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HDR projects 4 Pro (Win&Mac) Giveaway
$198
EXPIRED

Giveaway of the day — HDR projects 4 Pro (Win&Mac)

The Experts’ HDR Solution!
$198 EXPIRED
User rating: 100 55 comments

HDR projects 4 Pro (Win&Mac) was available as a giveaway on November 25, 2019!

Today Giveaway of the Day
$39.90
free today
Burn files and folders to any kind of disc, burn image files on discs.

HDR projects 4 enables you to generate very precise lighting scenes that are not possible with “normal” photography or photo editing. The newest process for super realistic images with unbeatable contrast and detail that you have never seen before!

System Requirements:

Minimum: Windows 7/ 8/ 10, Prozessor Core Duo, 2 GB HDD, 1.280 x 1024 Pixels Screen Resolution, Graphic: DirectX-8-compatible, 128 MB, 32 bit colour depth; Mac OS X ab 10.7, 64 Bit, Prozessor Intel/G5, 2 GB HDD, 1.280 x 1024 Pixels Screen Resolution

Publisher:

FRANZIS Verlag GmbH

Homepage:

https://www.projects-software.com/hdr/hdr-projects-4

File Size:

210 MB

Price:

$198

GIVEAWAY download basket

Design illustrations and vector graphics, edit photos.
Manage and modify multiple graphics packages.
Access Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Acrobat software.
Manage, edit, present, and share photo images.

Comments on HDR projects 4 Pro (Win&Mac)

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#27

Applied for the free Giveaway but did not receive the id and code.

Reply   |   Comment by Leslie  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#26

Can't activate the program. "no internetconnection".

Reply   |   Comment by Just  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#25

Also applied for the free Giveaway but did not receive the id and code.

Thanks

Reply   |   Comment by Michael  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#24

I got the registration code but when I entered as the serial number, it keep saying that it is the wrong code. What is that serial number?

Reply   |   Comment by mokcp  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#23

Have downloaded and sent the REQUEST for free registation code but never received it yet! The time is running out, GOTD please have a look immediately! Thanks.

Reply   |   Comment by Victor  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#22

I have the standard version of HDR projects so it's nice to get the processional version of this program.
I also liked that the manual was included in the downloaded files as it makes things so much easier with a manual.

Reply   |   Comment by Brian  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#21

Nothing happens when I click on the Internet link in the "Resistration in 4 steps" window that pops up when I click on the Setup_Win.exe file. I tried the link in comment no. 4 by onderzoeker (thanks, o.z.!) but when I enter my email address, check the two persissions check boxes, a big "Whoops - something went wrong!" message pops up.

I downloaded a new zip file and extracted the contents, with the same result. Anybody have any ideas about getting around this hiccup? Thanks in advance!

Reply   |   Comment by DAVE COLE  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#20

Crazy slow download speed. Getting only 300KB a second on the 210MB Download.

Reply   |   Comment by Frank  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Frank,

Quite often, the download speed on your phone is much faster - have you tried that before?

Reply   |   Comment by Othello86  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#19

Applied for the free Giveaway and sent in the info but did not
recieve the id and code.
Thanks

Reply   |   Comment by Garvin Steele  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#18

No serial number activation code given, waiting for email

Reply   |   Comment by Bhavu  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)

Bhavu,
Did you register with their website first? If you didn't that's why you didn't get reg code via email.

Reply   |   Comment by Robert Smith  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#17

Does anyone know how to fix the UI so it's not so tiny on my 4K monitor = 4K TV on Windows 10? Can barely see the toolbar across the top. Sometimes I get this with other software too. Don't want to just change the display settings in Personalize from the desktop as this will affect everything else too and make those program UI's too large. Thanks.

Reply   |   Comment by BCE  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)

BCE, Just found the solution to this in a YouTube video named "How to Fix Program Scaling on 4K Monitors - Tutorial - Windows 10 and High Resolution Displays". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0txqaGV8Hi4 It worked great and enlarged the UI so it's perfect.

Reply   |   Comment by BCE  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+10)

BCE, I tend to just used System(enhanced) on its own, but like all things it's a case of finding what works well.

Reply   |   Comment by JohnL  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#16

HDR projects 4 Pro has been given away before, and it's not bad, although it's much more tailored to special FX than HDR. Photoshop & Lightroom do HDR itself better, as you'd expect, and make a sort of specialty of HDR panoramas, but you also might look for Aurora, which has seen older versions given away.

Your eyes work better than any camera -- you can see in a room that has lots of light streaming through a window, and still see through the window. A camera cannot -- it can only capture a limited amount of dynamic range, light to dark, white to black. HDR is simply taking one photo at an exposure setting appropriate for the window, and a 2nd with the exposure tailored for the room, and then combining the two. Photoshop/Lightroom let you save the combined photos as a [Very large] .dng file, an Adobe RAW format, which is a bit unique among HDR capable software.

