Aurora HDR 2018 for Windows and Mac (DISCOUNT)

Aurora is one of the easiest to use HDR programs on the market and in this new version it gets faster, more powerful and significantly improved. Results from my early testing show the best merging of nighttime skies which typically turn out pretty nasty in Photomatix, HDR Efex Pro,  and even older versions of Aurora HDR. 

Don't know what this is or what it's all about? Start by checking out my older reviews and tutorials for my Aurora and later Aurora 2017 reviews.

The latest version has finally been announced and I've got a special offer for you:

One of the most common FAQ's I had since my original review of Aurora (and later Aurora 2017)  was when are they going to make a Windows version? The cries got even worse after I did my Luminar for Windows Open Beta article.

Here's a look at the new UI for Aurora HDR 2018 Windows:

Click to see the new Aurora 2018 for Windows UI

and Mac:

Click to see the new Aurora 2018 for Mac UI

What's New

Here's a list of all the changes which I'll feature in a new tutorial later this year:

• Next-generation Tone Mapping – A new smart Tone Mapping algorithm automatically reduces noise, and produces more realistic and natural initial results.
• Mac and Windows versions – Aurora HDR 2018 is available both for Mac and PC users, enabling mixed-computer households to share the same product key.
• Lens Correction Tool* – The new Lens Correction filter easily fixes all kinds of lens distortion, from barrel and pincushion to chromatic aberration and vignetting.
• Transform Tool* – Easily scale, rotate and shift your image to better fit your vision.
• Dodge & Burn Filter – Selectively lighten or darken specific areas of an image to artfully direct your viewer’s eye towards the key subject of your image, similar to a traditional darkroom technique.
• HDR Enhance Filter - Adds details and clarity to an image, adjusting colors, details and contrast without creating artificial halos or other problems.
• User Interface – A new, modern and responsive user interface brings a powerful, yet  joyful experience to HDR photo editing.
• History Panel – An easy-to-reference list of edits made to your image, the History panel allows you to click on any editing step to revert the photo to an earlier stage of editing.
• Touch Bar support for Mac – Aurora HDR 2018 adds Touch Bar support to give new MacBook Pro users fast access to key editing features and speed up their workflow.
• Image Flip and Rotate* – Perfect for correcting photos with incorrect horizons or making creative compositions or other stylistic changes to an image.
• IMPROVED:  New Structure Algorithm – The re-developed Structure tool allows you to adjust detail and clarity of an image to get a classic HDR effect with great detail or a smoother effect with less details.
• IMPROVED: RAW handling – An improved RAW conversion brings out more details in shadows/highlights, displays colors more accurately and reduces noise in RAW files.
• IMPROVED: Crop tool update – Now specify custom crop sizes for even more versatility.
• IMPROVED: Speed – Faster merging and masking performance, improvement in RAW image processing.

* Lens Correction and Transform tools, as well as image flip and rotate will be available in the Mac version at launch, and arrive in the PC version with the first free update in the beginning of October. Other tools and features that are currently available for Mac only would be added to PC version by the end of the year.

Conclusion

Much like Luminar, the Windows version isn't quite as polished as the Mac version - YET, but the folks at Macphun tell me that it's a high priority to get them to be functionally identical. I've been impressed with what I've seen so far and can't wait to show you more in the near future.

Get Your Discount Now

CLICK HERE to learn more or pre-order today. While you are at it check out the Luminar Aerial Update too!

Pre-Order Pricing:

• Current users of Aurora HDR may upgrade at a special pre-order price of $49 ($59 MSRP)
• New users can purchase Aurora HDR 2018 at a special pre-order price of $89 ($99 MSRP)
• A collection of bonuses will also be included with every purchase.

Pre-Order Bonuses:

• Trey Ratcliff Deep Dive video
• Travel Photography Tutorial by Matt Granger
• Source Brackets
• 3-month Zenfolio Pro website, including a complementary design consultation. $60 value.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Luminar for Windows Open Beta
• Luminar for Mac (check out the Luminar Aerial Update online)
• NEW Imagenomic Portraiture 3
• on1 Photo RAW 2017.5
• Topaz Studio (NEW)
• Ron's Photo Editing system for Windows
• Discount Coupon Codes 
• Ron's Recommendations 

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Aurora HDR 2017 Tutorial (3 Lessons) & Discount [Apple Mac Only]

Created in Aurora HDR 2017 - Copyright Ron Martinsen - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Click to learn more about Aurora HDR

Aurora HDR 2017 Tutorial - Advanced Features

Aurora HDR 2017's improved user interface
Click to learn more about Aurora HDR

While I may not be the most dynamic speaker in the world, I got a lot of emails from readers who loved what they learned in my original Aurora HDR video (found later in this article). As a result, I thought I'd cover some of my favorite new features of Aurora HDR 2017 in this new three lessons video created on October 15, 2016:

The files featured in the video were full size, and unless it was otherwise noted the processing occurs in real-time (first lesson only).

