Artizen HDR
Artizen HDR is a complete HDR/LDR (High Dynamic Range/Low Dynamic Range) solution for serious photographers. It has a metadata editor for Exif, GPS, and IPTC; a color correction tool with more than 20 different options; an image browser for over 40 formats; batch processor; icon creator; RAW image editor with support for 11 RAW file formats; a web gallery creator; web page generator; artistic painter; and a panoramic fisheye creator.
Artizen HDR has the main functions you would expect of an HDR program, including a merging tool with x,y alignment and masking support; a tone mapping application with 11 operators; and HDR x,y auto-alignment. The image editor supports 8-bit (LDRi), 16-bit (LDRi) and 32-bit (HDRi) and has unlimited multi-processor support.
As well as being a plugin for Photoshop, Artizen HDR accepts plugins of its own, most of which are included in the main program. They include: Fattal, Stockham, Reinhard, Schlick, Exponential, Mean Value, and Dynamic Max tone mapping algorithms.
Comment
The vendor describes it as "the first all-in-one HDR (High Dynamic Range) and LDR (Low Dynamic Range) solution for the home and professional photographer." With such a wide market, Artizen HDR needs to be versatile -- and it is.
Artizen HDR has so many normal editing functions in addition to its HDR features it is almost a general-purpose editor. These multiple features are popular with reviewers, but less popular is the heavy demand it makes on system resources. Tone mapping algorithms which make the HDR image displayable on LDR devices can be very slow, as you can imagine, given the huge numbers they manipulate. However, the tone mapping is non-destructive and the results are first-rate. Even the speed issue has been addressed in Artizen HDR 2.8. The price is also extremely competitive, making the package excellent value for photographers who want a complete HDR solution.
Tech info
- Plugs into: Photoshop
- OS: Windows 98 SE onwards
- Price level: Approx. $60
Supporting Computers
Founded in 1999 SCI develops technology to work with digital cameras and the new High Dynamic Range image formats. It is a Canadian company, based in Toronto.
From the same vendor:
- Photoshop Tone Mapping Plugins
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