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HDR Projects 2 Giveaway
$178.04
EXPIRED

Giveaway of the day — HDR Projects 2

HDR Projects 2 helps photo enthusiasts create masterful images .
$178.04 EXPIRED
User rating: 265 166 comments

HDR Projects 2 was available as a giveaway on September 25, 2015!

Today Giveaway of the Day
$36.00
free today
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HDR projects 2 – 100 % made in Germany software, that offers tools to create masterful images for photo enthusiasts. HDR projects 2 generates real 32 bit images containing all of the brightness information of the real world and not just a part of it, like systematic digital cameras.

With 56 presets and the ability of full controll via the expert-modus you will create images, that everybody will love.

System Requirements:

Windows XP/ Vista/ 7/ 8/ 10 (x32/x64); Processor Core Duo; 2 GB RAM; 2 GB HDD; Screen resolution 1,280 х 1,024 Pixels; Graphic Card: DirectX-8-compatible, 128 MB, 32-bit colour range

Publisher:

FRANZIS Verlag GmbH

Homepage:

http://www.franzis.de/fotografie/hdr-fotografie/hdr-projects-2

File Size:

52.9 MB

Price:

$178.04

Comments on HDR Projects 2

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#90

How can I find out when this might be available again?

Reply   |   Comment by PASystems  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#89

what is the cause of a big botheration with registration. IT IS due to the registration problem many old readers donot want to come back to see what is todays offer. IS itnot easy todownload a trial and then get the key by email and fix it up with all complete paraphernalia ?

Reply   |   Comment by D.PARAMESWARAN  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#88

that was a good softee. worth getting. use trial and be satisfied about some features.

Reply   |   Comment by D.PARAMESWARAN  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#87

I did download this, & completed the registration by midnight - just. Luckily I have a large monitor,
& could keep the multiple web & email pages open smultaneously. Activated fine.

Amazing there was so much interest, as this is a specialised product, really only of use to serious
photographers, graphic designers & artists. Many of that group spend a great deal of money on kit,
whether lenses, camera bodies, or software.

For that group, this product is worth checking out. As yet I haven't given it a thorough workout. It's
clear that the menu system is minimalist, & the manual is necessary to understand what's on offer. That
manual is available as a .pdf as part of the registration process, & the English version is easy to follow.

Have read the book - now need to spend a few hours checking it out. Thanks to the developer for making a
high end product available. Even 'tho it's not the latest version, it does cover cameras & formats up to
a couple of years back (works fine with my variety of Sony bodies & their differing .ARW formats.)

I'm sure the developer/distributor will now appreciate that if they wish to enlarge their market
geographically & beyond professional image makers they must focus very much on interfaces - whether
registration; language style; or product GUI. It's their call as to whether that market extension is
economic for them. Certainly there are a fair number of lower-cost, simpler, HDR products out there,
& they may be of sufficient capability to suit their market.

Good luck .....

Reply   |   Comment by Colin O  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Colin O
good comments

Reply   |   Comment by D.PARAMESWARAN  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#86

I don't think I've EVER seen
this much discussion about any
giveaway before....

I never ended up being able to
complete the registration...

I'm still confused about their
thinking when they set this up

Reply   |   Comment by Karen  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#85

What a nightmare this product registration is ... so thank goodness a few user's have posted the links on this webpage!

I'm sure it is a program worth the effort ... I think.

Reply   |   Comment by Grumpy Wally  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#84

I have downloaded this program, but can't even see where to activate it and as others have said that the registration process is very long and requires a lot of personal information which we as customers are advised not to give out. For that reason I will be deleting the software.

Reply   |   Comment by Heather  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#83

It might be helpful in the future to let people know they have to enable cookies for pixxsel.de, since most on this site cannot read the German warning banner on the login page indicating to do so. I finally figured it out, and once I enable cookies I got the proper form to fill out with the "Save" button, and the software finally activated.

Thank you.