While most people bracket using a small range, for fun this tutorial includes an extreme range of three manual exposures that I blended together in Aurora HDR 2017 (see the video for more details):

I took these very long exposures in the evening in Winter 2012, but no product until now has done them justice in an HDR merge. The results you see in this article were done entirely in Aurora with no additional processing of any kind.

Original Aurora HDR Review & Tutorial

CLICK HERE to see my original review of Aurora HDR, and here's the very popular video on YouTube that even Trey Ratcliff liked:

What's New for 2017

Here's a summary of what's new:

• Speed Improvements
• Polarize Tool
• Batch Processing
• DNG  File support
• HDR Noise Reduction
• Top and Bottom Adjustments
• Luminosity Masking - see how awesome this is in my new video
• Radial Masking
• Advanced Tone Mapping
• and more

My new video focuses on the speed improvements and luminosity masking, as well as some of my favorite new presets. However, I'll be covering some of these other new features in a future video that is part of my full review.

I love this version way more than its predecessor, which I thought was the best HDR editing software on the market, so that's saying a lot!

Special Offer

Click to learn more about Aurora HDR

Click here to learn more, download a free trial or order today.

Stuck in customs also has a special offer here too.and don't forget to check my discount coupon code page for discounts on most products at StuckInCustoms.com.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Switch to Aurora HDR for only $79 (with bonus items included)

The folks at MacPhun are so serious about getting you to switch to Aurora HDR that they are almost giving it away! With this latest special offer, you can get Aurora HDR along with a bunch of bonus offerings for only $79 when you simply send a screen shot of the HDR software you are using today.

But what if I don't have any HDR software already?

Well guess what, you can download free HDR software from Google here, and odds are you are using a version of Photoshop or Lightroom which also features HDR support - so you have lots of products to choose from.

Ron’s Aurora Review & Tutorial

I’m no Trey Ratcliff, but I’ll give you my 2 cents in this 30 minute tutorial where I demonstrate how I use Aurora and my thoughts about it along the way:

The cool thing about this video is that there’s no smoke and mirrors and it’s done on a 2010 MacBook Pro with 8GB of RAM and 512KB video, but it performs very well.

Where to learn more or order?

CLICK HERE to learn more about Aurora HDR and this special offer.

Want to know more about this product? Check out my full review and video tutorial.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

What Plug-ins should I buy? [Updated Dec 10, 2015]

Ron Martinsen’s December 2015 Best of the Best Ranking of the top Photography Plug-ins

Imagine that you were as rich as Bill Gates and retired. Even if you were and you have all the time on your hands to learn new things, I still doubt that any one normal human could use all of the great plug-ins available for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom. There are just so many choices and so much overlap that it can make your head explode trying to figure out which ones you really need! What’s more, there are a lot of very good ones available that do save you lots of time, but you may waste a lot of time tinkering around with all of the options they offer!

I’ve tried to be selective about what I review on this blog based on my own research. The products I focus on are mainly what I determine are the best products and what I’m hearing my Top Photographers and other industry experts are telling me that they use.

I have found an awesome collection of products that do really make my editing process quite enjoyable, but I must admit that as much as I love most of the products I have it is hard to find time to use them all. As a result I’ve decided to finally throw down the gauntlet and rank the products that I have on my machine in order of importance to my personal workflow. What this means is that if I could only use X (i.e., 5) then you could look at numbers 1 through X (i.e., 5) to see which ones I’d keep.

With this information available to you, you can then look at your budget and make your selections based on either your own research.  You can compare that with my advice to come up with the best plug-ins on the market to help make you more productive.

This list is only about plug-ins, even though some may run stand-alone in addition to being a plug-in. This means that some programs that I can’t live without (i.e., ImagePrint) will not appear on the list. I also will just flat out say that Lightroom is my #1 photo editing and asset management product but I’d have a hell of a hard time living without Photoshop. I’m not a fan of Aperture, but it is a nice product that will be perfect for some – just not me. As a Canon shooter I also find Canon Digital Photo Professional has a horrible user interface, but it is still a critical part of my workflow for certain RAW processing tasks. I know there are Nikon shooters who feel the same way about Capture NX2, which is actually a decent product that can serve as an end-to-end solution if you are on the Nikon platform.

Recommended Plug-ins as of Dec 10, 2015

Previously this was a stacked ranked list of what I’ve reviewed but with my Dec 2015 update, I’ve decided to trim it down to just what I’d recommend to a family member or close friend. Yes, there are a lot of other products on the market, but this boils it down to what I’d get if I had to start all over from scratch today.

• Topaz Labs Adjust – I used to think of this as the secret sauce for HDR images, but now I use it for so much more. In fact, Topaz has so many strong offerings that I’m often telling people that this product is just as valuable as Color Efex, so if you only buy one bundle then go for the Topaz bundle and trust this. Yes, some effects are hideous until you learn how to use them, but watch my one of my webinars and you’ll see that they don’t have to be.
  
