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Drag your bracketed images to the open Photomatix Pro application (Windows) or to the Photomatix icon in
the Dock (Macintosh). Alternatively, you can also click on the "Generate HDR Image" button of the Workflow Shortcuts,
or choose Process > Generate HDR. |
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If you have not dragged and dropped your images, click on the Browse button to go to the location of your bracketed images and select them using the SHIFT+Arrow keys or your mouse and CTRL key (command key on Mac). |
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Check the OK button of the "Selecting source images" dialog. |
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The calculation of the HDR image requires the exposure value of each input image.
If the exposure information cannot be found in the Exif data, Photomatix will show a dialog where you can input the Exposure Values for each one of your images (see note below). This dialog will also show if two or more source images have the same exposure setting.
The Exposure Values need to be entered as relative values (i.e. values of -2, 0, +2 are the same as 0, +2, +4 for instance).
A doubling of the exposure time relates to an increment of 1 in the Exposure Value, provided that the aperture and ISO settings did not change. |
Generate HDR options |
Alignment settings |
The Align source images 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. |
There are 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.
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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.
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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.
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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'.
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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 applied to the raw sensorŐs data. If no profile is available, it uses the tone reproduction curve of the Adobe RGB color profile.
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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.
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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.
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