Tone Mapping is the process of taking a range of tones and remapping them to a smaller range that most displays and other devices can accurately reproduce.
A tone mapped 32-bit image.
About HDR
Affinity's Tone Mapping Persona can be used to produce high quality images of extended dynamic range, even from seemingly flat captures. Upon entering the persona, the RAW or image layer is rasterized, however this behavior can be changed in the app's Settings.
To tone map an HDR image:
With a 32-bit document open, select a pixel layer and then click Tone Mapping Persona.
Once in the Tone Mapping Persona, your image will have a default tone map applied to it.
Experiment with the adjustments in the Tone Map panel. See below for a list of options.
On the context toolbar, click Apply.
Before/after of a tone mapped image.
Settings (or Preferences)
The following settings are available in the Tone Map panel:
Clamp to SDR—clamps values greater than 1, ensuring the tone mapped result does not have any remaining out-of-bound values.
Tone Compression—controls how much of the unbounded tonal range to map. Increasing the slider results in more tone compression.
Local Contrast—adds or removes local contrast. Increasing local contrast helps to boost clarity in the image.
Exposure—raises or lowers the overall exposure.
Black Point—sets the black clipping level. Increase to further clip black tones.
Brightness—controls mid tone levels. Increase to raise mid tones.
Contrast—controls global contrast. Use in conjunction with Clarity to significantly change the tone mapped look.
Saturation—adds or decreases overall color intensity.
Vibrance—adds or decreases color intensity without clipping color tones.
White Balance—changes the balance of color tones. Tones can be made cooler or warmer by dragging the Temperature slider, and color casts can be corrected using the Tint slider.
Shadows & Highlights—controls compression of shadow and highlight tones. Useful for fine tuning tones.
Detail Refinement—controls additional sharpening to the image. Its effects are more subtle compared to the Detail Refinement found in the Develop Persona. For a "gritty", over sharpened effect, try a large Radius value and small Amount value.
Curves—allows adjustment of tonal range using a curves graph.
Tone Mapping HDR images
