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Silicon Summit Reviews Akvis HDRFactory by L. Davenport Akvis HDRFactory is a program that will create High Dynamic Range images from single or multiple photos, plus it can be used for photo correction. What does High Dynamic Range mean? Wikipedia explains it this way: HDR is a range of methods to provide higher dynamic range from the imaging process. Non-HDR cameras take pictures at one exposure level with a limited contrast range. is results in the loss of detail in bright or dark areas of a picture, depending on whether the camera had a low or high exposure setting. HDR compensates for this loss of detail by taking multiple pictures at dierent exposure levels and intelligently stitching them together to produce a picture that is representative in both dark and bright areas.” “OK, but what does that mean in layman’s terms?” you ask. Simply put, it will make the details more pronounced in the light and dark areas, and exaggerate the colors from photos taken with di erent camera exposures to make a more detailed and vibrant image than the original. So I don’t lose the interest of the non-professionals who take one photo and then move on, the Akvis HDRFactory program will also work on improving single photos. You are given several ways to view the before and after images. It has the traditional Before/After tabs, vertical and horizontal views that split the image in two - the right side shows the processed version. And a horizontal and a vertical split view shows the same fragment of the image pre and post-processing. Ghost removal No I’m not talking about removing some apparition in a spooky house. I am talking about removing a person, animal, or object that might move into frame on one or more of your exposures. When the different photos/exposures are combined this person or object will appear as a transparent ghost. Akvis HDRFactory gives you tools to highlight and then delete the ghost. I was quite impressed with the results. Eects Creating HDR images and removing ghost isn’t the only thing Akvis Factory can do. You can apply effects that lighten or darken the Akvis HDRFactory can create High Dynamic Range images from a single or multiple photos. is window is part of the Ghost Removal tool where you select the tool size plus which image has the problem. If you look closely, you will see that the man in the photos moved between the three dierent exposures causing a Ghosting eect when it was processed (see below left).

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Page 1: Reviews - smmug.org · “HDR is a range of methods to provide higher dynamic range from the imaging process. Non-HDR cameras take pictures at Non-HDR cameras take pictures at one

Silicon Summit

ReviewsAkvis HDRFactory

by L. DavenportAkvis HDRFactory is a program that will create High Dynamic Range images from single or multiple photos, plus it can be used for photo correction. What does High Dynamic Range mean? Wikipedia explains it this way:

“HDR is a range of methods to provide higher dynamic range from the imaging process. Non-HDR cameras take pictures at one exposure level with a limited contrast range. is results in the loss of detail in bright or dark areas of a picture, depending on whether the camera had a low or high exposure setting. HDR compensates for this loss of detail by taking multiple pictures at different exposure levels and intelligently stitching them together to produce a picture that is representative in both dark and bright areas.”

“OK, but what does that mean in layman’s terms?” you ask. Simply put, it will make the details more pronounced in the l ight and dark a r e a s , a n d e x agg e r a t e t h e colors from photos t a k e n w i t h different camera exposures to make a more detailed and vibrant image than the original.

So I don’t lose the interest of the non-professionals who take one photo and then move on, the Akvis HDRFactory program will also work on improving single photos.

You are given several ways to view the before and after images. It has the traditional Before/After tabs, vertical and horizontal views that split the image in two - the right side shows the processed version. And a horizontal and a vertical split view shows the same fragment of the image pre and post-processing.

Ghost removalNo I’m not talking about removing some apparition in a spooky

house. I am talking about removing a person, animal, or object that might move into frame on one or more of your exposures. When the different photos/exposures are combined this person or object will appear as a transparent ghost. Akvis HDRFactory gives you tools to highlight and then delete the ghost. I was quite impressed with the results.

EffectsCreating HDR images and removing ghost isn’t the only thing

Akvis Factory can do. You can apply effects that lighten or darken the

Akvis HDRFactory can create High Dynamic Range images from a single or multiple photos.

is window is part of the Ghost Removal tool where you select the tool size plus which image has the problem. If you look closely, you will see that the man in the photos moved

between the three different exposures causing a Ghosting effect when it was processed (see below left).

Page 2: Reviews - smmug.org · “HDR is a range of methods to provide higher dynamic range from the imaging process. Non-HDR cameras take pictures at Non-HDR cameras take pictures at one

Silicon Summitedges of your image (including setting the distance from the center and the shape of the image shading), change the image hues, apply a soft glow effect, or change the white balance of your image.

PresetsIf you don’t want to

tweak the settings yourself, you an choose any of the 34 Effects that come with the program.

Post ProcessingAkvis HDRFactory includes a Post Processing

Histogram graph that shows the tonal range of the image (that you can manipulate). There are also parameters for changing the image’s Brightness, Contrast, Gamma, and Saturation.

Version differences:Akvis HDRFactory comes as a plug-in and/or

a standalone program and is divided into three versions: Home, Home Deluxe, and Business.

The Home Deluxe and Business versions have the Ghost removal tools and only the Stand Alone version include the Post Processing tools (since the plug-in version will become part of an editor program that already has Post Processing tools).

The SkinnyEvaluation: Akvis HDRFactory does do a good job of creating HDR images. If you are interested, I suggest that you download and test the trial version.

Requires: Minimal System Requirement: Intel/G4, 32/64 bit, 1 Gb RAM, 100 Mb HDD; display 1024x768; Recommended: Intel/G5, 2Gb RAM, 2 Gb HDD; display 1280х1024

Company: Akvis LLC

Price:Home: Plugin $69, Stand Alone $69 (for non-commercial use)Home Deluxe: Plugin & Stand Alone versions: $99 (for non-commercial use)Business: Plugin & Stand Alone versions: $189Academic discounts: 30% off for Home and Home Deluxe licenses

Available 10 day Trial (which gives you the option to try all the different versions of Akvis HDRFactory)

You will be prompted for the exposure values if the photos

don’t contain this info.

Notice the ghost image shown to the right of this split Before/After

image.

I used the Ghost Removal tool to paint a selection area around the

location of the original and the ghost.

After processing, the ghost disappeared.

You can add a dark edge around your image to draw attention to its center.