I have to say that when I was at Photoshop World Boston in September 2005, I was surprised at how many people asked about the new Merge to HDR feature. I think what surprised me the most is the fact that so many people were interested in it even though the photos contain a dynamic range that exceeds what most printers, displays, and humans can interpret. Nonetheless, it is a speed-related feature and I think it's at least useful to know how to use it. Step OneFirst, you'll need to shoot several versions (actually two or more) of your photograph with different exposures. See your camera's instruction guide to find out how to do this. The nice thing about using this new feature in Photoshop CS2 is that it's not limited to only those professional SLR cameras. Most of the basic point-and-shoot cameras also have settings for changing exposure.
©MATT KLOSKOWSKI
Step TwoNext, select the photos in Bridge and choose Tools>Photoshop>Merge to HDR. Photoshop will think for a moment (or a few moments, depending on the size of the photos and your computer's speed) and then display the Merge to HDR dialog.
Step ThreeHere's where you can make a few adjustments based on your desired image output. First, you can click the checkbox under each image to preview what your final image will look like. All you really need to use Merge to HDR is two photos. This option gives you a good way to figure out if your final image will look better or worse if you don't include more images.
Step FourOn the right side of the dialog, from the Bit Depth pop-up menu, you can choose what bit depth setting you'd like to use. For the best quality possible, and to create a true HDR image, choose 32 Bit/Channel. It's possible to use the Merge to HDR command to save the merged image as an 8- or 16-bits-per-channel image. However, only a 32-bits-per-channel image can store all the HDR image data; 8- and 16-bits-per-channel images will begin to lose some of the dynamic range that you'd use Merge to HDR for in the first place.
Step FiveNext, you can adjust the slider under Set White Point Preview to set the white point. Honestly, the default setting here usually works best, but feel free to experiment. Then, click OK and Photoshop will do the merging for you. Don't worry, your originals won't be harmed. Photoshop will merge the images and open a brand new image in a new document.
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