Reply   |   Comment by Yohan Ambercrombie  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#82

I have been trying to register this product for 2 hours. I know how to follow directions. I have the PDF open, and the pixssel page never presents a button that says "Save." It says "Continue." Then I get a page that indicates that I now have an account that I am logged into. But when I return to the installation and click the "Activate" button, I get an error message that tells me:
"Activation failed! You should register the application before you activate it."

Reply   |   Comment by Yohan Ambercrombie  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#81

A curiously unwieldy installation and registration process, but the reward is a very powerful piece of image processing software for no cost. It is not unwise on the part of the vendor to provide such a free copy. I have gone on to purchase several items of software that I initially downloaded free from GOTD.

Reply   |   Comment by Greg  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#80

WOW, 77 comments. I haven't seen this interest and commentary on giveaway software in a good while. @Vincent, as I mentioned above, I aborted the installation of your software due to the registration process, as did many above, BUT it is clear there has been phenomenal interest in your HDR software and I do hope, as many here do as well I am sure, that you will be back with your software but with a much more leaner and easier registration process. Thanks again to FRANZIS for offering it and GOTD for hosting it for today.

Reply   |   Comment by Hughjocapivvy  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#79

I thought I could register this program before midnight but I was wrong. I hope I don't have nightmares in HDR tonight.

Reply   |   Comment by Gary Krogman  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#78

Looks like an interesting piece of software ...

Went through the registration process and they never sent me an Email ...

Now what??

Reply   |   Comment by Canuck  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#77

Thank You for this offer.

I use HDR's in my 3D stills and animations for more realistic lighting.
I followed the .txt file and HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH THE REGISTRATION.
After reading some comments I timed - download to using the software = 6 minutes....
I found no problem giving my NAME and E-MAIL.... I do it all the time elsewhere
I will be putting this software thru its paces all weekend long.
Again Thanks for the Software. I will be recommending it to all 3D artist buddies.

Reply   |   Comment by Craig Hamby  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#76

A really cumbersome registration process. I lost count of the back and forth steps. I hope the software is worth the frustration - never mind that its free. I read they are working out a "leaner" way in the future.
Yes, shed about 6 steps please.

Reply   |   Comment by steve  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#75

this program is not in english far as i can tell and took all day to get registered....mite be a good idea for eu users but unless there is a way to change from german to english or you know/can read german then its junk.

Reply   |   Comment by grvdggr864  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#74

,,win7 32 bit,,,downloaded,,,followed instructions,,,all good,,,installed ok,, up and running in about 4 mins.......looking forward to using this and maybe start doing some photography lessons,,,who knows,,,thank you all @GOTD and thanks to the developers who make these offers possible,,cheers

Reply   |   Comment by dan  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#73

http://hdr-projects-2-pc.en.softonic.com/ I downloaded it .. 81 MB .. no registration, nothing. Haven't opened it yet so no comments.
If this is the same software it is a free download from the link above. Just Google it... Also when I looked for a review the first link that came up was a page with reviews of 20 HDR programs, HDR Projects 2 got 3 stars .. http://captainkimo.com/hdr-software-review-comparison/

Reply   |   Comment by Fred Dakin  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

Ok this installed flawlessly and opened just fine. I checked it with one single image, worked well and looked good. Downside is that it is a 30 day trial but at least you can play and see if it is worth the registration mess many are talking about.

Reply   |   Comment by Fred Dakin  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

I have tried the program and it worked just fine, looks a lot like LR, has a clean interface and it did a nice job on 3 exposure bracked photos. There are lots of pre sets available and many buttons to push. All I was asked for was my name, country and postal code for info and there is an email address there to say not to use your info which can be done after installation apparently. Too bad there are too many hoops to jump through to get it activated, not the norm we are used to but it worked for me. Program looks and feels good at first run, a keeper for now and an easy delete if I run into a snag.

