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HDR Toning preview not accurate in Photoshop


misterl

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Hi everyone,

I'm having a strange issue with Photoshop CC 2014 that I don't recall seeing before.

I'm trying to use the HDR Toning feature. I load it up, using the preview feature, and get the image dialed in exactly like I want it, yet, once I click 'OK' and the filter is applied, the results look completely different than they did in the preview!

Anyone have any idea what might be going on here?

Thanks!
 

Tom Mann

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Can you post two screen shots: one of the preview version and one of the final version of an image that has been giving you problems.

Thanks,

Tom M

PS - Either add a 3rd screen shot to the above -- this one showing your layer stack -- or, better yet, please also post a small PSD file that shows this problem. A crop out of a much larger image would be fine for this 3rd item.
 
Last edited:

misterl

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Thanks for helping!

Okay, here's the image as it previews:

HDR-Preview.jpg

Here's the final result:

HDR-Final.jpg

Here's what the layers look like ( although I've tried with other images and with changing the later from a background layer to regular layer and the behavior is the same):

Layers.jpg

Finally, here's a composite of the final and the preview side by side for comparison:

Mixed-Result.jpg

Again, thanks so much for the help! If you need anything else from me, just let me know.
 

Tom Mann

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My apologies! After I asked you to post an example, somehow, I completely missed your response and wrote it off thinking that you were like some visitors we see who post a question, then leave without saying a word, LOL. Again, my apologies.

Anyway, I can't look into this at the moment, but will do so later tonight.

FWIW, I did notice that when I did a Google search on {photoshop "HDR toning" preview problem} I got ~12,000 hits, so there obviously are some problems with that part of PS.

Also, I must confess that after initially trying PS's version of HDR, I have never used it again in any serious way. I have several other specialized HDR programs that I feel work much better than Photoshop's tools, particularly:

Photomatix - http://www.hdrsoft.com/

Dynamic Photo HDR - http://www.mediachance.com/hdri/ , and,

HDR Projects Pro:
- - - http://www.projects-software.com/hdr-projects-3-professional/
- - - http://layersmagazine.com/hdr-projects-platin.html (review)

More later,

Tom M
 

Tom Mann

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FWIW, I just did some experiments with the HDR module in PS (most recent CC version), and I couldn't reproduce anything like the difference shown in the split image you posted. I experimented mostly with the "Local Adaptation" method, because that's what I use the most, but I also tried the other HDR methods and didn't see any discrepancy between the preview and the final result there, either.

When looking at what you posted, only 2 things slightly grabbed my attention. I have no idea if they are important:

1) In your screen shot of the window for PS's HDR module, all the sliders and other controls appear to be on the LHS of the preview window (which, I presume is just off screen to the right), whereas on my installation, the sliders and other controls are all on the RHS of the preview window.

2) The first screen shot that you posted shows that you are working in the Adobe RGB color space, whereas the second screen shot that you posted says that you have switched to the sRGB color space. If the color space was changed in an inappropriate manner, this could possibly account for the differences in tonality between the two versions.

Other than those two operations, I really don't know what could be wrong. Maybe someone else will come along with a good idea.

Good luck,

Tom M
 
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misterl

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Very strange... thanks so much for looking into this, Tom. I'll dig a little deeper and see what I can find out - if nothing else, I can at least look into the other software options you mentioned.

Much appreciated.
 

Tom Mann

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I'm really sorry that I couldn't offer a solution, but your problem certainly has peaked my interest. If you figure out what was causing the problem, could I ask you to please drop back in and let us know.

Thanks,

Tom M
 

misterl

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Most definitely.

If I can figure this out, I'll be sure to post the solution on here for any future users who might encounter the same issue.
 

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