How to Create a HDR Effect in Affinity Photo
Posted on 19th June 2023
High dynamic range (HDR) photography is a technique used to capture images with a wider range of brightness than what is possible with a standard camera. This allows for more detail to be visible in both the shadows and highlights of an image. Affinity Photo is a image editing software that offers a HDR merge tool to create HDR images from a series of bracketed exposures.
Step 1: Capture Bracketed Exposures
The first step to creating a HDR image is to capture a series of bracketed exposures. This can be done with any digital camera that has the ability to shoot in manual mode. Set your camera to shoot in manual mode and choose an aperture and shutter speed that will give you a good exposure for the scene. Then take a series of photos that are each overexposed and underexposed by one or two stops. The number of exposures you need will depend on the range of brightness in the scene you are trying to capture. A scene with a very large range of brightness, such as a sunset, will require more exposures than a scene with a smaller range of brightness.
Step 2: Import Bracketed Exposures into Affinity Photo
Once you have captured a series of bracketed exposures, import them into Affinity Photo. To do this, go to the File menu and select Import. Then choose the location of the images you want to import and click Open. All of the images you selected will be added to the Project panel.
Step 3: Select Bracketed Exposures
Next, select the bracketed exposures you want to use to create your HDR image. To do this, click on the first exposure in the series and then hold down the Shift key while you click on the last exposure. This will select all of the exposures in between. Alternatively, you can click on each exposure you want to use while holding down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) key.
Step 4: Merge to HDR
Once you have selected the bracketed exposures you want to use, go to the Edit menu and select Merge to HDR. This will open the Merge to HDR dialog. Here you can choose how the exposures should be merged and what kind of HDR effect you want to create. For most scenes, the default settings will work fine. But feel free to experiment with the different settings to see what works best for your particular image.
Step 5: Tone Map
After you have merged your exposures to create a HDR image, you will need to tone map the image to bring out the details in the shadows and highlights. To do this, go to the Edit menu and select Tone Map. This will open the Tone Map dialog. Here you can choose how the image should be tone mapped. For most images, the default settings will work fine. But feel free to experiment with the different settings to see what works best for your particular image.
Step 6: Save HDR Image
Once you are happy with the results of your HDR image, go to the File menu and select Save As. Choose a location to save the image and click Save. That’s it! You’ve now created a HDR image using Affinity Photo.
Open the image in Affinity Photo and duplicate the Background layer.
With the top layer selected, go to the Develop Persona and increase the Exposure by 2 stops. Next, increase the Contrast by 50%. Finally, increase the Clarity by 100%.
Return to the Photo Persona and select the Tone Mapping tool. In the Tone Mapping persona, increase the Strength to 100% and the Brightness to 50%.
Duplicate the top layer again and, with the new top layer selected, go to the Develop Persona. Increase the Exposure by 1 stop, the Contrast by 25% and the Clarity by 50%.
Return to the Photo Persona and, with the top layer still selected, go to theLayers panel. Change the Blend Mode of the top layer to Lighten.
Finally, add a New Adjustment Layer and apply a Levels adjustment. Increase the Input Levels to 0.95.
And that’s it! You’ve successfully created a HDR effect in Affinity Photo.
In order to create a HDR effect in Affinity Photo, you will need to use the Tone Mapping tool.
To access the Tone Mapping tool, go to the Develop Persona and click on the Tone Mapping icon in the toolbox.
In the Tone Mapping dialog box, you will need to select the HDR presets from the drop-down menu.
There are three HDR presets available:
1. HDR Natural – This preset will give your image a natural HDR look.
2. HDR Artistic – This preset will give your image an artistic HDR look.
3. HDR Dramatic – This preset will give your image a dramatic HDR look.
Once you have selected the desired preset, you can then adjust the strength of the HDR effect by moving the Strength slider.
You can also fine-tune the HDR effect by adjusting the other settings in the Tone Mapping dialog box, such as the Contrast, Brightness, and Saturation.
When you are happy with the results, click on the Apply button to apply the HDR effect to your image.
When you’ve taken your photos, open them as Layers in a new Affinity Photo document. Select all the Layers, right-click, and choose Merge Layers from the menu. This will create a new Layer containing all the images.
With the new Layer selected, go to the Develop Persona. In the HDR tab, check the Enable HDR checkbox. This will open the HDR Studio dialog.
In the HDR Studio dialog, you can choose the Tone Mapping algorithm and tweak the Strength, Radius, and Gamma sliders to get the look you want. When you’re happy with the result, click the OK button.
You can now go back to the Photo Persona and continue editing your image. When you’re happy with the result, export it as a JPEG or TIFF file.
