Are you looking for a solution to brighten or darken your images without blowing out your highlights or losing details in your shadows? Pro Photographer, Jim Nix shows you the solution by using the Smart Tone filter in Luminar!
In this article we will cover the following:
• What is the Smart Tone slider?
• Where can you find the Smart Tone slider?
• What does the Smart Tone slider do?
• Why would you use the Smart Tone slider?
Video Clip below shows the Smart Tone slider in action
Smart Tone is an intelligent brightening and darkening slider within the HDR Basic filter at the top of your filter stack. It is very powerful and useful for gently controlling the light and exposure levels in your HDR photos. It gives you the ability to intelligently balance the light levels across your image, without creating overexposed or underexposed areas.
Using the Smart Tone filter
For this image, we will only use the HDR Basic filter and the sliders within it.
Step 2: To use Smart Tone, just drag the slider to the right to intelligently brighten the image. As you drag it you will see an immediate impact on your photo. Notice that it will brighten the darker areas while leaving the bright areas untouched. This helps you balance the light distribution and ensure a better-looking image overall. And did you know that you can also click on the area where the number is located and just type in the number you want? You can. Just hit Enter when you have it how you like it.
Here’s a Before/After comparison of the changes we made to this HDR photo. See the difference Smart Tone makes? It is incredibly useful and powerful. Try it on your photos today!
