Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Step Seven:
Get the Move tool
(V)
, press-and-hold
the Shift key, and drag-and-drop the
HDR image on top of your regular-
exposure image (holding the Shift key
makes sure the two line up).
Note:
If
you hand-held your HDR bracketed
shots, and Photoshop had to do some
layer alignment as it applied the HDR
effect, holding the Shift key may not
be enough to line these two perfectly
up. If that's the case (and it usually is),
then in the Layers panel, Command-
click (PC: Ctrl-click) on both layers to
select them both, go under the Edit
menu, choose
Auto-Align Layers
,
and click OK to have Photoshop align
them (as shown here).
Step Eight:
To make sure the images are ac tually
perfectly in alignment, go to the Layers
panel and toggle on/off the little Eye
icon that appears to the left of the top
layer's thumbnail. This shows/hides that
layer, and you'll be able to immediately
see whether they're perfectly lined up
(if the image seems to shift a pixel or two,
either left/right or up/down, you'll see it
right away). Now, you may not need to
do this, but just in case you do see that
it's off by a few pixels, I want to show you
how I fix this. At the top of the Layers
panel, change your layer blend mode
from Normal to
Difference
. This high-
lights any alignment differences between
the two layers. Your image should look al-
most solid black (like this does), but if you
see a strong color edge, it's probably off
by a pixel or two. It's been my experience
that if it's off, more often than not it just
needs to be nudged one pixel to the right
and one pixel down. You do this, with the
Move tool still active, by hitting the
Right
Arrow key
on your keyboard once and
the
Down Arrow key
once. Now, toggle
on/off the Eye icon, again, and see how
that looks.
(Continued)
