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Filters are how you can adjust the exposure, color, contrast, and style of your image in Aurora HDR 2018. The proper use of filters can significantly improve your image. Each filter is designed to solve specific problems or enhance an image in a particular way. Each major adjustment tool in Aurora HDR 2018 is contained within a “control group” generally consisting of a header with the name of the tool, along with a set of sliders or other controls related to this tool.
An Overview Of Filters
To help you get the most from Aurora HDR 2018’s filters, you’ll find a detailed guide below that explains the major features of each. Some filters have similar controls so you may notice that certain Filters have parts that perform similarly.
Common controls with every filter include the following:
HDR Basic
This tool gives you control to adjust the Tone Mapping process. Tone mapping (or “compression”) converts the wide dynamic range image into one that is more narrow and can be displayed on a computer monitor. It’s a great place to start your HDR journey.
A recommended workflow is to start with a light touch with Exposure and Contrast, then Smart Tone. Then proceed to setting Shadows and Highlights and finally fine tune the contrast of the image using the Whites and Blacks sliders.
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TIP
HDR Enhancer is the successor of traditional clarity. Just like the clarity adjustment, the new HDR enhancer brings out the details and textures on photo. But also takes your image much further, making it more sharp, vivid and eye-friendly.
This is one of the most helpful sliders in Aurora HDR 2018 — even a subtle boost will lift almost any HDR photo.
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Color
The Color section gives you complete control over colors and color saturation of the image. There are three useful controls that each affect the colors of your image in a different way, Be sure to experiment with each.
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TIP
Vibrance can be used in conjunction with Saturation to make secondary colors pop a little more. Application of Color Contrast is also recommended to obtain realistic contrast and color saturation of the picture. This slider is very helpful, especially if the color temperature is incorrect — make any corrections here at the very start of editing, before further image adjustment is applied.
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HDR Structure
This tool allows adjusting of image detail and clarity. Using this tool you can get a classic HDR effect with great detail or get a smoother picture with less detail. This is the main tool to increase micro-contrast of the image and visualize more details in the image.
HDR Structure Section
Increases image detail by revealing the structure and texture of the surfaces in the image. This enhances the image and hidden details appear.
HDR Microstructure Section
This section amplifies micro-detail within the image. These are small details that form the surface of any object in the image. They can further enhance details of the image and provide a more vivid artistic HDR effect, however it can also make the image very noisy.
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NOTE
Increasing the values of detail can cause an increase of noise in the image. In case of high Clarity values, ghosting of the image may appear and so we do not recommend raising the value above + 50. In most cases, HDR Detail adds a lot of noise in the image. To get a realistic HDR, do not apply HDR Detail.
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HDR Denoise
This tool slightly blurs the image and reduces the amount of noise and any image artifacts caused by merging multiple exposures together. However, special algorithms also attempt to preserve edge detail if possible. It can also be used to reduce the amount of noise which may have been caused by increasing detail within the HDR Structure section.
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NOTE
It’s helpful to apply this tool not to the entire image, but locally: Create a layer in which you’ll apply the effect, and then, using a mask, brush only the area where the effect should be applied. For example, if the noise is very noticeable in the sky, then, using a mask, apply the effect to the sky. This effect should never be applied to the entire image — otherwise too much detail will be lost.
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Image Radiance
This tool provides a soft glow effect to the image, adding more vibrant colors with an increased global contrast. Moderate use of Image Radiance can give you more interesting, entertaining “dreamy” images.
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TIP
At a low setting, this effect will give the image more contrast and can increase color in the image. Use the Vividness slider for better control.
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Polarizing Filter
On a camera, a polarizing filter can provide more color depth and cuts atmospheric haze, resulting in richer, bluer skies. The same holds true with the Polarizing Filter in Aurora HDR 2018. The effect will produce deeper blue skies and more contrast in clouds. With a light touch of this filter, almost any landscape image can be improved.
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NOTE
It is not recommended to use this tool on night photos or images with no sky in them. Most times, keeping the effect intensity under +50 will yield the best results.
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HDR Details Boost
This filter allows you to control the details of the image, making it more clear and sharp, or vice versa, softer. This tool is useful for improving the overall quality of the image as well as to increase the quality of the images that will be used in high resolution, such as for printing. Increasing the sharpness can also compensate for lower quality optics used to make the captured image.
Innovative technologies allow the HDR Details Boost adjustment to improve image sharpness without increasing digital noise or creating unnatural ghosting or halos in the image. This is a very powerful tool to improve the quality of images.
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NOTE
A moderate increase in Small and Medium has positive impact on the sharpness and quality of any image. There is often no need to demonstrate all details in the image.
In bright areas, such as the sky and light clouds, unnecessary detail will reduce realism. The dark areas often need more detail. Therefore, it is always better to strengthen Details in the shadows than lights.
