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HDR Processing - Tutorial
To be able to follow this guide, you will need to download the trial version
of Zoner Photo Studio 11.
Go right ahead—it's FREE.
The source RAW* picture: Zoner Photo Studio - HDR demo.CR2
*RAW Overview
Zoner Photo Studio 11 Professional can view and convert RAW files from a wide range of digital cameras.
When you first open a RAW file in Zoner Photo Studio, you'll discover that only a preview is opened by default, even in the Editor. But this doesn't mean that Zoner Photo Studio cannot load the image in full resolution. In fact, there are two different ways to do so:
- use the Reload at Full Resolution command in the Editor, or
- turn off this "previewing" behavior. Use Settings, then Preferences, and then go to the RAW Format section. Now RAW images will be displayed much more slowly, but at full resolution.
Because Zoner Photo Studio attempts to load available preview (for
performance reasons), rendering of a RAW file can change when an image is
reloaded at full resolution. Factors affecting rendering are file format and the
presence of the WIC codec. If the file is in DNG format, it is always rendered
using Zoner’s own code and does not take into account XMP-based rendering info
(contained in e.g. Adobe Camera Raw). If the image is in any other RAW format,
the WIC codec is prefered as the data source. If no WIC codec is present, dcraw
is used for raw data decoding.
In Zoner Photo Studio, RAW files cannot be
modified; they are always treated as read-only. Only text descriptions may be
added to RAW files. These are saved to a sidecar XMP file.
Zoner Photo Studio can both display and "develop" RAW files. That is, an image can be converted (developed) from RAW into a bitmap format via the Acquire from DNG/RAW window, accessible from both the Browser and the Editor. When you arrive there from the Browser (Acquire | Acquire from DNG/RAW), it can work on multiple files.
If you have a RAW file in a format that can be displayed in Zoner Photo Studio, but cannot be developed, you can help ZPS develop it by downloading and installing Adobe DNG Converter, as long as the Converter supports your RAW file. Once you set the path to the converter under Settings, Preferences, RAW Format, then Zoner Photo Studio will be able to use it for conversion to a temporary DNG file, which it will then convert onwards into output in a typical bitmap format. All of this behaviour will be transparent—from your standpoint you will simply gain the ability to develop your photos using Acquire from DNG RAW.
HDR from single RAW picture
The HDR (High Dynamic Range) function assembles multiple
photos with varying exposure ranges into a single picture. This is sometimes
called sandwiching. HDR helps solve the problem of camera sensors'
limited dynamic range.
HDR pictures are usually composed from three shots,
however sometimes you can get by with just two, that is, either normal +
underexposed (to capture lights), normal + overexposed (to capture shadows), or
under/overexposed.
Zoner Photo Studio offers two basic ways to create a HDR
image. To achieve the best quality, it is recommended to take three (or two)
pictures from a tripod. However this is not possible for a dynamic scene.
Therefore Zoner Photo Studio allows to you to create an HDR image from a single
RAW file.
Enter the RAW conversion window Acquire from DNG/RAW...
At its bottom right, there is an HDR... button. Clicking it opens another window, where you can adjust the overexposure and underexposure settings.
The screenshot below shows three such automatically generated pictures. They are now ready for HDR processing. Click the Next button.
Your finalized HDR picture is now ready. You can save it to a file or open it in a new window for further editing.
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Testimonials
We have been a happy users of Zoner Photo Studio since its version 5 when it actually carried its old name Zoner Media Explorer. Zoner Photo Studio has been core and the only program for picture management in our wedding and portrait photography business. It has literally hundreds of great features, but here are the ones we use most frequently: fast viewing and organizing, batch picture renaming, crops, picture resizing for our web portfolio, automated acquiring of photos from web, and slideshows. We haven't seen another program that can create contact sheets as effectively as Zoner does.
Slava and Sara
Slavik
http://www.slava-slavik.com/