghosting strength The general rule of thumb is that you should use the lowest level of deghosting strength that is sufficient to deghost your image A high Deghosting setting removes more severe ghosting artifacts but also increases the possibility and severity of unwanted artifacts The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 3 2 3 Noise Reduction Options The Reduce noise on option applies a high quality noise reduction algorithm Noise reduction is typically most helpful in dark areas of source images and these dark areas are more prevalent in the underexposed and sometimes in the normally exposed frames With this in mind you can use the Reduce noise on menu to specify that noise reduction be applied only to the darkest images in the bracketed set Or if you wish noise reduction can be applied to all images in the set M Reduce noise on PATATE Tuto Normal exposure and underexposed Reduce Chromat All source images Noise reduction options 3 2 4 Reduce Chromatic Aberrations The Reduce Chromatic Aberrations option automatically corrects color fringing due to chromatic aberrations of the lens
29. tings maiaa a AAE aA AEE a AEAEE ETA AA A Ca 14 5 3 0 one Mapping Tone Compressor Settings oani Ea EEEE A A aa 15 54a EUSIOMINATUTA IS ETES a a terse A A tr rs e AA ee 16 6 Preferences E T E E E E E T isa cs de 17 6 1 Mapon Options Pan E a A an AA E A E E A A EA E A 17 7 Registering the Plug in with Your License Information seccsececsceecsccccsccessceecsceeo 19 8 Getting More Information and Help Resources seccsscccessccccsccccsececsceecsccecsececsceeose 20 GOSS aY eee a E E E A ARIA E E A E A E AAT E E AN 21 Each section title above links to its section below All footers link back to this Table of Contents The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual Introduction The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture works with multiple photographs of the same scene taken under different exposure settings These differently exposed images of the same scene are commonly referred to as bracketed images or as a bracketed image set The Photomatix HDR Plug in merges a bracketed image set into one image It then lets you adjust the merged image to your liking using HDR tone mapping or exposure fusion methods You can also use the Plug in to tone map a single photo However you will get optimal results with multiple exposures See the online FAQ for details on how to take exposures of a high contrast scene The plug in offers four methods to adjust your image e Details Enhancer Tone Mapping increases local contrast which ha
30. with different exposures As the lens focuses different wavelengths slightly differently chromatic aberration occurs For example the purple fringing you often find around edges leaves in front of a bright sky Another way to describe the dynamic range of a scene The ratio between the darkest and brightest areas Digital Single Lens Reflex camera In the context of photography the total range of light intensity in a scene from the deepest shadows to the brightest highlights The Exchangeable Image File header contains information about the image the cam era location date and time and camera settings 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 sensitiv ity to light controlled by the ISO Exposure is also shorthand for a photograph or frame a frame of film Combination of bracketed photos 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 The Photomatix Plug in for Aperture User Manual 21 HDR Image Histogram JPEG N
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