I’m happy to announce the launch of Web Sharp Pro (WSP) v6, which is another free update for all existing customers. This launch is a bit unique as I have been quietly adding these features to “v5” for a while to help get some feedback and expanded testing before I had everything ready. The key theme in v6 are new capabilities for sharing HDR photos, which allow you to show much more lifelike images using the full dynamic range captured in your RAW files. I’ve been hard at work on these capabilities for close to two years and am excited to finally start sharing more about them.

Web Sharp Pro v6 adds the following new capabilities:

• Share any HDR photo to Instagram or Threads in the highest quality possible.
  • This offers an easy way to show your HDR images to a large audience, as most people view Instagram on an HDR capable smart phone.
  • I am not aware of any other way to achieve this at this time. Instagram current supports only a subset of valid HDR gain maps and Web Sharp Pro is designed to specifically encode images for success on Instagram. And while you can share simple HDR images in some cases to Instagram, the SDR base image is auto-generated – which means you may see a good HDR result, but those with a limited SDR display will have a poor experience (even HDR-capable phones may show SDR in low power mode, when viewed outdoors, etc – so it is very important to ensure a high quality SDR base image).
• Export any image as an HDR JPG gain map, which allows you to share your images in the highest possible quality (even if the viewer does not have an HDR display).
  • You are in complete control and can completely customize the base SDR image any way you like.
  • See this post to see a proper gain map significantly improves the experience for all viewers
  • There are no limits on what is possible, and there are three key workflows to suit your needs (videos below).
    • Workflow #1: Export from an SDR source image using WSP’s “enhance SDR to HDR” option. The SDR version in the gain will be identical to your original source image. This is ideal if you wish to use a standard editing workflow, print your work (in addition to sharing as HDR), or upgrade an existing edit.
    • Workflow #2: Export from an HDR source image. When you do this, WSP will invoke ACR to help generate the SDR image. Rather than using just the “preview for SDR display”, this gives you access to every tool in ACR (sky masks, local brushes, every single slider, etc). This allows you to create the highest quality HDR edit and at the same time create a very high quality fallback SDR image with minimal effort, to ensure everyone see’s a great result.
    • Workflow #3: You may provide both the SDR and HDR version of your image to be encoded in the gain map. This gives you 100% control over both the SDR and HDR version of your image.
• Support for ISO 21496-1 gain maps, as well as dual encoding for legacy XMP gain maps.
  • This means that the images have the maximum compatibility possible for both today and the future.
  • The images are already shown with the benefit of HDR in most web browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera), in Adobe software, Apple software (iMessage, Photos app, Preview, Quick Look), Instagram, and effectively any software or website which adds HDR support in the future.
  • And of course, they safely display as your SDR base image anywhere HDR or gain maps are not support. These images are 100% safe to use anywhere.
• View your HDR images on a TV as a slideshow. This is not otherwise possible with AppleTV, AirPlay, ChromeCast, etc – as those services do not yet support HDR photos. (video below)
• Create generic masks (via the top-right flyout menu). This allows you to create a single mask to customize where you apply enhance SDR to HDR, sharpen, or add grain. This allows you to generate multiple different exports or re-export in the future and automatically re-use your customization.
• You may now hide the crop overlays button in order to show up to 6 custom preset buttons. Since the WSP v5, there is no longer any need to use crop overlays for almost any reason. The quick export templates are simpler and easier to use. Go to the top-right flyout menu in the panel and turn off “Show crop overlay options”.

Note that support for gain maps includes Windows and Apple Silicon. Support for that export does not currently include Intel-based Macs (ie those >4 years old), but you may still export an HDR AVIF.

 

How to share any image as HDR on Instagram:

This first demo shows workflow #1, where you can upgrade an existing SDR source image to HDR. This offers a very simple way to support both print and HDR. It’s also great for images you have already edited, working with familiar SDR editing workflows, enhancing images you’ve created with AI tools or downloaded from stock image sites.

When you use this workflow, the gain map will use your original SDR as the base image. This means no loss of image quality! If you were to manually upgrade your image to HDR and export as a gain map through some other approach, your SDR base image would not match the original and would likely look inferior to your original edit to anyone viewing on a a limited display.

This demo is recorded on a standard (SDR) monitor to also show that you can take advantage of HDR on Instagram even if you do not yet have an HDR monitor.