That said, higher end phone cameras are as much, if not more about the software than the optics & sensor, and some can do arguably nice HDR without the hassle of taking 2 or more shots. Better standalone cameras let you bracket shots -- automatically take more than one photo, e.g. one lighter, one darker, and one in the middle -- while cheaper cameras may let you set & lock the exposure with the camera pointed at one place, letting you then point the camera somewhere else for the shot. You could lock the exposure for the more dimly lit room for example, then take the picture pointing the camera at the window, and then a 2nd normal shot, still pointing at the window. Or if you don't want to bother with all the HDR fuss, just take 2 [or more] photos and copy/paste parts of one into the other as needed.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+30)
#15

How long does it take to get an email with a registration code?

Reply   |   Comment by Fred  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)

Fred,
If you registered on their website before requesting a reg code, you should get it instantly like I did.

Reply   |   Comment by Robert Smith  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#14

To #6 JohnL ...thank you so much for the information. I will look forward to future input from you (I hope) on other programs in the future.
Also... thank you to Franzis for this program.

Reply   |   Comment by unruly  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

unruly, Thanks, I usually try to write something on Franzis programs as I find they are often either useful or fun, plus a lot of the time both. However some things can confuse people so I try to get them up and running. I do comment on some other Giveaways as well, but mostly stuff that interests me.

Reply   |   Comment by JohnL  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#13

No registration number sent to me, and no response to emails.

Reply   |   Comment by John Morgan  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-3)

John Morgan, Look in your Span/Junk folder. That's where my email ended up.

Reply   |   Comment by BCE  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

John Morgan,
Did you register on their website at all? If you didn't, that's why no reg code or email responses.
Sign up first.

Reply   |   Comment by Robert Smith  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#12

I tried pasting and copying the serial # as well as entering it manually, it always says it is wrong.

Reply   |   Comment by Kevin Hancey  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

Worked for me, serial # is the same as the registration number. Make sure there's not blank spaces before or after number (sorry if this seems too obvious).

Reply   |   Comment by Phlypp  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

Kevin Hancey,
Did you enter your customer ID number in the top field before entering the reg code in the bottom field?
Your personal customer number (user ID) is as follows: XXXXXXXXX (Goes in small top field)
Your registration code is as follows: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx (goes in bottom field)

Reply   |   Comment by Robert Smith  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Robert Smith,
Forgot to say that the program will ask you to enter the reg code a second time for some reason. After you enter it in again, you should be all set to go.

Reply   |   Comment by Robert Smith  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Robert Smith, absolutely I entered the customer ID number...filled out the entire form as well as entered the reg code several times.

Reply   |   Comment by Kevin Hancey  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Phlypp, yes, obvious but thanks. The time limit is now passed for getting the software but don't really care as I realized this is an older version meant for people who don't have lightroom or similar software, don't want to spend the money or can't afford it.

Reply   |   Comment by Kevin Hancey  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#11

I have both Photoshop CC and Lightroom. Can anyone speak to differences (plus or minus) between this product and the Adobe programs?

Reply   |   Comment by Wondering  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-3)

Wondering, Look down @ comment #6 by John. If I'm not mistaken, HDR can be added as a tool to both mentioned programs, and it enhances them greatly.

Reply   |   Comment by DJ  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

DJ, this is really a HDR tool providing much more control over what it does, and in a very visual way, over doing it in Lightroom. You can of course do endless things in Photoshop, but again this provides a handy way to seeing a bunch of possibles and picking one you like (which may well not be the most visually striking one BTW).

Reply   |   Comment by JohnL  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#10

You will now receive your user ID (customer number) and your personal unlock code via e-mail
to the e-mail address: ......................hotmail.com
15 hours left…..

(The download link has been sent to your email.)
sent 2 hours ago and nothing received to date.
Checked-nothing in spam
please explain and adjust, thank you

Reply   |   Comment by paul carpentier  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)

paul carpentier,
you just receive the key, NO download link.....

thats what i got:

Many thanks for your registration of our product:


HDR projects 4 professional Windows - Giveaway of the Day

Your personal customer number (user ID) is as follows: xxxxxx

Your registration code is as follows:xxxx (can also be use for HDR projects 4 professional)

Please take good note of this data!
Enter your personal user ID and the registration code in the designated boxes of the software.

It is easiest if you select and copy the registration code given above, in order to enter it again.

After correct input of the user ID and the registration code, press the "OK" button to complete registration.

