FULL SOFTWARE Aurora HDR 2018!

Find out how to use this month’s terrific free software download

Download your full HDR software, then read our guide to getting started

HDR (high dynamic range) photography can produce spectacular images. It’s a way of capturing scenes with a tonal range so wide that you can’t capture them with a single exposure. By merging a series of different exposures, however, it’s possible to bring out extreme shadow and highlight detail in sunsets, night shots, interiors and other situations where you’re wrestling with wildly different light levels in different areas of the scene.

HDR image capture and processing can seem technically daunting, and it can be difficult to get satisfying images that don’t look over-processed – but Skylum Software changed all that with the introduction of Aurora HDR. Not only can it merge a series of exposures seamlessly, it can then apply a huge range of HDR ‘looks’ via its presets and image adjustment tools.

Aurora HDR 2018 brought about a major step-change in HDR image processing, and we’re thrilled to be able to offer the full software (originally sold for £80/$99) free to Digital Camera readers. See the box to the right for details of how to download and install your free software.

Select your exposures

Start by dragging the bracketed images (three or more shots of the same scene at different exposures) you want to merge into the Aurora HDR 2018 window. Tick the Alignment box if you shot your exposures handheld. There are options for Ghost Reduction and Chromatic Aberration Removal too.

Choose your HDR look

Click Create HDR and Aurora HDR will carry out the merge process. Once that’s complete, the merged image will open in the main editing window, where you can select one of the preset HDR effects or apply your own adjustments manually. See the panel on the opposite page to explore the options further.

Export your HDR

When you’ve finished editing your image, you can save it in Aurora HDR 2018’s proprietary image format so that you can return to it later and carry on working. If you want a JPEG or TIFF image that you can share with others, use the File > Export command.