Hi. This is Stuart from the Photomatix team
and in this video I'm going to show you
how to use the Photomatix plugin for Lightroom.
The plugin is automatically installed
when you install Photomatix Pro.
So, open Lightroom and choose the bracketed photos you want to process in Photomatix.
By the way, if you don't have a set of bracketed photos,
then Photomatix can still process a single photo.
Here, I'm using 3 bracketed photos:
the - 2
+ 2
and 0 EV here.
First, select the photos.
Hold down the control button of your keyboard
whilst left clicking your mouse.
When you have them all selected, release the control button.
Then right-click your mouse on one of the photos,
and a pop-up menu appears.
Scroll down to "Export"
then highlight and click "Photomatix Pro".
There is another way to invoke the plug-in.
With your photos selected, go up to the menu bar
click "File" and then scroll down to "Plug-in Extras"
and click "Export to Photomatix Pro".
When you invoke the plug-in, you'll get this dialogue
and in this box, you will find settings for
exporting and merging your photos to HDR.
Leave the "Automatically Re-Import Into Lightroom" option checked
so that your HDR photo appears back in Lightroom
once Photomatix has rendered and saved it.
Click "Export" to load, merge and render your photos in Photomatix Pro.
Lightroom is now exporting your photos and up in the top left-hand corner,
a bar follows its progress.
Once your photos have been exported
Photomatix will open automatically, then align and merge them.
And here you'll be met by Photomatix Pro's
"Adjust & Preview" screen.
Over on the right of this screen, you'll find the built-in presets.
Try clicking on a few:
for instance. "Balanced" ...
"Realistic" ...
"Natural" ...
"Painterly" ...
"Enhanced" ...
"Vibrant".
You can also filter the presets
by expanding the "Preset Category Combo Box".
For example, select "Realistic"
and all preset thumbnails in the "Realistic" category are displayed.
And by using the sliders on the left,
you can further adjust the look of your image.
When you're happy with your image, click the "Next : Finish" button.
Before re-importing into Lightroom,
you can add some finishing touches to your image.
The "Finishing Touch" panel lets you increase the contrast of your image ...
you can also sharpen it ...
straighten ...
and crop it.
To re-import your image, click the "Save & Reimport" button.
Photomatix Pro will now render the HDR photo
and send it back to Lightroom.
And once back in Lightroom, you will see your rendered and re-imported HDR photo,
along with the 3 bracketed photos that you exported earlier.
Now, it is possible that you won't see the re-imported photo in Lightroom.
In fact, it's happened to me when using Photomatix after importing photos from my camera.
Fortunately, this is easy to solve.
Go to the bottom of the screen, and to the filmstrip source indicator,
which is right above the filmstrip.
Click on it, and from the drop-down menu, select "All Photographs".
The missing image now appears.
If you want to avoid seeing your entire catalogue after choosing "All Photographs",
then right-click on the source images, and from the drop-down menu,
choose "Go To Folder In Library"
and now you'll only see the folder into which your source photos were imported to.
Try the Photomatix plugin for Lightroom for yourself
by downloading a free trial of Photomatix Pro 6 from HDRsoft.com.
The trial never expires and just adds of Photomatix watermark to the rendered photos.