Quick Workflow: Editing Photos with AKVIS HDRFactory

From RAW to Radiant: AKVIS HDRFactory Presets and Settings Guide

Overview

Short, practical guide to get consistent HDR looks from RAW files using AKVIS HDRFactory (standalone or plugin). Covers workflow, key settings, useful presets, and quick tips.

Workflow (recommended)

1. Start in RAW converter — apply basic exposure/white balance, denoise, and lens corrections; export full-bit-depth TIFFs (16-bit) or use supported RAW directly.
2. Load into HDRFactory — open series of bracketed exposures (or single image for pseudo-HDR).
3. Set Preview — use Fast for tuning, switch to HQ before final render.
4. Align & Remove ghosts — enable automatic alignment; use Ghost Removal for moving subjects (Home Deluxe/Business).
5. Choose a preset (see suggestions below) and apply.
6. Adjust global sliders in Adjustment tab for contrast, highlight/shadow recovery, and microdetail.
7. Local Correction — paint local masks to protect skin tones or boost specific areas (license permitting).
8. Effects tab — add Glow, Vignette, or Warm/Cold tint sparingly.
9. Post Processing (standalone) — final brightness/contrast/gamma/saturation tweaks.
10. Save/export to TIFF/PNG/JPEG; do final sharpening in your editor if needed.

Key Settings Explained

• HDRI Strength / Amount: controls the overall HDR merge intensity. Use moderate values for natural looks (+10–+30); higher for stylized effects (+40+).
• Tone Mapping / Detail: increases local contrast and micro-detail. For natural results, keep low-to-mid; for punchy images, raise carefully.
• Saturation / Vibrance: increases color — add modestly to avoid oversaturation.
• Highlight/Shadow Recovery: recover blown highlights and reveal shadow detail; balance to keep contrast.
• Glow: softens highlights and adds dreaminess — best at low opacity.
• Vignette: use subtly to direct attention.
• Preview Quality (Fast/HQ): tune quickly on Fast; always render final on HQ.

Useful Presets (create/save these)

• Natural Landscape — moderate HDR strength, low detail boost, +10 saturation, gentle shadow recovery, no glow.
• Dramatic Sky — stronger detail, +20–30 saturation, emphasize highlight recovery, mild vignette.
• Urban Punch — higher microdetail, +15 saturation, clarity/tone mapping up, slight cold tint.
• Portrait Soft — low HDR strength, minimal detail, reduce saturation slightly, enable local correction to protect skin, subtle glow.
• Pseudo-HDR Boost (single image) — stronger tone mapping and detail, moderate saturation, tweak highlights/shadows.

Save each as a preset (Presets field → Save) so you can apply consistent looks across projects.

Quick Tips

• For the cleanest result, merge bracketed RAWs rather than relying on pseudo-HDR from a single JPEG.
• Use local correction to avoid haloing around edges when pushing detail.
• When processing batch pseudo-HDRs, test presets on representative images and use Batch Processing in plugin/standalone.
• If halos appear, reduce local detail or lower tone mapping strength.
• Always inspect final output at 100% in HQ preview before export.

Example short settings (starting points)

• Natural Landscape: HDR +18, Detail +12, Saturation +8, Highlights -10, Shadows +20, Glow 0, Vignette -6.
• Dramatic Sky: HDR +30, Detail +25, Saturation +20, Highlights -25, Shadows +10, Glow +6, Vignette -12.
• Portrait Soft: HDR +8, Detail +4, Saturation -5, Highlights -5, Shadows +10, Glow +8, Vignette -4.

If you want, I can generate presets exported-ready (names + exact numeric values) formatted for your reference.