Photomatix Pro is an intuitive software program created for high dynamic range photography that is user-friendly and includes presets to streamline workflow. Furthermore, its large user base benefits from accessing helpful resources from their vendor.
This application allows you to seamlessly merge multiple exposures and process them in various styles ranging from realistic to creative, as well as remove ghosting from images and add various filters and effects.
Bracketing
Photomatix Pro is a program that enables you to combine bracketed images and create one high dynamic range image, providing detail in both shadows and highlights that would otherwise be lost. Compatible with both digital and film-based cameras, Photomatix Pro comes both on Mac OSX and Windows versions for your convenience.
Photomatix can automatically align all exposures within a set and use tone mapping techniques to combine them into an image with both highlight and shadow detail. It also comes equipped with Ghost Reduction functionality to minimize moving objects (like leaves blowing around between exposures or running water) between exposures.
Your image editing options include various presets for customizing its look. These presets are divided into categories of effects and HDR styles such as Artistic, Realistic or Architecture styles as well as HDR Fusion styles – giving you plenty of ways to choose the ideal look for your photo! Plus you can combine and match different processing options until finding one that’s just perfect!
Photomatix makes things simpler by being able to recognize both JPEG and RAW files, and detect whether an image is single shot or bracketed. You can specify how many exposures in a bracket there should be and their individual amounts of shift; just keep in mind that more differences between exposures means longer processing times for the software.
Your choices for creating HDR photos include saving one single HDR photo or multiple images in different formats – JPEG, TIFF, PNG and PSD files are supported – or creating multiple images at the same time using different programs like ImageWall Pro. Furthermore, this program also has functionality for converting multi-exposure photos to panoramics while adjusting each photo’s brightness for easy balancing of photos.
This program also applies dual white balancing to brightest and darkest images within a bracket to improve overall quality of final image and detect and remove halos in images.
Photomatix Pro is an ideal program for photographers seeking an all-in-one solution that handles single and bracketed photos easily and with little system resources use, running smoothly on most computers including tablets. Simply double-click the setup file and follow its instructions on screen to install and use this program!
Styles
Photomatix Pro has long been one of the premier programs for HDR image editing. Even its latest iteration boasts all of the features that made it such an industry leader when first released.
This program merges images captured at different exposure levels into an HDR image with all its details in dark shadows and bright highlights. It comes equipped with working modes that cater for various working modes and presets that simplify tweaking every detail of an HDR photo.
This version of the program boasts a simplified user interface that eliminates many of the multiple windows found in older versions. Now all editing takes place within a single window with access to all tools from a sidebar – making it simpler for beginners to navigate their way around it.
Photographers have an array of styles available to them, ranging from natural-looking results to painterly and surreal images. Photographers can utilize Tone Mapping and Exposure Fusion HDR methods for this process and select from 40 presets built-in to the program before customizing its settings to achieve their desired look.
An exciting new feature is the use of masks for localized adjustments, providing more precise corrections in color settings. Unfortunately, though, when applying this technique it becomes hampered as it cannot show you where exactly to put the mask; which may prove challenging when working on complex scenes.
Photomatix Pro offers more than just HDR capabilities; photographers will find additional tools useful as part of their workflows. These include a distortion correction tool which can straighten photos where horizontal surfaces or buildings are unalign, noise and blemishes are reduced without exertion and landscape photographers who need quick improvements can benefit greatly from it. In addition, Lightroom integration makes the program even simpler to add into existing workflows.
User interface
Photomatix is a software program for high dynamic range (HDR) photos that is both stand-alone and an Adobe Lightroom plug-in, offering tools that enhance images while expanding tonal range. Photomatix Pro 6 contains many tools designed to achieve more natural landscape and real estate photography results; including functions like its Tone Balancer rendering method. Furthermore, upgrades have included enhanced blending options, automatic alignment feature that corrects misregistration of bracketed photos as well as tools to straighten and reduce perspective distortion.
Utilizing this program is straightforward. There is a column along the left that allows you to upload bracketed photos or a single image for processing, then, when finished, presents it back in the main window for your review. There are various sets of controls – adjustment sliders, presets with sample thumbnails and histogram-like dialog boxes with options to display or split into smaller dialog boxes – as well as tooltips providing useful information when hovering over each control.
Once you’ve chosen your settings and clicked “OK,” the program will then merge your bracketed photos and create an HDR image for you to edit using its control panels or save as a JPEG. If you are unsatisfied with the results, try switching presets until something works better for you!
If you have multiple photos to process at once, Photomatix’s batch processing function can speed up the processing time considerably – especially useful when working with many images sequentially.
Photomatix Pro’s batch process works well, though it could be improved to be more user-friendly; more photos could be selected at once for processing. Overall, Photomatix Pro is an outstanding HDR image creation software, though its various settings and interfaces may take time to become familiar with. But learning how to utilize its features fully will pay dividends!
Pricing
Photomatix Pro’s new update includes several upgrades, such as improved workflow and an easier-to-use interface, along with presets that are easily searchable. As a popular choice for HDR processing, Photomatix now makes HDR processing even better! With its faster load times and streamlined workflows, starting editing quickly has never been easier; plus templates to help jumpstart any project.
Photomatix is an excellent choice for amateur and seasoned photographers alike. Although the program does have some drawbacks, these typically aren’t enough to deter most photographers from using it. While its steep learning curve may deter newcomers, experienced photographers find its worthiness worth their while; using Photomatix to create HDR photos using multiple exposure values makes stunning HDR pictures that enhance contrast and color of landscape photography scenes.
Photomatix differs from Adobe Lightroom in that its single license costs $99 for life. With its user-friendly streamlined workflow and all common file format support, as well as batch processing mode that lets you apply edits across several files at once. Plus it comes equipped with presets and supports image resizing – something Adobe Lightroom cannot boast!
Photomatix’s latest version is an ideal choice for both amateur and professional photographers alike, providing them with everything they need to produce realistic or creative styles with ease. It boasts new presets and rendering methods; advanced tools allow users to fine-tune brightness, saturation and hue of individual colors while quick selection controls enable pinpointing of specific areas while shadow or highlight removal is possible through this software.
Aurora HDR is another effective software option for creating HDR images, at a similar price point to Photomatix but more user-friendly and intuitive than Photomatix. Its AI-powered algorithms and advanced retouching options make Aurora HDR suitable for both beginner and experienced photographers alike, and its extensive preset library produces superior results quickly.
