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Create an HDR effect in Photoshop CS5

by Jo Cole. 12 Apr 2010

Photoshop has always lagged behind HDR-specific software but with CS5, Adobe has boosted the HDR functionality to new heights

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Photoshop has always lagged behind HDR-specific software but with CS5, Adobe has boosted the HDR functionality to new heights. The HDR Pro feature allows users to merge multiple source photos and achieve a high dynamic range. What has caught our eye, however, is the HDR Toning feature. This allows you to take a single photo and apply an HDR-effect to it. Click here to download our start file

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Step 1

Open the image

Open up your image in Photoshop CS5 (or use our one) and head up to the Image menu. Scoot down to Adjustments and pick the shiny new HDR Toning option.

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Create an HDR effect in Photoshop CS5

Step 2

Start to adjust

A dialog window appears with sliders to alter the HDR effect. You’ll notice that the image has immediately changed, based on the current position of the sliders. The Method drop-down menu targets how the image is changed – the Local Adaptation works best.

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Create an HDR effect in Photoshop CS5

Step 3

Good vibrations

Head down to the Color area of the window and move the Vibrance slider to the right. This boosts the colour of the image, helping with the HDR effect.

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Create an HDR effect in Photoshop CS5

Step 4

Dreamy detail

Try moving the Detail slider to the left. This removes, erm, detail from the image and is the tool to use if you want that dreamy effect that some HDR images have. We want a bit more oomph, though.

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Create an HDR effect in Photoshop CS5

Step 5

Exaggerate the detail

Move the Detail slider over to the right and call attention to all the beautiful brickwork in the building. In under a minute, we have managed to transform a single photo into an HDR masterpiece!

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    7 Comments »

    • zero said:

      Thanks! i was searching for this

    • mmaf said:

      It’s really great, thanks for sharing.

    • Priyajit Dutta said:

      Its good… and really its working nicely… thank u very much

    • Jayesh said:

      Thank you for help. It was nice to learn the HDR technique in PS CS5…
      Bookmarked you for references in other topics.

      Ask me.

    • Lee-Lee said:

      Oh wow! I’m slow and behind times. I hadn’t realized that Photoshop now had this feature. A day late and a dollar short. Thanks for posting this!!!

    • Edison said:

      Thanks a lot man! Now I have a lot of photos with HDR effects. It’s amazing and I really appreciate it.

    • george kap said:

      Hey thanks a lot!!!!!! really helpfull!! :)

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