Tutorial: AKVIS HDRFactory

Create HDR images

This tutorial explains how to use AKVIS HDRFactory to obtain an HDR-image from a series of shots taken with different exposure settings.

• Step 1. Run the standalone edition of AKVIS HDRFactory or your photo editor (if you work with the plugin version of AKVIS HDRFactory), and open a set of images.

  To load a set of images in the plugin or in the standalone program click on and select all images holding down the Ctrl-key.

  Under the Image Window you can see thumbnails of the opened files. The image which is selected with a blue frame is shown in the Before tab.

  
  Set of Images

  Hint: Here you can learn how to get a series of shots with different exposure settings using a digital camera.

  Attention! If the shots do not contain any exposure information you will see the Set Exposure Value dialog box (the hot-keys for the command Ctrl+Е) where you can enter the values manually.

  At first the program calculates exposure for every shot automatically; then you can change the values either by selecting the exposure step in the drop-down menu or by entering arbitrary values.

  • The Reset button restores the automatically calculated exposure values.

  • The Apply button opens the images taking into account the set exposures.

  • The Cancel button closes the dialog box.

• Step 2. The photos will be automatically processed to build an HDR image with the last used parameter values (the first time - with the default values). The result will be shown in the After tab.
• Step 3. Select the value of the Preview Size parameter. It's an auxiliary tool, it does not influence the real size of the image. The original image will stay the same and all details of the original image will be kept.
• Step 4. Adjust the alignment quality of the images by selecting one of the following options: Fast alignment, Normal alignment and High-quality alignment. The better the alignment quality, the longer the processing time will be. We recommend Normal alignment. If you are sure that there is no shift in the image series choose No alignment.
• Step 5. Select one of the AKVIS presets or adjust the parameters as you like:

  • The Saturation parameter is used to change the intensity of the image colors. It accepts values between 0 and 100; the default value is 40.

    Saturation = 20	Saturation = 70

  • The Lowlights parameter is used to improve the contrast of the image by increasing the minimum brightness value (black point). It accepts values between 0 and 100. As you increase the value of the parameter, the dark parts of the image get lighter and details in these areas get clearer.

    Lowlights = 0	Lowlights = 50

  • The Highlights parameter is used to improve the contrast of the image by reducing the maximum brightness value (white point). It accepts values between 0 and 100. As you move the slider to the right, the value of the parameter increases and the light areas get darker, while the details in these parts become more distinct.

    Highlights = 0	Highlights = 50

  • The Level of Detail parameter defines the amount of details detected. It accepts values between 0 and 15 with the default value of 0. As the value is increased, the color transition becomes sharper and more detail is visible. On underexposed images the high value of this parameter may cause noise.

    Level of Detail = 5	Level of Detail = 10

  • The Lightness parameter is used to change of the overall lightness of the image - to make it darker or lighter. It accepts values between 0 and 100. By default it is set to 50. As you move the slider to the right, the image becomes lighter; as you move the slider to the left - it becomes darker.

    Lightness = 25	Lightness = 75

  • The Dark Detail parameter influences the illumination of details in shadows. It accepts values between 0 and 100 with the default value of 10. As you increase the value of the parameter, the dark details become lighter.

    Dark Detail = 0	Dark Detail = 100

  • The Light Detail parameter influences the illumination of details in highlights. It accepts values between 0 and 100 with the default value of 50. As you increase the value of the parameter, the light details become even lighter.

    Light Detail = 0	Light Detail = 100

  The original images will be combined to create a High Dynamic Range image. However, monitors have a lower dynamic range and can not render an HDR-image to the best advantage. That is why a technology called Tone Mapping is applied for intelligent compression of the dynamic range and getting an LDR (low dynamic range) image. The resulting image contains more details.

  Image processing will start automatically and any changes will be displayed in real time, in the After tab.

  
  Result of Tone Mapping

Note: You can add additional effects to your High Dynamic Range image using the Adjustment and Effects tabs.

• Step 6. If moving objects are in the shots, translucent details could appear in the photo. To get rid of these so-called "ghosts", use the Ghost Removal tool (available under Home Deluxe and Business licenses).
• Step 7. If you like the new settings you can save them as a preset and use them later. To save the settings, enter a name for the preset in the Presets field and press the button Save.

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