• Imagenomic Noiseware - Noiseware won my Noise Reduction Roundup and I find myself using it the most out of all the products I’ve tested (including some not featured on the blog).
   
• Athentech Perfectly Clear / Lucid – I tried this product out a couple years ago and hated it, but now I find myself constantly using it both on my computer and my phone. I’ve edited more photos this year with this product than any of the others – combined (especially on my phone) – and I didn’t even start using it regularly until March! While I hate the skin softening results, I do find that it does make images look great – often by default – so I’ve poured countless images through Perfectly Clear. If you haven’t seen or tried this one out yet – you MUST – it’s pretty good with no hassle. [Note: Lucid is the stand-alone version with some reduced features so check out my review for more info.]
  
• Imagenomic Portraiture – I process a lot of portraits every year so I’m always re-exploring skin softening products to try to make this process easier. While many products have come a long way, there is still nothing better than Portraiture.
  
• Topaz Labs B&W Effects – There’s lots of great products in this space, but if I’m going to advise a friend to spend their hard earned money on only one then I have to go with this one. Topaz Labs has emerged as the industry leader in innovation with an active community to support it. Yes, Silver Efex Pro is good, but I’ve yet to find myself unable to get the same or better results with B&W Effects, so I’ve finally given up on it in favor of B&W Effects.
  
• Topaz Software’s ReMask –  This is the fastest and easiest tool to create complex masks fast. onOne Software’s Perfect Photo Suite has the potential to be greater, but I’ve just had a much harder time mastering the masking features. I find ReMask to be much easier to use and very powerful. It can save you a hell of a lot of time separating your subject from a complex background or doing complex masks that can’t be adequately handled using Nik Software’s U-Point control technology or the vastly improved Refine Edge feature of recent versions of Photoshop. 
  
• MacPhun Aurora HDR [Mac only] or HDRSoft Photomatix (esp with Trey Ratcliff’s Photomatix Presets) – If HDR is important to you then one of these has to be in the top 5. For as good as built-in HDR processing is in Photoshop and Lightroom, I still prefer stand alone applications. Aurora HDR is simply the best product on the market for HDR – bar none – but currently it’s only available on the Mac, so PC users will have to use the long-time industry standard Photomatix. Photomatix can create great results, but it’s cryptic controls can be difficult to master – especially if you want realistic results (and white clouds). Yes, you can go to Photoshop and work around its shortcomings, but Aurora HDR makes that easy to do in its UI without the need for Photoshop (or anything else).
  
• Topaz Labs Texture Effects, Glow and Impression – These are the hottest new plug-ins on the market for a reason – they create amazingly original looking work from the most boring of images. I really, really, love these products, but I do wish that they were all just merged into one product.
  
• Topaz Labs Restyle (alt review) – This is another one of those one click editing solutions that I love, but I don’t use it as much as I’d like to because it has so many choices! Seriously, I love choices but I sometimes find myself spending 20 minutes just pouring through all of the awesome choices it offers!
  
  It is very usefully for coming with up a “look” or “theme” for a project and leveraging favorites help reduce the time spent in the app. I adore this product and STRONGLY recommend you to check it out as this product is a game changer for those who want to focus on their photography, and not photo editing – yet still have professional results that don’t look like it was processed on Instagram.
  
• on1 Perfect Resize – There was a time where this would have been in the top 3, but resizing in Adobe products and printer drivers have gotten pretty good so this is more useful when you need the best possible results or when other methods just don’t do a good job. Generally speaking if you are going to increase an image by 200% or more, then this is the best game in town. Sadly it’s a hidden feature that is an optional install for the latest version of the on1 Photo bundle. My review covers an older version, but nothing has really changed in this product for quite some time. Sadly you can only get this with the entire on1 Bundle.
  
• Topaz Labs Simplify (review) – Great for turning your images into cartoons or drawings. It’s a cool app that I didn’t used to use that much, but I’ve learned that with the right scenes (especially leafy landscapes) it can create some exciting images that people want to buy. I also like to use it on busy backgrounds sometimes to remove distractions. This isn’t a product that most photographers would use every day, but when I pair it with the right image I often get a big grin on my face. Topaz Clean also is capable of doing this and more, so check it out while you are at it to see which works better for you. Personally, I tend to favor Simplify.

There’s of course a lot more that isn’t included here, so check out the Software Reviews section to the right or on my recommendations page to see if I’ve reviewed your favorite product. If you’d like my opinion one one not featured on my site then contact me.

What Happened to the Nik Collection by Google?

For as long as this blog has existed, I’ve been singing the praises of what used to be called the Nik Software Collection. They were the defacto standard by which all others were judged, and myself and so many others couldn’t live without it. However, my personal opinion of Google’s purchase of Nik Software, is that it seemed to be more of a patent grab than anything else as the innovation that Team Nik brought vanished after the acquisition (as well as many of the Nik employees).

