How to Make a Smooth HDR Photo Effect in Photoshop

Photoshop Photo Effects

HDR effects are so popular that they have become synonymous of vibrant, detailed, and professional-looking photos. With Photoshop, we can easily replicate this effect using only a single image (instead of the 3 required for HDR photos) with the capabilities of Photoshop's Camera Raw filter. So today, I will show you how to make a Smooth HDR effect in Photoshop, bringing out both highlights and shadows of your images using only the Camera RAW filter to create a visually striking impact and save the settings we will use as a preset in case you want to use this same effect on other images.

Keep in mind that every image is unique, so the settings I will show you here should be taken as a basis for all of your images and yours may require some minimal values adjustments on each of the settings. And before we begin, if you want to follow this tutorial exactly as described, please download the following free image from Pexels: Download

Step 1

Open your image in Photoshop.

Step 2

Go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter.

Step 3

Expand the "Light" tab and apply the following settings.

Step 4

Now expand the "Color" tab and apply the following settings.

Step 5

Next, expand the "Effects" tab and apply the following settings.

Step 6

Expand the "Curve" tab and be sure to select the "Point Curve". Click anywhere inside the curve graphic to add 4 new control points.

Step 7

Set the following Input and Output values for each point:

1. 0 - 0
2. 30 - 25
3. 65 - 60
4. 128 - 128
5. 190 - 195
6. 255 - 255

Step 8

Next, expand the "Detail" tab and apply the following settings.

Step 9

Before applying the effect to the image, we will save all these settings as a new preset to use it later over any other image. To do that, click on the "More Image Settings" icon and from the dropdown menu select "Create Preset".

Step 10

In the Create Preset window, give your new preset a name, select the following options and click OK.

Step 11

Lastly, simply click OK in the Camera Raw Filter window.

A Final Note:

The next time you want to use this photo effect on any of your pictures, simply open your image in Photoshop and go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter. Go to the Presets tab and select the "Smooth HDR" preset we've made in this tutorial, then simply click OK in the Camera Raw window to apply the effect to your image.