Be sure to use the exact workflow as shown, as there are several ways you may lose HDR on Instagram (IG). To ensure successful HDR on Instagram, just make sure you do the following:

• Select any “Instagram” template in Web Sharp Pro.
  • IG does not accept all valid HDR encodings (which is why many otherwise valid HDR images will be converted to SDR).
  • When you use one of the “Instagram templates, WSP will use special encoding designed to meet IG’s requirements to successfully show as HDR.
• Use the new “JPG (w/gain map)” HDR format in WSP settings.
• Upload from a computer web browser (or Android phone).
  • Do NOT upload from an iPhone. Even if you get an HDR result, the SDR base image will be auto-generated and the result is much lower quality for anyone viewing on a limited display.
  • It is likely that ISO gain maps eventually allow great results when uploading from an iPhone, but the current mix of support on different platforms impacts the quality of transcoding during upload from an iPhone
  • Note that this is just a concern for uploading, most iPhone users will automatically see your image as HDR once successfully uploaded from a computer.
• While uploading to IG, always change from the default 1:1 crop to “original“.
  • If you allow any cropping, you will almost certainly lose HDR in the uploaded image.

For more information on IG, please see Instagram now supports photos and click the “tutorials” button in WSP to review the IG and HDR sections.

 

How to export your HDR with full control of the base SDR image (workflow #2):

With workflow #2, you provide an HDR image as the source. During export, Web Sharp Pro will let you interactively generate the SDR base image with the full capabilities of Adobe Camera RAW (ACR). This includes the use of any slider, local masks, etc. It’s a very quick and easy way to generate a high quality SDR fallback for viewers with limited displays. This is a great workflow for creating the highest quality HDR from your RAW images, with a quick and easy way to ensure a great SDR base image.

See the note below on RAW HDR Smart Objects, as you’ll be prompted with assistance to use workflow #3 for better / simpler results.

 

How to fully control the base SDR image in your gain map (workflow #3):

With workflow #3, you provide an image which includes both your HDR and preferred SDR image in your source image. This gives you 100% control over the base image using any tool you like. Web Sharp Pro will create a gain map where the HDR is based on your 32-bit image (as it appears at the time of export). You would provide the SDR base image as content in the bottom layer or group of your image, and just name the bottom layer/group “SDR” to signal to Web Sharp Pro to use that content as the base SDR image (rather than invoking workflow #2 / ACR).

You might use this workflow for several different reasons:

• To manage the edits in Lightroom: Do a full HDR edit in Lightroom, create a virtual copy to create an SDR version, then open both as layers in Photoshop, put the SDR on the bottom layer (with the name being “SDR”).
• To customize your own SDR to HDR upgrade (ie, instead of using workflow #1 with Web Sharp Pro’s automated approach).
• To tone map an HDR to SDR with tools not available in ACR.

See how to set up custom buttons to quickly export from WSP with your favorite settings for Instagram, Threads, etc. Additionally, you can hide the “crop overlays” button via top-right flyout menu (4 bars icon) in the v6 panel. When you hide the old overlays option (which are no longer needed), you can show up to 6 custom buttons.

If you start from a single-layer RAW Smart Object edited for HDR (ie 32-bits), you are set up for workflow #2, but can get better results with workflow #3 by creating the SDR from the RAW. Web Sharp Pro will detect this and offer to help quickly set up workflow #3 (it will duplicate the RAW layer, move/rename it, and invoke ACR so you can create the SDR version at the highest quality from the RAW). This option is relevant for RAW images opened as smart objects from Lightroom Classic or ACR, but not Lightroom Desktop. When you open a smart object from Lightroom Desktop, it’s current design effectively sends a rasterized TIF as a smart object – it is not RAW and therefore you wouldn’t be prompted for that option. This is therefore mostly applicable to those using ACR (if you use LR Classic, a virtual copy for the SDR may be ideal as you won’t need to save any layered TIF when you can just open the same SDR + HDR layers again).

 

Which HDR export workflow should you use?

There are great reasons to consider all three workflows, and it may be optimal for you to use a mix of them. For the sake of learning, I recommend starting with workflow #1. This requires no knowledge of how to edit an HDR image and is an easy way to get started.