Reply   |   Comment by ---  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#9

Mac Version is NOT working. I downloaded ZIP and copied Setup_Mac into download folder. Setup is (c) Team66 Version 1.0 (105 MB) but seems to be corrupt.
Any idea?

Reply   |   Comment by ---  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)

---,

For those who need it get running, click right on the on the file to see the contents, let it copy to a subdirectory, then you need to use terminal to make the file "Unpacker" in /Contents/MacOS executeable...
(use terminal and issue chmod 777 Unpacker

@Franzis/Gotd:
Did you EVER try to run this programm? No otherwise you should have seen this bug...

Reply   |   Comment by ---  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#8

I downloaded and followed the instructions in the readme file, and installed without a problem. The program reminds me of Lightroom. My computer broke and am using an old laptop with no programs. I tested the program with a photo and it worked really well for what I needed. It didn't take too long to figure out which settings were where.

Thank you.

Reply   |   Comment by Ann  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#7

I bought this version a few years ago, and have been pleased with its work on my bracketed landscapes. Even for scenes in the Southwest, like Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon, it works with the colors in the image, rather than trying to change them in the merging process. The pro version does have more features and options than the standard version.

Reply   |   Comment by Rick_S  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+10)
#6

I have used this for a couple of years. This companies stuff is good.

Reply   |   Comment by Harry Mangurian  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-3)
#5

I wrote this for a previous HDR Projects 4 Giveaway and then edited it for a following one, so I'll just copy it here with a few updates in case it is of use to anyone. Note this is the Pro version and they gave the standard one away before. Comparison:
https://www.projects-software.com/compare/1/3,2/hdr-projects-4-vs-hdr-projects-4-professional

I really like the Franzis Projects tools and some are quite excellent (their B+W converter is the best I know and Sharpen Projects is again excellent once you get away from its default attempt), so I always try to see if I can help people get over the initial learning curve. (Registering if you haven't done it for a Franzis tool before is also an adventure, but the tools are good IMHO.) I like their HDR tool (which you can easily use by taking three bracketed exposures, the correct one and typically ones at plus and minus two stops, allowing you to overcome the limited range of brightnesses cameras support in a single image) and think it is well worth installing. Another free option used to be HDR Efex 2 which is part of the Nik Tools which were Google and are now DXO, and were available as a free download when they were Google, so might still be around. Note the Nik tool is a Plugins but you can just (on Windows) drag a link to the HDR Efex 2 .exe to the desktop and go from there (although IIRC it just saves the result in a "standard" location rather than offering a choice). If you have Lightroom that also has built-in HDR support.

Note that HDR Projects 4 Pro has a lot of options and you may need to play around a bit to get a natural looking HDR, unless you fancy doing something with a more unnatural look (although some people are not fans of highly processed HDRs others like the effect).

Oh and while I am doing a bit of a quick start guide don't forget to check out the manual, especially the stuff on Ghosting removal starting on page 64: https://transfer.franzis.de/support/70513-HDRprojects4professional_manual.pdf .

Oh and it's a bit of a pain to register (unless you've done one of their tools before) but persevere and you'll get there.

Plus if anyone reading this doesn't know what HDR is, it stands for "High Dynamic Range" and is usually used to combine differently exposed photographs of a scene to end up with an image capturing a greater range of brightness than the camera can. The classic example is being in a dark room looking out on a brightly lit scene. The camera can show the detail in the room, with the Window solid white, or the detail outside the window but everything in the room is black. But taking a set of (typically three) exposure-bracketed (standard, brighter, darker) images of the scene you can then combine them in some HDR software and have room and outside both visible in the picture.

You can either combine multiple images into an HDR or just select a Raw file (if you have one) and work from that (it won't be as good, but a fair bit better than the JPEG).

IIRC Projects 4 Pro has a couple of advantages from 3, namely you get a Photoshop plugin as a Filter, not an Export Filter and you get support for high-resolution displays (4k. etc). For advantages over the non-Pro version see the comparison at the top of this post.

With the HDR software in today's give-away you have an additional step beyond just opening a photograph, you have to select the images to combine and choose some options. I was very pleased to see it has support for Raw file import, although as an older version I don't know how it will do with the very latest cameras (but see at the bottom for a partial solution to this).

Once you’ve imported the images it works in basically the same way as the other Franzis Projects software.

The thing to get your brain around with the Projects software is they are a huge pile of image processing tools, which are gathered together into presets in the left pane. All those options do is select a bunch of processing tools and choose options for them, so they are infinitely tweakable. HDR Projects adds a multiple image merging option on top.

After you've loaded the image(s) you want to work with you can then play with the canned effects on the left side, play with assorted things on the right side panel (which should start on the “Finalise” tab). I'd go with the defaults in the "HDR Preparation" dialogue initially. Note the "do it" option in the bottom right.