If my calculations are correct, we are approaching 4 years since the last update of Color Efex and 2 years since the last update of anything (Analog Efex). As a result, it’s appears that these products are in sustained engineering mode. Given Google’s history of cutting products and services that aren’t part of their core business, I can’t escape the fear that one day an operating system change will come and we’ll hear that the Nik Collection will not be updated to support it.

With this in mind, I’ve been trying hard to wean myself off my favorite products like Color Efex, Silver Efex Pro, and Viveza for fear that I’d be up a creek without a paddle if I had an important job and they stopped working – with no plans to fix them.

I’ll be clear and state that these are still phenomenally good products, but if I’m going to advise my readers to spend their hard earned money then I want to point them to software solutions built by people with a ton of passion to make their products better (i.e., companies like Topaz Labs with their Complete Collection and MacPhun with their beautifully designed Creative Kit).  Sure, if you have bought the other recommended products and have an extra $149 to spare, then by all means pick these up as they are still quite good. However, I don’t recommend that people with limited funds make this their first purchase for the aforementioned reasons.

A Word About Bundles

One thing that is very clear is if you think you’ll ever want to own more than 2 or 3 products from a given company then you should just bit the bullet and get their largest bundled version. While it might be painful in the short-term buying such an expensive product, you’ll spend exponentially more if you find yourself buying all the products over time. The bundles are a great deal and the only way to go if you can make that happen. With that said, I do a quick run down of my favorite bundles here in priority stack ranked order:

1. Topaz Labs Plug-In Bundle – It has taken some time, but Topaz Labs has gone from the bottom to the top thanks to so many creative and game changing products. I find myself using Adjust and B&W Effects quite a bit now. Texture Effects, Glow, Impression, ReStyle and Simplify highlight the amazing innovation coming out of this new industry leader in photo editing.
   
   These products can give your photos that wow with minimal effort allowing you to focus on photography instead of photo editing, and save shots that would otherwise be duds. I’m also a huge fan of ReMask when I have to do masking because it is much more accurate than Refine Edge in Photoshop. As a result, these 8 products easily justify the cost of the bundle (which is available at a discount on my blog).
   
   While many people swear by them, I don’t really use Clean, Detail, Lens Effects,or Star Effects that much, but the other products still make the bundle worth it. I don’t care for  DeNoise , so I always use Noiseware when I need to do digital noise reduction (from using higher ISO’s).
   
   This is my new “if you could only have one” bundle choice because it offers so much to help create new art from your photography, that I think it really deserves the top spot.
   
2. Imagenomic Pro Plug-in Suite – Noiseware is the winner of my noise reduction series and as of now, nothing has changed that. I also have become obsessed with Portraiture as my preferred skin softening product for both photos and videos, so you may as well get the bundle. You’ll effectively get Real Grain for free, so it’s worth getting the bundle.
   
3. MacPhun Creative Kit – This company has some of my friends from the once brilliant Nik Software, and its beautifully built user interface is the one by which all other products should aspire to mimic. While it lacks the brilliant U-Point controls that are the secret sauce of the Nik Collection, it has everything else and so much more. This is really a great solution for Mac users, but sadly isn’t on Windows yet so I can’t give it a better rating.
   
4. Google Nik Collection – As I previously mentioned, this had been my favorite for many years. However, the product seems to be in maintenance mode with all of my Nik contacts leaving Google without any apparent replacements. Google has no meaningful financial interest in the product anymore, so I have concerns about its future. As a result, I’m reluctant to recommend it anymore, despite the brilliant software that remains.
   
   Yes, this is still a great product and I adore it, but I’m lost as to what Google is really doing for its future. As a result, IF you’ve got the other suites and a an extra $149 lying around then it’s a worthwhile investment – just make sure you have a plan B if it stops working unexpectedly in the future.
   
5. on1 Photo 10 – I used to be a big fan of onOne Software, but this suite has been dumbed down so much with its confusing user interface that it’s left nothing really compelling to me anymore. I’m also tired of it coming out with new names and releases before they get the bugs out of the current one, so I really can’t get excited about this one anymore. Yes, Matt Klosowski makes it look pretty cool, but unless you’ve got his gift for photo editing, I think you’ll find yourself frustrated with the results you get with your own photos.
    
6. Alien Skin Bundle – Alien Skin makes decent products, but with so much goodness offered these days I just don’t find myself saying “I need that” over the other products in my workflow.

You really can save a bundle by getting bundles, so before you make that stand alone purchase ask yourself – will I want to buy any of these other products in the future? If you say yes to at least 3 products offered in the bundle then pony up now to save big later – get the bundle!