Reply   |   Comment by Fred Dakin  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

@Fred: the build you are hyperlinked is a limited Demo Version from HDR projects 2. Its valid only 30 days and the exported images are covered by a watermark. The Version at giveawayoftheday is the real product without any limitations or restrictions.

Reply   |   Comment by vincent  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#72

The website is in very bad english and the registration process is very awkward and extremely user unfriendly. I'm still waiting for a serial number after registering 10 minutes ago... Not worth the headache until the registration process is more simpler... I'll stick with TopazLabs & Photomatix as registering their products is alot more friendly and I can understand their English....

Reply   |   Comment by Ken Morris  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#71

Weird; got the User ID and validation code; opened the app in Windows 8.1 64-bit, started reading the user-manual.
The app disappeared after quitting, seemingly leaving no trace beyond a history of having been in AppDaa\Local\Temp\js-98INU.tmp

Reply   |   Comment by Oristo Po  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#70

I agree whole-heartedly with the first comment: I will not provide more than my email address under these circumstances. Sounds like this company is fishing for far too much information. Today's offering is a "pass" for me because of this.

Reply   |   Comment by Ken  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#69

OK after Several attempts at the OUTragious Registration process I have given up... I get to the place where it says thanks please check your email fpr the newsletter but I have not received a SN# to activate.. to bad I was going to use this button but since the owners don't really support English speaking folks I give up. To much trying to translate and figure out what I am agreeing to and not getting anything done...... shame looks like a good program. and yes I have folowed step by step instructions on how to jump though hoops to register the program.

Reply   |   Comment by Samkeymaster  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#68

Glad I read the comments first - I don't do ANYTHING if I have to spend a month signing up for something - or give my Grandmothers shoe size....
Sounded interesting till read the above...I'll stick with two OLD programs I've had winces Adam and Eve....PSP Win 3.1 version as it works on XP without all the tricky junk of later versions....and OLD Photoshop that does thing I don't even want to....
Too bad

Reply   |   Comment by iwontell  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#67

I then went and received this message:
"Dear Mr XXXXX XXXXXXXXXX,
thanks for the request for the registration code for the product
HDR projects 2 Windows - giveawayoftheday
You will receive your personal registration code soon XXXXXXXX@XXXXX.XXX e-mail to the e-mail address
Note : Some providers consider automated e-mails as SPAM and filter these out . If your personal registration code not found in your email inbox , please check your spam settings and check to see also in " SPAM suspicion " mailbox folder check .
With best regards
Your Franzis Team"

Yes, I checked my spam folder. It is not there either.
So, I am registred but it will not send me the email with the registration code.
I have spent about three hours trying to get a registration email. What is happening?

Reply   |   Comment by Treadway  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#66

Here's my experience for anyone still bothering to read the comments and trying to register. I followed the directions to the letter. The point where you should logically be able to paste the code and activate but have to register AGAIN, I got an error 5-6 times. It would go to the Pixxsel site, I'd put in the info, then get an internal error 500 message in German. What I didn't notice was the format of the page was slightly different from what is shown on the vendor's "help" sheet. The dialog box was dead center, not to the right. On the final attempt, I was taken to a different page, with the box on the right. That worked. So I'd say if you are trying, if the box isn't on the right, abort right then and try again. Obviously a problem on their end.

Reply   |   Comment by Bill Smith  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#65

I'm not downloading this program due to the extensive registration process.
Here's a freeware program which includes HDR processing:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/fusion_free.html

Reply   |   Comment by Jim  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#64

After 2 hours, no emails from Franzis for registration. So I tried to register again and I got a web page that says:
"vielen Dank für Ihre Registrierung des Produktes:
HDR projects 2 Windows
You already registered the product. Press the button "Request registration code" to receive your information again. You receive an e-mail treadway@bellsouth.net from our registration system. You need your personal user-ID and the unlock code to activate the software.
Please dont forget to have a look at your spam folder.
ATTENTION: Sending the e-mail could take up to 5 minutes."
There is a button (in German) that says to push it to resend. I did and after an hour...nothing.

Reply   |   Comment by Treadway  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

@treadway: thank you very much for your question. Maybe the Email arrived in your spam. However, we´ve recent it right now.

Reply   |   Comment by vincent  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#63

OK....I'm thoroughly confused

I entered a name/email, etc and
confirmed my subscription...

got a User ID and a registration
number....

went through the installation process
and now I'm being asked for a serial
number?

I do not find an additional email with
this information in it....

developers really ought to have a couple of
test subjects run through their registration
process before posting offers here... NUTS

Reply   |   Comment by Karen  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

A new window will appear and ask for your Serial number. Fill in the registration-Code you recently received by E-mail into the field Serial number and then click on the button „register“ You will be forwarded to our license key page (www.pixxsel.de) .
Login to your recently created account with your E-Mail address and password.
Fill in the missing fields to finalize your account and verify your data by clicking on the button „save“
Now your inital registration code has been activated into a valid serial number. Go back to the serial number window from the software and hit the button „activate now“.
The installation process will continue now and you can use the software without any restrictions.

Reply   |   Comment by vincent  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#62

I don't understand why everyone is saying there is a lengthy registration process. I clicked on the Internet button and all it asked for was my name, a valid email address to send the registration info to, and a password for what I am assuming would be a way to log in to their site online for updates and upgrades or whatever, and what country I lived in. That was it. So, then it sent me my confirmation that I successfully registered the product and we're done. So I'm confused. Is there more to it then that because if there is I didn't see it anywhere.

Reply   |   Comment by Gibby  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

@Gibby: thank you very much for your feedback. We are asking our costumers to verify the email-adress to provide them with informations about the product. HDR is not a topic that everybody unterstand out of the box.

Reply   |   Comment by vincent  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#61

I work with a lot of graphics and have found may items via Givaaway of the day, purchasing many of them
I jumped through almost all the hoops to register until I ran into 400 errors where you get the activation code. I give up
Sadly, Uninstalled

Developer: There is no real need to have such a convoluted registration process. That has cost you at least one seriously potential buyer

Reply   |   Comment by Rick Grunwald  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#60

There are a lot of hurdles with getting it activated, but to me, it was worth it. Downloaded a group of photo´s with different exposures from wikipedia: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracketing"
Program was fairly easy to use (minor point:why no simple undo button instead of first setting a restore point and then getting back under "extra"?)

Downloaded these photo´s from wikipedia from link above:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11463671/gotd/hdrproj2/1280px-StLouisArchMultExpEV-1.82.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11463671/gotd/hdrproj2/1280px-StLouisArchMultExpEV-4.72.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11463671/gotd/hdrproj2/1280px-StLouisArchMultExpEV%2B1.51.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11463671/gotd/hdrproj2/1280px-StLouisArchMultExpEV%2B4.09.JPG

I don´t like photo´s that look to artificial so I applied some conservative settings: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11463671/gotd/hdrproj2/edit07.png

I would recommend to download this program to everyone who is interested in HDR. To me, it was worth the activation hurdles.

Reply   |   Comment by Calimero  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)

@Calimero: thank you very much. If you need more informations or would like to share your experience with us, please do not hesitate to contact us via the contact form>

Reply   |   Comment by vincent  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#59

Oh hey I tried again and didn't enter any information before I closed it out and went back in with the emailed information and it registered. Great Just register.. i put in my name and nothing else, say naw...closed it out. Tried again and registered without all the information.

Reply   |   Comment by Gary  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#58

Installed software. Got to register, activation page. Registered software, able to log in site. When put registration code into serial number field, receive 'you should register software first.' ??

Reply   |   Comment by Laddy Ospanik  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Yes, you should click on register first, than you are referred to a website from Pixxsel, there you have to provide your details again, after some time you receive an email from Franzis "Aktivierung hdr projects2". Only after that you can click on "Activate" with the key provided, and the software will be activated if all goes well (I got the "ausnahmefehler" too with the http 500 error at Pixxsels site). I tried again and it worked.

