How to work with Photoshop CC/Photoshop CS5 merge to HDR Pro? And want the best alternative to apply HDR effect to your images here.
How to Merge to HDR Pro of Photoshop in Detailed Steps
Last Updated on April 13, 2021 by Peter Wood
When you get a series of photos taken by an HDR camera, you would like to know how to make an HDR photo with an HDR Pro of Photoshop. HDR Pro is available for Photoshop 5 and above versions. Just learn the detailed procedure to use HDR Pro of Photoshop to merge tonal values from multiple exposures of the same scene.
Part 1. How to use HDR Pro of Photoshop
Just make sure the series of photos are in the same folder before you merge to HDR Pro of Photoshop, and then you can easily upload all the files to Photoshop with ease. After that, you can follow the steps to find the Merge to HDR Pro option as the following steps.
1. Launch Merge to HDR Pro
Photoshop
Choose File > Automate > Merge to HDR Pro.
Bridge
Select the images and choose Tools > Photoshop > Merge to HDR Pro.
It takes a few seconds or minutes to process an HDR photograph. But it is just the beginning of the HDR procedure. You have to combine the best parts of different exposures to merge everything into an HDR with HDR Pro.
2. Load Images to HDR Pro
Click Browse to select a specific image, click App Open Files or choose Use > Folder. And you can also remove a particular picture by click Remove from the files list.
In the Merge to HDR Pro dialog, you can find detailed information about images with different exposure. And you can also find the parameters to adjust the tonal range of the HDR photographs with HDR Pro.
3. Attempt to Automatically Align Source Image
Select the Attempt to Automatically Align Source Image if you hold the camera in your hands for photographing the images.
4. Bit Depth for the Merged Image
Find the Preview in the upper right corner, and then choose a bit of depth for the merged image. Only 32-Bit merged images can store as an entire dynamic range of the HDR with HDR Pro.
5. Adjust the Tonal Range of HDR Pro
There are various parameters of the tonal range of HDR Pro, which should be hard to select. You can learn more detail about these parameters as the following information before using HDR Pro to have an HDR merge.
Part 2. Parameters of HDR Pro
The parameters for adjusting 32-bit HDR images are different from the 8-bit or 16-bit images. Here are some parameters you can set for a 16-bit image with HDR Pro.
Preset: Batch adjustments for a series of similar images. You can save to load presets.
Remove Ghosts: To remove the ghosts caused by moving stuff or outdoor images, you can minimize these moving stuff with the optimal result.
Edge Glow: Use the Radius and Strength sliders in combination to increase the perceived sharpness of the image.
Tone and Detail: Adjust the contrast between highlights and shadows is a significant feature of HDR Pro. The exposure slider controls the overall lightness or darkness of the image.
Color: Vibrance adjusts the intensity of the subtle colors and minimizes the clipping of highly saturated colors.
Tone Curve: Add an anchor point or enter a numeric value to adjust the image tonality.
Part 3. Tips for Using HDR Pro
1. Since 8-bit and 16-bit images offer the same options, converting them into 32-bit images in HDR Pro is not recommended.
2. Finalize changes made in Merge to HDR Pro’s 16-bit mode. Discard the unused parts of the 32-bit tonal range.
3. If you need a 16-bit copy to share or print, You can save first as 32-bit, adjust, and then use Save As to create the 16-bit copy.
4. When you have any difficulty using HDR Pro, you can use other HDR apps to merge HDR photographs.
Part 4. Best Alternative of Using HDR Pro of Photoshop
If you find using HDR Pro on Photoshop is a litter complicated, you can consider the WidsMob HDR focused on dealing with HDR photographs with easy operation. It is a great HDR maker to merge a set of bracketed images into HDR photos with an advanced tone mapping algorithm, auto-alignment, and ghost suppression to create stunning high dynamic range photographs.
Simple Steps of Applying HDR via WidsMob HDR
1. Launch WidsMob HDR on your computer and click File > Import to add a set of 3 bracketed images into the program.
2. You can adjust the tone length, tone saturation, ghost suppression, brightness, saturation, contrast, and effect on your HDR image according to your need.
3. After adjustment, save your HDR photograph to your computer.
You can also check the video tutorial as following: