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Documentation / Using easyHDR - tips and tricks

Loading photos

• You can load photos into the program not only by using the built-in browse dialog. You can do it also by simply dragging and dropping files on the easyHDR main window (when the program is already running), or on the easyHDR shortcut icon on the desktop (then easyHDR will start and automatically load the photos).
• EasyHDR can be registered (at installation step) to be the default application for opening Radiance RGBE and OpenEXR image formats. If it is configured this way in the system, loading those files is done by just double clicking on them.

Workspace

• You can pan around the photo by just holding the right or left mouse button down and moving the mouse. Zooming can be easily done with mouse wheel.
• There is an option to switch the mouse wheel operation for workspaces. Instead of zooming it can be used for scrolling (vertically and horizontally), zooming requires then the Ctrl/Cmd key to be held pressed. This option is useful when you use a touchscreen or multi-touch pad. By moving the finger over the photo you'll scroll instead of zoom.
• Double click on the workspace (left or right mouse button) automatically switches zoom level. First action makes the image to fit into workspace, second double click causes zooming in at the clicked spot to actual pixel size (scale = 100%). In manual ghost removal only right mouse button can be used to toggle zooming, but in this tool it actually has little sense, because user works on a reduced preview instead of full image. On the other hand, in manual alignment and lens correction tools, double click with right mouse button is reserved for other actions, so only the left button can be used here to toggle zoom.
• Change the workspace background color by pressing the button in lower, right corner.
  
  
• The values of the pixel under the mouse cursor can be viewed in the status bar. Also the hue and brightness selective tools, the curve adjust tool and the histogram tool show the value of pixel under cursor. For best quality (noise reduction), the sample is an averaged value from the cursors vicinity.
  
  
• You can maximize the workspace area by hiding the toolbox icons and the status bar. To do so press F11 or click an option in the "View" menu.
• The preset and tone mapping panels can be undocked from the main window. It allows easyHDR to work on two-screen desktops.

Sliders

• Click on any part of the slider to move the handle there instantly.
• Click on a slider to set the focus on it, then you can fine tune the value by pressing keyboard left and right arrows. It is also possible to modify the value by scrolling the mouse wheel (horizontally or vertically).
• Right click or double click on the handle resets the slider's value to default.
• Click on value label to open manual editing options. You can either type the value, change it up or down with spin buttons, or set to default.
  
  

Histogram tool

• Histogram clipping: when sampling pixel for white or black point use left mouse button to catch pixel of the currently visible image, or right mouse button to sample the HDR radiance map.
  
• When the padlock icon is in the locked position, the clipping points are set automatically when any other tone mapping setting is changed. They are set to meet the values that are defined in the value-edit boxes. Unlocking the padlock causes the clipping points to become fixed at defined positions.
• Left click on the histogram area toggles the vertical scale mode between linear and logarithmic. The latter is especially useful when there are tall spikes in the histogram that cause the rest of it look flat.
• Hover the mouse cursor over the histogram to show options allowing to mark the underexposed and overexposed areas on the image (painted with blue and red color respectively).

Curve adjust tool

• Click left mouse button in order to add a new knee point; right mouse button removes it.
• When the tool is in keyboard focus it is possible to move the selected knee point with cursor keys. The point is marked with a circle. To switch between the points press "+" or "-", or click on the desired point. The tool gets focus automatically when mouse cursor hovers over it.

Selective saturation tool

• When the tool is in keyboard focus it is possible to move the selected knee point with cursor keys. The point is marked with a circle. To switch between the points press "+" or "-", or click on the desired point. The tool gets focus automatically when mouse cursor hovers over it.

Cropping and free rotation

• Double click inside of the marked area to apply the transformation.
• Double click away from the marked area, or press Esc key to exit cropping mode.
• Free hand rotation: hold Shift key pressed, then grab and move the image.
• Free hand perspective: hold Alt key pressed, then grab and move the image.
• Free hand distortion: hold Ctrl/Cmd key pressed, then grab and move the image.

Lens correction

• Tip for the advanced users. It is possible to define own cameras and lenses for the Lensfun database. It's also possible to update the Lensfun database with the development version files (not officially released). More information on this topic: here.

Manual alignment

• Set all the required pins for the currently selected image pair before looking at the preview.
• Double click (with right mouse button) on a pin to enter the keyboard mode. Then you can move it with cursor keys. The step varies along with the zoom factor, so you should strongly zoom in to do fine tuning. Use cursors with Shift key pressed in order to do bigger jumps. Exiting the mode is simple: double click on the image away from the pin, or press Enter.
  
  
• It's possible to do manual alignment in a semi automatic way. Just use the "Auto all" button once the manual alignment window shows up. Then you can evaluate the quality of automatic alignment by selecting the photos from the combo in the upper right corner. Should there be errors, you can fix them manually.

HDR generation

• The "True-HDR" method requires correct EV values. They are normally calculated upon data taken from EXIF. If the EXIF is incomplete the EV is guessed by the program, or if available, the AEB EV values are taken. The user should however verify the values and fix them if it's needed.
• You can tweak the EV even if the right values are calculated. Slight corrections may improve image calibration for ghost removal. Stronger changes have bigger influence on the look of the HDR image.
• Some users do merge a series of photos achieved out of a single RAW - by developing it differently. It might be a case that the external program that does the development just copies EXIF from RAW to output JPEG/TIFF image files. In such a case obviously differently exposed (developed) photos are loaded with the same EV values (they all have the same EXIF). EasyHDR warns about such a case. However it's the user's responsibility to provide the correct EV spacing.
• Instead of processing a sequence of differently exposed photos you may also merge photos taken with the same settings. The important thing is that the photos must be different - not copies of one file. You will achieve slight dynamic range increase, by reduction of the noise level - the random, thermal noise of the camera's image sensor gets averaged.

Ghost removal

• Each pen color represents a different input photo that is used to patch the painted area of the HDR image in order to remove the ghost. By default the target photo is selected automatically when the mouse cursor is released to break the painting, but it is also possible to force the selection.
  
  
• You don't need to change the pen type to "Eraser" to erase a part of the selection. You can paint with Ctrl/Cmd key pressed - it overrides the currently selected pen type with an eraser.
• Changing the pen type is possible also by sampling the already painted mask. Just click on the image while holding Shift key. If you click on a not painted area, eraser is selected.
• Use '[' and ']' or '-' and '+', or 'Shift+[' and 'Shift+]' keys on the keyboard to change the size of the brush.
• Press 'G' to select the bucket tool and 'B' to choose the brush.
• When showing "HDR after deghosting" preview it's useful to set "Hide automatically" mask option. The mask is shown then only if the mouse cursor is over the preview area.
• You can save and later reload the painted mask. The mask file is suitable only for the photos for which it was created - the filenames and image dimensions must match.
• When patching the ghosted areas always try to choose, for the particular area, the input photo that is well exposed there. If there is over or underexposure, the patch may not match to the neighborhood.
• You can use the ghost removal tool to remove ghosting by leaving the moving objects from one of the input photos, or differently, to completely remove the moving objects. For example you can take a series of photos of a crowded place and later remove all the people.

Presets

• Set focus to the preset panel by clicking on some preset item, then press any letter key on the keyboard to jump to the first preset which name starts with it.
• The user presets can be removed, replaced or renamed. Just right click on the thumbnail.
  
  
• Renaming user presets is even simpler when you just click on the preset's name.
  
  
• By changing the width of the preset panel, the thumbnails' size can be changed. Smaller allow the workspace to be larger, while bigger thumbnails are easier to compare. When the certain thresholds are reached, the column count changes. It is also possible to tweak the maximum size of the thumbs with a slider which can be found on top of the panel when it's wide enough.
  
  

• Use '[' and ']' or '-' and '+', or 'Shift+[' and 'Shift+]' keys on the keyboard to change the size of the brush.
• Press 'G' to select the bucket tool, 'B' to choose the brush and 'E' for eraser.
• Eraser mode can be temporarily enabled by painting with Ctrl/Cmd key held pressed.
• Intelligent mode can be temporarily disabled by painting with Alt key held pressed.
• Press Alt+0..9 to switch between the base image (Alt+0) and the layers.
• In gradient mode: press space key to invert the gradient (swap start and the end points).

Batch processing

• If the automatic task creation fails to properly group the images into tasks, you can manually split and combine them. Options allowing this are available in the task items' context menu (right click).

Miscellaneous

• Instead of using the history tool to move back and forward with last changes to tone mapping settings, you can also use Ctrl/Cmd+Z (undo) and Ctrl/Cmd+Y (redo) shortcuts. It works when working in tone mapping mode and you don't have to have the "History" tab selected. There are also appropriate undo and redo buttons in the toolbox.
• After doing alignment, or lens correction, you can use the "Show before processing" option to view the preprocessed images. Use it also to compare the output result with separate input photos. It may help you stay close to reality. The Ctrl/Cmd+1..N shortcuts allow easier selection of one of N input images. Ctrl/Cmd+0 shows the intermediate HDR image. Ctrl/Cmd+Left arrow shows the last selected input, while Ctrl/Cmd+Right arrow shows the result of tone mapping.
  
  
• If you want to do a lot of batch processing in the background, but you want to use your PC at the same time, you can reduce the number of CPU cores used in the batch mode. For example you can do processing on just 2 cores of your quad core machine. It will be slower, but at least the PC will be better usable at the same time. See the "Program Options".
• If you work with touch pad or touch screen and the gestures are supported by your Operating System, you may need to change the easyHDR's default way of zooming the workspaces. Go to Program Options -> Miscellaneous and enable requirement for Ctrl/Cmd key to zoom with mouse wheel. The wheel, or in case of touch pad, finger movement will then scroll the image in both axis.