Topaz Labs Photoshop Bundle – The Best Place to Spend Your Money

Adjust is a mainstay in many great photographers digital workflow because it’s a product that is so unique that really nothing competes with it. Topaz created this same kind of magic with Glow, Impression and ReStyle all of which are super hot sellers that I love. With ReMask still being the best manual masking solution and the strength of Simplify and B&W Effects, you really have a true artist toolkit with this bundle. Lens Effects, Clean, Detail. Star Effects  and InFocus add value but I just have so many plug-ins that I don’t have a need for them. I’m still not a fan of Denoise even though some readers swear by it.

Imagenomic

Imagenomic makes three popular products which can only be purchased separately. The first two mentioned below are staples in my regular work, so I couldn’t live without them.

Based on my extensive testing during my Noise Reduction Roundup, nobody out performed Noiseware.  It’s a great product that I go to for my most important jobs because I know it will do the best job to preserve the detail. It’s only disadvantage is the lack of Nik’s U-Point controls, but most of the time I will just create a layer mask and roughly sketch out where I want selective noise reduction, so I’ll just use Noiseware in both those and global noise reduction scenarios.

I’ve stopped using my long-time beloved Nik Software’s Dynamic Skin Softener (filter found in Color Efex) in favor of Portraiture which does the best skin enhancements I’ve ever seen. I turned my mentor on to this product after his copy of Color Efex wouldn’t work on his upgraded version of the Mac OS, and he loves Portraiture more than anything now! 

Real Grain isn’t my cup of tea, but most people probably don't realize that it simulates a lot of films which could be handy to some. It also has nice grains which can prove useful in printing or dramatic stylistic effects like reproducing the artificial grain found in the movie Saving Private Ryan.

The Rest

There are thousands of Photoshop & Lightroom plug-ins, and many of them are fantastic. However, I don’t have the bandwidth to test everything, nor can I use everything, so what you see in this article represents my reality. Don’t assume that if  product isn’t mentioned here that I don’t like it, but rather assume I probably haven’t used it very much – if at all.

I will say that I’m no fan of Portrait Professional and Focus Magic as I feel both offer mediocre solutions for which there are much better options.

If you’ve got a great product that you think I must know about then feel free to leave a comment with your suggestion(s). Do not link as spam comments will not be approved.

Special Offers

Visit my Discount Coupon Code page for specials on plug-ins and a wide variety of products – many of which aren’t available any where else on the web!

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If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these too:

• KelbyOne Review & Discount 
• Discount Coupon Codes 
• Printing Series 
• NEC PA322UHD 4k for Pro Photo & Video Editing Review
• Wacom Intuos Pro Review
• Wacom Cintiq 13 HD Review
• Ron’s Recommendations 

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

HDR Efex Pro 2 vs (Photomatix 4.2.3, Photoshop CS6, Canon 5D Mark III In-Camera HDR and HDR Efex Pro 1)

Use coupon code RonMartBlog to save 15% off Photomatix products. See more offer details at the bottom of this article.

Test System Information

All tests were done on 64-bit Windows 7 with the 64-bit version of Photoshop CS6 (13.0). Here are more details and the Windows Experience Index Score (0 – 7.9 scale):

All of my plugins run on a standalone SSD drive and my caches are on dedicated SSD drives. My slowest drive is my primary hard disk which is a 7200 RPM SSD and Mechanical Hybrid SATA drive.

Original Images

Visit my HDR Efex Pro 2 review and see the Original Images section to see which images were used for this test. They were three CR2 RAW files taken with a Canon 5D Mark III at -3, 0, and +3 exposure values (EV). The total size of these three exposures was 83.9 megabytes.

Canon 5D Mark III In-Camera HDR Processing

Canon 5D Mark III In-Camera HDR processing of all three exposures

In my May 16, 2012 article I declared that Canon 5D Mark III HDR is good, but Photomatix Pro 4.2 is still the king of HDR. At that point in time the HDR Efex Pro 2 beta was still pretty rough around the edges, so Photomatix really was still the king.

Speedwise, the Canon 5D Mark III wins because only takes a few seconds for it to create an in-camera JPEG of your bracketed shots. For the HDR Mode feature of this camera, I use the following settings:

• Adjust dyn range: +/- 3 EV
• Effect: Natural (I’d rather do my post processing on the computer)
• Continuous HDR: Every shot
• Auto Image Align: Enable (never, ever disable this – even with at tripod)
• Save source imgs: All Images

The final JPEG is impacted by the cameras picture style (I use standard) as well as other settings, but this shot was most hurt by my using the auto white balance (AWB) instead of warmer white balance like cloudy.

I really like the in-camera results and use them often, but the limitation is that it doesn’t to ghosting well (and you can’t control manually) and it tends to crop the image even when it seems that it isn’t necessary (i.e., a tripod was used).

I think the value of tone mapping and tone compression still favors the computer over the in-camera HDR, but it does a damn good job that might be “good enough” for some of your non-business critical work. I should also note that Canon point and shoots do terrible for this unless you are shooting a static subject using a tripod, but the DSLR’s really seem to do HDR very well.