Beyond that, I believe the best workflows depend on your needs:

• Workflow #1 (SDR source)
  • Supporting both print and HDR. The vast majority of the HDR images I have shared were created from SDR images as I have printed a large range of my work for clients or myself.
  • Ideal for Beginners (ie just learn the export workflow with no need to learn any HDR editing workflows)
  • Ideal for those with no HDR monitor (you can easily upgrade your images for sharing on Instagram / Threads, a computer monitor becomes more important for workflows 2 and 3 when you do an original HDR edit from the RAW).
  • Upgrading existing SDR images (such as your older edits or AI-generated images)
• Workflow #2 (HDR source)
  • Optimizing for HDR. The highest quality HDR results typically come from doing the original RAW edit in LR / ACR using HDR mode.
  • This is a great option for those using Lightroom Desktop. Just open your HDR image into Photoshop.
  • This is also a great starting point if using ACR. Just open your image as a RAW smart object (hold shift as when clicking “open” in ACR), WSP will offer to duplicate that RAW layer to set up workflow #3.
• Workflow #3 (HDR + SDR)
  • This is my favorite workflow for full control when I edit the original workflow to HDR, and it is very quick and easy once you learn it.
  • Ideal for working with Lightroom Classic. Just create an HDR edit, then make a virtual copy of it and edit for SDR, then select both to right click and “Edit in / Open as smart object layers in Photoshop”.
  • Ideal for full control of both the SDR and HDR renditions, using any editing tool you like.
  • Ideal for manually enhancing SDR to HDR.

All of these approaches can be quite fast and easy. Workflow #1 is the simplest. Most of the HDR images I share use this workflow and it typically takes me about 30 seconds to generate and export the HDR. Workflow #2 is also quite fast and easy. Workflow #3 can be fast or much more involved, depending on what you want to do.

 

What limitations are there for gain maps?

Web Sharp Pro is optimized to allow you to create any edit you like with optimal SDR and HDR results. You can do pretty much anything with a photograph. However, there are some limits which could apply if you make a significant mistake using workflow #3.

It is important to remember that a gain map is not two separate images. That would require an image twice as large as normal. In practice, a gain map tends to only be about 30% larger than a simple SDR image. This is achieved by including a base image and a second image which is used to apply a multiplier to each pixel to generate the alternate image. For a JPG gain map, the base image is always SDR. That means that the SDR version of your gain map will always match your SDR source.

However, there are mathematical limits to what is possible for the alternate (HDR) version. For example, if an SDR pixel is nearly black, then you will not be able to create a bright HDR pixel. And while it is possible for the HDR pixel to be darker than the SDR, encoding for that is generally limited (due to the risk of quality issues it can create). Neither of these scenarios should affect any proper SDR + HDR edit of the same image. However, if you were to accidentally or deliberately make one of the images significantly different than the other, the result may be a strange HDR with ghosting from the SDR or other artifacts. Watch out for misalignment of pixels if you are creating separate SDR and HDR edits, that would create a high risk of issues for the final gain map.

 

Create an HDR slideshow to show on your big-screen TV:

Most of us have a gorgeous HDR display right at home. Your TV likely supports HDR and you can use Web Sharp Pro to make a slideshow for it. Just export your images (ideally using fixed height and 2160 pixels to target 4K), then go to the top-right flyout menu in WSP for the new “create HTML slideshow” feature. Just open the new HTML file in an HDR-capable browser like Chrome. When you connect your computer to your TV over HDMI, be sure to enable high dynamic range in the MacOS / Windows display settings. See my e-book for more details on how to set up your TV to show HDR.

If you export as index.html, you can copy the whole folder to your website and just point the browser to that folder to show in a browser. As shown in the video, you can even customize the timing and order of images if you’re comfortable editing HTML.

 

Thanks and acknowledgement

There are a large number of people who have contributed to the overall HDR ecosystem which makes this all possible. I’d like to thank the numerous customers of mine who help beta test or otherwise provide great product input. I’d like to say a special thanks in particular to Adobe, Apple, Google, and Meta for their extensive contributions to HDR in software, operating system capabilities, display hardware, mechanisms for sharing images, and open standards. And the countless other companies and individuals who have contributed in numerous ways to help upgrade every aspect of the ecosystem required to support the future of electronic image display.