Reply   |   Comment by Calimero  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Did register software. Received email titled 'Registration HDR projects 2 Windows - giveawayoftheday.' Copy and pasted registration code into serial number field, hit activate, then received the error 'you should register software first, then activate it.'

Reply   |   Comment by Laddy Ospanik  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#57

1. First you register during the install before the download by having the install software send and email.
2. Then you take the info, when it finally arrives, and enter it into the specified fields.
3. The software finally downloads and installs.
4. Then the software asks you to register the software again.
5. The previous email information will not work.
6. This is where I said "foorrgeet it".
7. From what I'm reading in the comments, the info it wants to gather is endless, BUT
8. They keep telling you how great the software is.
9. At some point, it is just not worth it even though it is FREEEEEE!

Reply   |   Comment by John Kociemba  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+7)
#56

Tryed to register several times. Keep getting message "CMS_URB_INTERNAL_ERROR" and then defaults to German web page.

Reply   |   Comment by Treadway  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#55

My Win10 Machine say's it's zone coded & not available in your geographical location. I am in Australia

Reply   |   Comment by Phil  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#54

Good grief! That was by far the most difficult registration process I've ever managed to complete - I'm glad they are working on something more sensible for the future.

The software looks like it will be useful, but having had to bludgeon my way across the registration battlefield - encountering every single one of the problems mentioned above, and finally achieving Nirvana when my press on the Activate button finally did what it said on the button -I really can't be bothered to actually put it through its paces right now

Hopefully it will be easier to use than the registration process.

Reply   |   Comment by Andyf  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#53

Keep getting internal exception error HTTP500 at final registration

Reply   |   Comment by Joe  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#52

Fortunately, my browser offered to translate the site into English. This was a big help. Was looking for examples of what the program can do, i.e. before and after pictures.

Your website does not indicate where to see pics of what the program actually does.

Used to teach photography in London in the D&P days of film lab processing.

Knew HDR stood for high dynamic range but needed to know the benefits of having HDR software. You did not make this clear.

Had to do research on this.

This point together with the registration monster you have created has put me off try your product. It has pushed me in the direction of your competition.

You have came to GOTD for feedback - get your act together and come back to offer your product again.

- What your software does
- Why we need it
- What benefit it gives us
- Easy registration

This masterful adjustment will get you more customers.

Reply   |   Comment by Janakee  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

@Janakee: thank you very much for your summary. If you are searching for more informations about the franzis photo editing software, please take a look at www.projects-software.com All your desired informations like examples, tutorials, reviews, feedback by magazines, videos and more can be found if you switch to the english version.
All those informations will be translated in the nearest future.

Reply   |   Comment by vincent  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#51

Real difficulty registering this one-I give in-also it says 30day trial and yet there is a comment stating it is not time limited.I got to the panel that asks you to activate it and then taken to page which informs me that my email already exists.So unless you make registering easier I wont be trying this one at all!

Reply   |   Comment by neil bryce  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#50

This years most difficult registration award goes to:- HDRprojects2.!!!!!!
Seems to work (WIN7) when one finally gets to the end of the process,though i almost gave up.
Quite a complicated and perplexing interface for the casual photo software user.

Reply   |   Comment by captain drewi  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#49

Vincent.
Thanks for the feedback, given in spite of the few who delight in marking down comments.

You say you are hoping to develop a simpler method of registration and I think that would be wise.
If you offer this or similar programs that many who visit this site will not be used to may I suggest you offer a simple overview of its functions.
Before today I had no idea what HDR is and so didn't have a clue as to what I was trying out.

Thanks for offering your program for download.

Reply   |   Comment by XP-Man  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#48

Firstly it is excellent and appreciated by all GOTD users that you are here Vincent to see the reaction to this Giveaway...