For what it’s worth, I’ve processed the images used in the 5D Mark III HDR article in both Photomatix and HDR Efex Pro 2. Each time I process a photo start to end, I do different things with it, but it’s interesting to see how well both products did here in a head-to-head comparison:

Mouse over for the Photomatix 4.2 version
Mouse out for the HDR Efex Pro 2 version

Both final results feature some post-processing using other Nik Software and Imagenomic products.

Performance Comparison

This section discusses the time it took to render the bracketed raw test images using default processing.

Photomatix Pro 4.2.3 (Review) – 56.8 seconds max

Photomatix 4.2.3 Edited Version (mouse over to see default version)

Click here to see the large size edited version, and click here to see the full-size default processed version.

Image Merge Time (47.9 seconds MAX)

Here is the amount time it took from the moment the OK button was clicked in the Preprocessing Options dialog:

47.9 sec with everything checked like this:

42.9 sec with no noise reduction as follows:

26.0 sec only ghosting high as follows:

and 12.2 sec with no options checked.

Tone Mapping Processing (5.7 seconds)

After your images are merged, you end up in the tone mapping user-interface where you do the real work. Once you are ready to have an image to edit in Photoshop, you click on the Process button. To get this image ready for editing elsewhere took only 5.7 seconds.

Ready in Photoshop CS6 (3.2 seconds)

Since the merge processing has to occur in the stand alone app, a true fair comparison should include the time it takes to save the intermediate file in Photomatix 4.2.3 and load that file in Photoshop (to have parity with the other tested apps). While Photomatix does offer a tone mapping Photoshop plug-in, the real work is done in the stand-alone app. Fortunately Photomatix makes this process easy using the “Open saved images with” option in its Save As dialog, so this process only took 3.2 seconds.

The maximum total time it took from start to finish in HDRSoft Photomatix 4.2.3 was 56.8 seconds.

HDR Efex Pro 2 (RC1) (Review) – 79 seconds max

DISCLAIMER: I was using pre-released software so final times may be faster

HDR Efex Pro 2 Processing
(with some Content Aware Fill on the ceiling)
Mouse over to see the 0EV exposure and mouse out to see the processed version

Visit my HDR Efex Pro 2 full review for more info about this product, but the bottom line is that the image selection dialog took 24.6 seconds to load the images into the merge dialog. This was really the process of doing a batch processing of the raw files and getting them created as TIFF images that are then used for the merge dialog. RAW files or going straight from Lightroom 4.x speeds this up, but this is definitely one of the bottle necks.

Once you have the merge dialog up you make your adjustments and then hit the create HDR. This is much like the pre-processing options for Photomatix and HDR Efex Pro 1. To do this it took 24.1 seconds after hitting Create HDR button (with all options checked). If I only did ghosting control then it only 16.1 seconds after hitting Create HDR button.

The real pain point is that once you are done you have to send the file to Photoshop for further editing (or back to Lightroom). This is took a staggering 30.3 seconds after hitting OK.

At first this all sounds really slow, but the all important “time before you can start tone mapping” was 48.7 seconds. This puts it on par with Photomatix, but it feels faster because of the interruption of the merge dialog.

You still have to pay the tax at the end, but the good news is that even with that it’s faster than its predecessor.

HDR Efex Pro 1.203 – 96.1 seconds max

The number one thing I hated about this product was its horrible performance, and doing this testing reminded me why. It took 65.8 seconds after hitting Create HDR button (all options checked) (or 9.0 seconds after hitting Create HDR button with just ghosting checked). Of course, the ghosting support in this product was as bad as the in-camera result, so some probably found it better to run it with no options. 

Once you are done tone mapping then it took 30.3 seconds after hitting OK before you were ready to work in Photoshop.

This app is just a slow turd that is a headache to use, so I’m glad to bid it farewell in favor of its faster and much better replacement.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Merge to HDR Pro Feature – 31.3 seconds max

Photoshop CS6 Photorealistic Edited Version (mouse over to see default version)

Click here to see the large size edited version, and click here to see the full-size default processed version.

It took about 19.6 seconds to get from the dialog above to the Merge to HDR Pro tone mapping UI (which has to be the worst ever user-interface in my opinion).

Ghost reference image feature exists here too (notice the green box around 0 EV)

After clicking OK here it took another 11.7 seconds before I could work on the image in Photoshop. This makes Photoshop the fastest thing outside of the camera processor to make an HDR image. Its feature set and usability suck, but if you are tight on cash then it can get the job done in a hurry. Personally I never use it though.