Once you are happy with that changing to "Expert" in the right panel (entirely optional and can be ignored) means you can add filters from the list at the top, select them in the middle of the panel and tweak their effects at the bottom (may need scrolling down). (The options on the left are just choosing and configuring a bunch of these options for you.)

The boxes at the top of the left panel filter the effects that are listed in the panel, so ignore them initially. On a faster computer you can use the Eye icon on the toolbar to disable the preview mode and show the final image in the main window, which IMHO is worth trying.

When saving the final image note that the first dialog, where it asks for the title, is going to write that over the image, it isn't the file name. The main disadvantage is the lack of Undo operations, although you can save Restore points.

I literally spent 90 seconds working on an image and was really quite pleased with the result. If you don't mind the learning curve and fancy playing with HDR I'd recommend it.

Oh, and to add raw support for more recent (although not very recent) cameras download this (if you're running 64-bit Windows):
http://transfer.franzis.de/projects/RawImageDllprojects_Win64.zip
and replace C:\Program Files\Franzis\HDR projects 4 professional\FreeImage.dll (note I guessed the path as I have v5) with the dll file it contains.
If you're not running the 64-bit version of Windows, i.e. your computer doesn't have a directory "C:\Program Files (x86)" then the file you want for upgraded raw support in 32-bit Windows is: http://transfer.franzis.de/projects/RawImageDll_projects_Win32.zip
If you have a Mac you'll need to get the OSX version of FreeImage from SourceForge and replace the existing one, wherever it might be.

Good luck and enjoy!

P.S. if you want to compare their different versions look here:
https://www.projects-software.com/hdr/comparison
(Click on items to select then "Show results".)

P.P.S. one other thing, sometimes they screw up and send English users an e-mail in German rather than English, just be laid back about it... it's part of their charm (err...)

P.P.P.S. I should also say never pay full price for their software but if you want something subscribe to their newsletter and wait for the (usually) inevitable deal.

Reply   |   Comment by JohnL  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+42)
#4

Thank you so much for the application. The menu in the application is so very small- like 2pt font. Is there something else I need to do to enlarge the font?

Reply   |   Comment by Anisa  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Anisa, Just found the solution to this in a YouTube video named "How to Fix Program Scaling on 4K Monitors - Tutorial - Windows 10 and High Resolution Displays". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0txqaGV8Hi4 It worked great and enlarged the UI so it's perfect.

Reply   |   Comment by BCE  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#3

greetings
I did the installation with the Franzis account and after running it wants the serial number otherwise trial. Does anyone know the solution?

Reply   |   Comment by Dejv  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Dejv, if you install, you get a link to request the serial and your personal ID. You need both to install. To activate the installed software, you need the serial once again.

You can request the needed data via
https://reg.franzis.de/reg/HPW-22054000/999999999/0/502/2.0/0/en/

Reply   |   Comment by onderzoeker  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

onderzoeker,
registration code = serial code
everything is all right
Thanks

Reply   |   Comment by Dejv  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Tried to use the serial number (once again).

It says "wrong serial number" (once again).

Reply   |   Comment by Brian Flanagan  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

OK, went thru the rigmarole (once again) and now it works.

Reply   |   Comment by Brian Flanagan  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#2

This one is not one but two major versions old ? :/

Reply   |   Comment by Grisemine  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Grisemine, take it your horse has all it's own teeth :) donating companies do tend to give the latest non comercially available version in here. There's not much point in giving away the ones you are currently selling, if folk like it then they may buy a more up to date version, if not you've not shelled out for something you don't like.

Reply   |   Comment by grange  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+20)

Grisemine, But works well and a lot of Franzis' updates don't add that much to the basic functionality.

Reply   |   Comment by JohnL  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#1

I have installed HDR projects 4 (no Pro) in summer this year trhu GOTD. Works very well and HDR pics derived from single shots (I am too lazy to shoot bracketed series) look pretty good. Downsides: the software is rather huge and thus slow-ish on less performant PCs, and creating individual HDR pics is more mouse-intensive than it could be. Note: I have not tried to install this update/upgrade yet - I take it this is an upgrade to the Pro edition from the summer offer?

Reply   |   Comment by Martin  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Martin, It may not take so many clicks if you use bracketed photos. You took a single photo and adjusted to make it look like HDR, but that's not true HDR.

Reply   |   Comment by Ken  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Martin,

This looks like the same I believe, 4 Pro is what I got earlier this year as well and this lists the same so I see no reason to install this when the other is working fine and appears to be the same version previously offered.

Reply   |   Comment by James Wilson  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

Thanks James, will skip this one then and be waiting for v5, or, better, v6.

Reply   |   Comment by Martin  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
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