Importantly, and unlike some other Edit in… and Export options, Merge to HDR Pro sends full-range 32-bit files to PS, even if you’ve made adjustments in LR. This launches PS’s own HDR Pro module.
This is my current workflow for my highest-quality HDR images. I’m only giving up batch operations and a few functions that are better performed in LR or PS anyway. Given that I usually end up in PS anyway, this gives me a simpler workflow than I’d get with HDR Expose. 32 Float is a PS-plugin version of HDR Expose.
I’ve recently started using Unified Color’s 32 Float for most of my high-quality HDR images. My goal is to cover not only the tools and methods I’m currently using, but also those that I tried, tested and in some cases abandoned before settling on my current choices. I encourage you to download them and experiment with these workflows.īecause you may not have some of these applications, I’ll describe seven different multi-image workflows as well as some for single-image HDR. Note that all of these applications are available as free-trial versions. The HDR tools I’ve used at one time or another include Photomatix Pro, LR/Enfuse, HDR Efex Pro, HDR Expose 2 and its cousin, 32 Float. I turn to PS for images that require adjustments beyond LR’s capabilities. I use LR to organize my images and for basic processing. My primary applications are Adobe’s Lightroom (LR) and Photoshop (PS). As I’ve recently been running tests on some aspects of HDR processes and tools and particularly methods for transferring images between applications, I thought this would be a good time to pin down and document the workflows I’ve been using and explain why I’m still using them or not. Since then my HDR workflow has changed quite a bit - almost weekly, it seems. This is my first-ever high-dynamic-range (HDR) image, shot nearly three years ago.
Update 1/19/12: Based on feedback from many including John Omvik at Unified Color, I’ve improved my #1 workflow and substantially edited all the workflow descriptions below.