Conclusion

After spending time with all of these products, I still respect what Photomatix brings to the table but HDR Efex Pro 2 isn’t terrible anymore. This is a big statement too because I didn’t care for HDR Efex Pro 1 due to its complex UI and sluggish performance. Those issues have been addressed such that it’s now my go to product. Photomatix still does a great job and its ghost selection mode feature shown below is something I really wish Nik would have added to HDR Efex Pro using U-Point controls:

I’m finding myself doing more HDR’s now thanks to the Canon 5D Mark III’s built-in HDR feature which keeps the bracketed exposures (in JPEG + RAW if you want) in addition to the file it creates. The in-camera file gives me an idea of issues I might run into at home using software, so I can identify issues in the field that I’d normally miss (i.e., gross alignment issues like the one below):

In-camera HDR is no gimmick – it can help you spot alignment issues in the field

Photoshop CS6’s speed makes it an option for those who are on a tight budget or who enjoy its nasty sliders, but realistically it’s just not for me. It may be fast, but I just take longer to get the results I want with it which negates its performance benefit and I’m rarely happy with the final result.

Special Offer (15% Discount)

Visit my discount coupon code page for the latest code and offer details.

HDRSoft, the makers of Photomatix HDR tone mapping software have extended an offer to readers of this blog for a 15% discount when you use the coupon code RonMartBlog when you checkout on their web site (see picture above). Don’t forget to click the recalculate button after you enter the code to get the discount.

Disclaimer

If you make a purchase using links in this blog then you support this blog and I may earn a commission. Thanks for your support!

Photomatix Presets & Topaz Deals Expiring

The following offers expire on August 31st, and September 1st, respectively…

Topaz Restyle –The Most Inspiring Plug-In I’ve Reviewed (Discount Offer)

Order Topaz Restyle for only $29.99 with the coupon code restyleit
See my review of this product
This offer expires on August 31, 2013

25% Off Photomatix HDR Presets by Trey Ratcliff

ONLY $11.23
See my review of this product to learn more about this offer!
This offer expires on Sept 1st, 2013

25% Off Photomatix HDR Presets by Trey Ratcliff until Sept 1st, 2013–only $11.23!

CLICK HERE and use the coupon code RONPHOTOMAT to save 25% off Trey Ratcliff’s top 23 favorite presets he’s created for HDRSoft’s Photomatix – the most popular HDR software used by pro photographers. Here’s some cool before and after shots:

Image WITH Photomatix and Trey's Presets

Image BEFORE Photomatix and Trey's Presets

Photomatix 15% OFF Special Offer Promo Code

Don’t have Photomatix? Click here to learn more and read below on how to use my discount coupon code for this product:

HDRSoft, the makers of Photomatix HDR tone mapping software have extended an offer to readers of this blog for a 15% discount when you use the coupon code RonMartBlog when you checkout on their web site (see picture above). Don’t forget to click the recalculate button after you enter the code to get the discount.

Ron’s Sample Images

Here’s a couple one click edits of the images I used for my Photomatix 4.2 review:

Where Spiders Fear to Go Preset

Au Naturale Preset

A Little Sumfin Sumfin Preset

Conclusion

Getting started with Photomatix can be overwhelming to the uninitiated, so these presets really help get your image to a reasonable starting point so you can tweak the sliders to complete your artistic intent. For $11.23 they are a pretty cheap way to get more out of Photomatix, especially for those who have been unhappy with their previous Photomatix results.

Where to order

CLICK HERE and use the coupon code RONPHOTOMAT to save 25% off as shown here:

This offer EXPIRES on September 1st, 2013!

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• REVIEW: Trey Ratcliff's Lightroom Presets (Discount Offer)
• REVIEW: Trey Ratcliff’s Landscape Tutorial: New Zealand
• REVIEW: A World in HDR by Trey Ratcliff
• REVIEW: Trey Ratcliff's Lightroom Presets (Discount Offer)
• Top 10 Mistakes in HDR Processing and How to Fix Them Review
• HDR Software Comparison
• Topaz Adjust 5.0 - Trey’s “secret sauce” plug-in
• Topaz Labs Webinar Video now available (includes TreeHouse, New York, Seattle and other tutorials)
• Canon 5D Mark III HDR is good, but Photomatix Pro 4.2 is still the king of HDR!

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Ask Ron: Do I need anything besides the Nik Collection to edit my photos?

Gyeongbokgung Palace HDR in Nothing But Nik Collection

Gyeongbokgung Palace HDR using multiple plug-ins

With the great deal on the Nik Collection (click here) that’s everybody has been taking advantage of, I have been getting questions about the collection and where other products fit in. One of the most common questions is:

Can I do everything with just the Nik Collection?

The answer that is yes and no.

Here’s the thing – we all know that in theory you can do anything a third party add-in does in Photoshop by itself, so “technically” you don’t need any plug-ins. However, the reality is that many effects are hard to create and some are just so easy using plug-ins that it doesn’t make sense to roll your own. As a result we buy plugins to both make our lives easier and to add new tricks to our toolbox. 

What I’ve found is that the more tools that I have in that toolbox, the more I tend to use them which varies the outcome of how I edit a photo. Honestly if I used the same software and edited the same photo twice I’d probably have some variation (just like if you have two photographers photograph the same exact subject at the same time),  but I tend to vary more when I add more editing tools into my workflow.