Without a doubt your product is good from the reaction of those who have tried it. However you need to give some very serious thought and consideration to a convoluted registration process that will put off many from even trying your product! To be perfectly frank this is the longest registration process I have ever encountered and yes it has put me off registering!

Combine this with the request for a lot of unecessary personal information and you have lost out on many potential customers here!

Howard

Reply   |   Comment by Howard  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

@howard: thank you very much for your summary. As mentioned above, our developer already managed to finish a new process. All upcomming giveawaysoftheday by FRANZIS will provide therefore a short and lean registration process to get the licence key.
Why we are asking for your E-Mail adress?
because HDR is not a topic that everybody can handle out of the box. We will provide interrested costumers with english tutorials, workflows and short info-videos.

Reply   |   Comment by vincent  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#47

Hi Vincent, can you point me to a video tutorial in English on how to use your program? I went to YouTube, but it's in German so I can't understand what the narrator is saying.

Reply   |   Comment by Bong Phillips  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)

@Bong: please take a look at the hdr projects 3 Tutorial made by Achim, a german photographer. You can find it here The UI is the same, so dont be confused if he is talking everytime about V3 and not V2

Reply   |   Comment by vincent  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#46

I already have this software so didn't download it and therefore can't comment on the registration procedure. HDR Projects 3 is the most recent offering, as I remember, and you are likely to be quite strongly encouraged to upgrade, as I was. I didn't take up the offers.
As HDR software goes, it's not bad, but IMO it's not in the same league as Photomatix, Oloneo or even SNS, which hasn't been updated in at least a year. I have them too. But since HDR Projects 2 is free today, it would be useful for anyone wanting to dabble with HDR, just to get a feel of the techniques.
The spam you get after registration is, as I remember, fairly high, and marginally more difficult to get rid of than with Ashampoo, and this may well put people off.
For me, there are "better" HDR products, all of which are pretty expensive, but as I said, today this would be useful for deciding if you want to get more involved with HDR and don't mind the subsequent advertising emails.

Reply   |   Comment by Veresiblue  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#45

During the setup, I got the message "Photoshop CC/CS6 or Photoshop Elements 12/11 could not be found on this computer. You can use this setup package to install the plug-ins at a later time."

I have the full Adobe CC 2015 Suite installed. Will the setup package work "at a later time" when this is a time limited install?

.......... and I click the only choice of "OK" and continue the registration process that leads me to "Internal exception error (HTTP 500) "

Big waste of time for me and a negative impression of the product.

Reply   |   Comment by jaf  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)

I would guess that this being an earlier rather than current version, HDR projects 2 just isn't hard coded to look for the Photoshop CC 2015 program folder. Also don't know if it's compatible with the 64 bit P/Shop CC 2015. Installing later I'd think refers to if you didn't have P/Shop today, but added it later, as nothing in the HDR projects 2 setup file would have changed, so running it tomorrow would get the same results as today.

That said, if you really, Really wanted it as a plug-in, I'd guess that you could install an earlier version of P/Shop [if you have one or as a trial], then copy the installed plug-ins to the current P/Shop folder.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

So I'm off to work and I guess no help from the developer.

Reply   |   Comment by jaf  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

@jaf: thank you very much for your interrest. As other people already mentioned here, HDR projects 2 was published several years ago. The new version HDR projects 3 supports all recent photoshop and lightroom versions.

Reply   |   Comment by vincent  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#44

Graphics card is one of the stated system requirements. If your system has a motherboard that has on board built in graphics, and you do not have a separate graphics cards then no chance. The software does not work. Too bad. It is the same with Cyberlink's Power Director, that needs a graphics card to be present.

Probably that may explain some of the user comments above, when they slam into a brick wall.

The complicated activation process is due to software developer's protection scheme against pirates and crack attempts. If it is convoluted and frustrating, that might turn on the people who like to crack codes and secret ciphers. But it turns off the average Joe users who form 99% of the potential customer base for such software.
Achieving HDR should not have to be so difficult.