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TIP
Should you desire an image that is soft, you can achieve that effect by moving the Detail sliders to the left. By default all sliders are at 0 and at that setting have no effect. The effect is only visible after moving sliders to the left or right.
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Glow
The Glow tool adds auras on the picture. The effect finds the brightest areas of an image and adds bright halos to it, having the effect of shining. This effect can be used to give the photo a "romantic" view or create a fog effect. This effect looks good on night photos to accentuate glow halos around light sources such as street or building lights.
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NOTE
This effect can be a powerful tool for creative photo processing. When you move the Brightness slider to 100 and increase Amount, you get a misty or foggy effect in the picture. By increasing the Amount, detail in bright areas is not lost, but rather “highlighted.”
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Top & Bottom Tuning
This tool is a simulation of an analog filter to specify different brightness in the picture vertically - Graduated Neutral Density Filter. This effect is widely used in landscape or architecture photography with a distinct horizon. The effect flexibly and separately controls the brightness and other aspects of the top and bottom of the image.
This enables you, for example, to lower the brightness of the sky and raise the brightness of the foreground. Thus, your image can be significantly improved without resorting to creating layers and masking.
Note: The explanation of controls are the same for Top & Bottom sections of this panel.
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NOTE
This tool is best suited for landscape shooting with a strong horizon line. With it, you can lower the brightness of the sky at the top, and then, using Shift / Rotation / Blend orient the strip of brightness transition between heaven and earth approximately at the level of the horizon.
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Tone Curves
One of the most powerful tools for adjusting tones to brighten, darken, add contrast and shift colors. Curves can usually be applied to all channels together in an image, or to each channel individually. Curves can help you manually fine-tune the brightness and contrast of the image.
Most users will either use Curves a lot or they won’t use it at all. The Curves interface is a bit complex and allows for up to 10 control points. This can significantly open up more options when adjusting color and exposure. The primary advantage of Curves is that you have precise control over which points get mapped for tonal adjustment.
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TIP
Many, many articles are available on the Internet for information on using this tool. Generally moving a slider down will darken that channel and moving it up will lighten the channel. Experiment and have fun!
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HSL (Hue, Saturation, Luminance)
This tool allows for separate adjustment of the hue, saturation and brightness of the main colors in the image. There are three tabs present in the Color Filter panel. Each tab contains sliders for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Aqua, Blue, Purple, and Magenta values.
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NOTE
This is a powerful tool for fine-tuning of colors in the image as well as a means for creative image processing. It is found in several other popular photo apps such as Adobe Lightroom. Examples of using this tool:
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Color Toning
This tool affects the color toning of images. The color shade in the Highlights area is for the light areas in the image and the Shadows area color shade is for the dark areas. The effect can significantly increase the visual appeal of images, and is often used for creative artwork or to simulate analog photography techniques (e.g., a vintage look).
Highlights Section
Sets the color for the bright colors in the image.
SHADOWS Section
Sets the color for the dark tones in the image.
GENERAL CONTROL
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NOTE
The best results are achieved if you use the opposite colors to the bright and dark areas, for example: yellow and blue, green and purple.
Use warm tones for light colors and cool ones for the shadows. Only light or only dark areas of the image can be toned. To avoid toning of certain areas, simply set Shadows or Highlights saturation parameter to 0. The color is not applied.
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Dodge & Burn
Dodge & Burn tools are known as toning tools. They allow for finer control over lightening or darkening an image. These tools simulate traditional techniques used by photographers. In a darkroom, the photographer would regulate the amount of light on a particular area of a print.
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NOTE
This is a tool that is meant to be used creatively and by feeling. It is more about the looks and results than it is specific numbers and sliders. Feel free to experiment as you can always adjust the mask of the Dodge & Burn effect as well as its overall opacity.
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TIP
Double click on any slider name resets the value to the default. In most cases, double-clicking returns it to 0.
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TIP
If you press and hold the Option key and click on a slider value in the sidebar, moving the cursor to the left and right will let you set the values of the slider with high accuracy. Slider sensitivity is higher than with its normal movement. This allows you to fine-tune to small numeric values.
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Vignette
A Vignette darkens or lightens the edges of your image. This is quite an old technique to emphasize the accents on photos. The effect typically leaves the central area unaffected while the edges are shaded or lightened. Aurora HDR goes further by letting you place the center point of the vignette anywhere in the image you like.
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TIP
This tool allows you to highlight key points in the photo, making it more interesting. A slight edges shading always provokes the viewer's eye to consider the lighter central part of the photo. You can also move the center to focus attention on some objects that are not in the middle of the picture. For a realistic picture, don’t lower the Amount below -50. As a rule, this effect is used only with darker shading. Highlights are rarely used except for some vintage looks.
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