How to Make an HDR Matte Photo Effect in Photoshop

Photoshop post processing

A post processing technique that has being used for photographers these past years is the one callled "HDR", which emulates a High Dynamic Range image. Besides creating a whole new atmosphere on your photos it makes them perfect for a wide range of creative projects. While there are a few ways to achieve this effect in Photoshop, today I will show you a very easy method to make a HDR Matte photo effect in less than 10 minutes without compromising the output quality of your image and, once we finish the effect, create a preset using the Camera Raw Filter.

Please, 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 different values on each of the settings, but for sure will work on most of them.

Step 1

Open your image in Photoshop.

Step 2

Go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter.

Step 3

In the Camera Raw Filter window, expand the "Basic" tab and apply the following settings.

Step 4

Next, expand the "Curve" tab. Be sure to select the "Point Curve" and add 3 new anchor points by clicking anywhere over the curve.

Step 5

Apply the following values for the Input and Output fields of each point:

1. 0-30
2. 55-45
3. 140-110
4. 185-185
5. 255-255

Step 6

Expand the "Color Mixer" tab and apply the following values for the Hue, Saturation and Luminance.

Step 7

Expand the "Color Grading" tab. Be sure to select the Shadows option and apply the following values.

Step 8

Still in the "Color Grading" tab, select the Highlights and apply the following values.

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, open your image in Photoshop and go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter. In the Presets tab, select the "HDR Matte" preset we've made in this tutorial and then simply click OK in the Camera Raw window to apply it.