Now you’ll ask - which is better? Photomatix or Photoshop? Here’s a breakdown of what I think of each programme:
Photomatix:
Merits:
- Free trial version available. It’s… free!
- Quick HDR merging process, it takes less than a minute to load and merge all the photos. This is significantly faster than Photoshop, which takes up a few minutes!
- Provides an almost all-encompassing adjustment window after the HDR is done, a lot of tweaks possible.
- HDR preview is very accurate, the results are quite consistent and do not vary from the preview image too much.
- The inclusion of various levels of light smoothing.
- Comes bundled with another automated function, like merging 2 photos of differrent exposure into one - this is called Exposure Blending.
Demerits:
- Free trial version embeds an obstructive watermark on your final HDR, if it’s dimension exceeds 640*480, this is the major weakness of Photomatix.
- Overly simplified photo manipulation tools, and many are completely absent.
- Ghosting artifact removal function is not perfect - in HDRs featuring tiled backgrounds (eg, cobblestone streets, brickwall), it will attempt to remove the patterns as well.
- Visually determines your photos exposure compensation, and this forces it to ask you for EV information when it thinks two or more photos look too much alike.
Photoshop:
Merits:
- If you already have Photoshop, you do not need to download an additional programme to get your HDR done.
- In-built photo manipulation tools, you can edit your HDR on-the-fly after having it rendered! Quick and easy.
- Detects your photo’s exposure compensation automatically
Demerits:
- Shadows are dark, and usually necessitates the need to use Shadows and Highlights to give the same effect of a HDR generated by Photomatix. This is the major weakness of Photoshop.
- HDR merging takes a very long time, which includes two painful waiting periods. The first one is right after you’ve loaded your photos, and the other is after you’ve selected which photos to include your HDR.
- Does not enable image alignment by default, and may lead to blur HDRs.
- Limited HDR conversion options.
- No light smoothing options.
- If you don’t have Photoshop, it’s expensive!
My verditct is, Photomatix is better at generating HDR, but you’ll still need Photoshop to do most of the post-processing work 
thus the best method is the Photomatix Tutorial.
I hope you find this tutorial useful! 
14 responses to HDR Merging & Tweaking Tutorial
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February 24th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Wow!! Another tutorial!!! I love it!!!
Check out Adam Danial’s last blog post: 2nd post for 2008 ??
February 24th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Hey, teddY. It’s a great tutorial. Where can I get the Photomatrix. I wanna try it too. But it takes many steps. I think the photoshop one is better than the Photomatrix
February 24th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Adam: Thank you. You can go to HDRSoft to get Photomatrix as a free trial version, but be warned that HDRs larger than 640*480 will get a Photomatix watermark embedded in it. Although the Photomatix tutorial is a little bit more complex, it gives you the best results.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
i always wanted to try HDR..
heard so much abt it!!!…
thx ted!!!…
looks awesome!!!
Check out eddy’s last blog post: don.be
February 25th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I have been meaning to try making some HDRs. I think your tutorial came at the right time! Thanks!
Check out Id’s last blog post: You Don’t Open It; You Turn It On.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
eddy: Thank you!
Id: Hey Id thanks for dropping by! Hope this tutorial is of good use to you, heh.
February 26th, 2008 at 3:01 am
hey, thanks for the tutorial and resources. I’ve downloaded photomatix, but like you, i probably will do all the final tweaking in photoshop. Thanks for making it all simple. can’t wait to start generating some!
Check out letti’s last blog post: Chili, Cake & Pink Flamingos
February 26th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
letti: You’re welcome! And oh you’ve downloaded Photomatix! Sounds like you’ll be going to have a lot of fun with HDR
anyway yeap Photoshop is better at photo/image manipulation and touchup than photomatix. Basically Photomatix is a HDR generating machine 
that’s all.
Grace (at Neonscent): Thanks for linking!
February 28th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I guess it’s time to get photomatix. xD xD!!
Check out ingSiang’s last blog post: Chinese New Year 2008 : 初九 - Open House @ CheaXin’s Place
March 1st, 2008 at 9:10 pm
teddy.. u made the most “learning-friendly”
i know i told u that i love your tutorial many times
but i cant stop myself to tell u again n again!
love your tutorial! keep it on!
Check out lunaticgal’s last blog post: Canot find the song you want?
March 2nd, 2008 at 2:43 pm
ingSiang: If you want to make your own HDRs, Photomatix is one of the best software to use
heheh.
lunaticgal: Thanks for the compliment, haha! Usually when I write tutorials I’ll try my best to make it understandable to those who have little working experience with photoshop
anyway using too complicated terms will also throw people off, haha!
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February 26th, 2008 at 8:25 am
[...] Launches Morph Concept Phone- A sleek, morphing phone from Nokia at Brown Baron’s blog. HDR Merging & Tweaking Tutorial- teddY teaches you how to merge + tweak on Photomatix and Adobe Photoshop. Very detailed; nice [...]
March 14th, 2008 at 10:06 am
[...] have auto exposure bracketing. If you want to know more about creating your own HDR, you can visit my tutorial (or Google it if you prefer [...]
July 1st, 2008 at 1:56 pm
[...] Published a HDR tutorial - the best tutorials I’ve written so far, IMHO. [...]