If you want to shred all this software complication, just buy an Olympus EM-1 digital SLR. You press the HDR button on the top left hand upper deck of the camera body. And choose your option by turning the front dial.
It gives you 7 HDR options. 2 of those HDR options (HDR1 or HDR2) process HDR output IN-CAMERA.
It takes 4 photos and if you have RAW and JPG selected, then it combines them to give a normally exposed RAW and a HDR-output JPG. You, the user do not have to do anything. No complicated software. No frustrating "activation process" just to start using the HDR software.
Other Olympus EM-1 HDR modes take RAW files that can be post-processed with various HDR Software.

However if your REALLY want to mess with HDR software, then check out Nik HDR Efex.
That gives you fine control of the photographic result.

Reply   |   Comment by ric  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

Not true I installed on a computer with on board graphics and it works just fine. It's a tad slower processing than my other with a graphics card, But your wrong.

Reply   |   Comment by steve west  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#43

Registration process too long and complicated. Finally I received a message "wrong registration code". I checked all and have no idea. I don't like some softwares. Uninstalled.

Reply   |   Comment by GS  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#42

Serious photographers shooting for HDR use one of the following products to combine 2 or more bracketed (varying exposure adjustments from the metered exposure value) photo files into a 32-bit or 16-bit single HDR file:

1. Photomatix Pro - Excels at removing "ghosts" and can produce a myriad of results from beautiful to bizarre. It has a very tough learning curve. It costs $99.

2. Google/NIK HDR Efex Pro - Has a very logical user interface that is similar to Adobe Lightroom. Its results are less dreamy than Photomatix but it is much easier to get a feel for what each slider does. Ghost removal is not perfect. It is part of the Google's NIK Collection which contains many great programs/plugins for a mere $150.

3. Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom - Either of these is the simplest way to produce an HDR file from bracketed shots. They use the same technology. Not great at ghost removal. The last non-subscription Adobe software to do this is Lightroom 6. Most serious photographers buy the Creative Cloud for Photographers subscription for $9.99 a month.

Not all subjects are really appropriate for bracketing and HDR processing. It's usually a good idea to compare the result with the original bracketed shots. Also for a really great subject, you might use more than one of the above programs and compare the results. For the best possible outcome, the best parts of the originals and HDR files can be combined in Photoshop. This takes a lot of time and experience but I'm including this idea to be more complete.

I am not going to try today's program due to above comments regarding installation of it.

Reply   |   Comment by Duane  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

"Google/NIK HDR Efex Pro ... part of the Google’s NIK Collection"

google.com/nikcollection/ -- Still under active development? System requirements & compatibility are old, e.g. win8, P/Shop CC 2014, AMD 6xxx series graphics [3 generations since then].

" It’s usually a good idea to compare the result with the original bracketed shots."

IMHO Very true... If you've got an image in RAW format, you've more or less got everything the camera's sensor could manage [as opposed to the processed data to get jpg]. You won't always get that much more data out of +/- exposures.

"... the best parts of the originals and HDR files can be combined in Photoshop. This takes a lot of time and experience..."

It's not *that* bad [again IMHO] -- if you can get used to thinking in layers, you can pretty easily combine them all sorts of ways using [often gradient] layer masks. If P/Shop's out of the question there's always The GIMP, & if that's out, PaintShop Pro [in the $20-$30 range on sale a couple few times a year] handles layers just fine too.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#41

I have to chime in here with the rest--the registration process is ridiculously over-complicated. I've installed Adobe PhotoShop, AutoCAD, Microsoft Server and Exchange, and none of them made me jump through hoops like this. I actually did manage to complete the process but there were a number of occasions where I was ready to just give up. And now I'm too exhausted to try the software!

Reply   |   Comment by Null  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

The registration process may be complicated, but I think it's worth it. I know for a fact that EU data laws are quite strict and this may be the reason why. But Vincent would be in a much better position to answer this one. This is just my opinion.

Reply   |   Comment by Bong Phillips  –  8 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
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