Here’s the example images I used to test this theory using these three exposures:

Original 3 Images (-2, 0, +2 EV) Metered off the sky for the 0 Ev exposure
Canon 1D X, f/10 @ 28 mm, ISO 1000, No Flash

Since I wasn’t happy with any of the bracketed exposures I decided to do an HDR which was prefect for this test since the Nik Collection includes HDR Efex Pro 2 which did well in my HDR Comparison article. I also had noise since this required ISO 1000, so it also gave me a chance to use Dfine in one and my favorite product – Noiseware in the other. 

My restricted to Nik only workflow

Here’s how my layers palette ended up for the mostly Nik only version after using HDR Efex Pro (on the Background layer – after tone mapping):

Nik Collection by Google ONLY*

I have an asterisk here because I allowed myself to use Photoshop features like masking and the Photo Filter (for the dull sky to give it some nice blue color), but beyond that and standard healing brush stuff to clean sensor spots – this was an all Nik workflow for the first image in this article.

The workflow was basically HDR Efex, followed by noise removal with Dfine, then clean up some sensor spots. I then did some pre-sharpening on my clean base image using Sharpener Pro followed by some selective adjustments with Viveza. I warmed up the image with Brilliance / Warmth and then made some contrast adjustments using Pro Contrast – both from Color Efex. I then did a little more corrective work with Viveza and then used Silver Efex to create a low opacity layer to just give my midtones some more oomph (I do this quite often). Finally I didn’t like the sky color compared to the non-Nik only one so I used the same photo filter as below from Photoshop. I finished up with Sharpener Pro for the final creative sharpening.

Using whatever I wanted (my natural workflow)

Without any limitations, here’s how I processed this particular photo with all my plug-ins at my disposal. I did forget to try out Topaz Adjust which I use quite often, but it was getting late and I just forgot. That said, I’m satisfied with the results, so here’s how I got there:

Mixed Plugins starting with Photomatix

The big differences here was that I started by using Photomatix to do my HDR, then I brought that into Photoshop where I used Noiseware – my favorite noise reduction product. I was a little unhappy with the color cast so I used a white balance technique I learned in Welcome to Oz 2.

I made a little curves adjustment and then went to the Color Efex Skylight filter to give my image some warmth, but I used U-Point controls to remove the effect from the sky. I had forgot to clean my sensor spots, so I just did that here.

I then made the sky blue using the Photo Cooling Filter #82 that comes with Photoshop and then I worked on the sky issues I got from Photomatix. I then used my favorite filter, Tonal Contrast to give the image some nice color and detail. I warmed it up a bit more with the Brilliance and Warmth Filter. I then went to Perfect Photo Suite and used the Red Enhancer filter in Perfect Effects to give it that extra pop that makes it stand out from the Nik only version.

I finished up with some sharpening using PhotoKit just to mix things up.

Conclusion

The net result here is that I used different products and got different results. There’s so many variables involved that I don’t think this proves that one method is better than the other – they are just different. I’m satisfied with both versions, but I like the mixed products version better (and it was the one I did first).

To answer the question head on, I don’t think that you necessarily NEED any additional plugins after you have the Nik Collection. It’s a great group of products and you can see that I used some in both workflows. In fact, on any given image I might have used more Nik products (especially Viveza). However, I like the ability to use my favorite noise reduction software and explore different plug-ins. In this example I didn’t use too many, but very often I’ll use Portraiture with people and Topaz Adjust with pretty much any shot that doesn’t feature people.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• Click here and choose BUY NOW to get my 15% discount on the Nik Collection, or go read my FAQ article about the discount and collection here
• Photo Editing Tips Page
• Discount Coupon Code Page – Discounts on Photomatix, Noiseware, Adjust and more 
• What Photoshop books should I read?
• What’s Hot in Photography and Photo Editing Books
• Kelby Training (includes discount)
• NAPP (includes discount)
• Topaz Treehouse Webinar
• Nik Software Color Efex 4 Video Tutorial
• ronmartblog.com YouTube Videos Page – more video tutorials
• My HDR comparison article

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

Trey Ratcliff's Landscape and Travel Photography Tutorial Series: New Zealand

My friend Trey Ratcliff has some cool new and updated tutorials as well as some awesome workshops. Click the images in this article or click here to learn more.

Discount Offer

Check out my discount coupon code page for a discount code on some of Trey’s courses and many other great products.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

• HDR Software Comparison
• Topaz Adjust 5.0 - Trey’s “secret sauce” plug-in
• Nik Software Color Efex Review - Another one of Trey’s favorites
• HDR Workshop DVD by Trey Ratcliff of StuckInCustoms.com  & Trey Ratcliff’s Photo Course –  Old reviews that I did which show how close I was able to get to Trey’s look using what I learned in his past tutorials. His new ones are much better!

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.