Photomatix Pro is a stand-alone program that creates and processes HDR (High Dynamic Range) images, and runs on Mac OS X and Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista. Some of the features of Photomatix Pro are also available as a Filter plug-in of Photoshop CS2/CS3/CS4 and an Edit plug-in of Aperture 2.1.

If you have ever photographed a high contrast scene, you know that even the best exposure will typically have blown out highlights and flat shadows. Photomatix offers two ways to solve this problem: HDR Tone Mapping: Reveal highlight and shadow details in an HDR image created from multiple exposures and Exposure Fusion: Merge differently exposed photographs into one image with increased dynamic range.

Photomatix Features:

Saving on lighting equipment - No need to acquire expensive lighting equipment -and carry it- when you shoot high contrast scenes. Just enable the Auto Exposure Bracketing feature of your camera, and let Photomatix merge your photos into an image with extended dynamic range.

Great pictures on cloudy days - Shadowless hazy sunlight or an overcast sky usually results in dull-looking photographs. The tone mapping tool of Photomatix Pro can turn them into great-looking images.

Saving time in post-processing - Photomatix Pro is designed for productivity -- automatic blending, unlimited stacking, easy comparison of results and batch processing save hours of masking and layers work in image editing programs.

Well exposed panoramas - A panoramic scene is almost always a high contrast scene -- you can't limit your view to areas with the same brightness when shooting a 360° panorama. By taking views under several exposures and processing them in Photomatix Pro, you can create a panorama that will show details in both the dark and bright areas of the scene. Photomatix Pro offers both exposure blending (also knows as exposure fusion) and HDR tone mapping.