With Jeff's Presets for HDR Efex Pro 2, you will be creating stunning natural HDR images in no time at all!

I have spent the past two years creating and refining these HDR Efex presets so that photographers can produce the highest quality output with the least amount of effort. These are the same presets I use every day in my commercial and personal post-processing work and they produce gorgeous results that range from subtle and natural to surreal and dreamlike.

Jeff's Presets for HDRE2 are designed to work with Nik HDR Efex Pro 2, part of the Nik Collection by DxO

The presets are organized into two sections:

The first group are "day-to-day" presets designed to work with a variety of source images to produce tone-mapped results that range from subtle to strong and everything in between. These work-horse presets are appropriate for all types of subject matter.

The second group are creative presets that generate or mimic a particular visual "style" or "look". These are more artistic in nature and may be targeted at particular subject matter. (Nature, urban, sunset, etc.)

Each of these presets is intended as a starting point for your creative process and most of them should look pretty darn good "right out of the box". But don't stop there! Once you have chosen a particular preset, you can fine-tune each of the tone-mapping and finishing parameters to suit the needs of your particular photo.

Day To Day Presets:

01 Simple and Subtle - A good starting point for keeping your tone-mapped images subtle and realistic. This preset applies a minimum amount of tonal compression, micro-contrast, and detail enhancement. Avoids the typical HDR pitfalls of over saturation and grungy details but still remains sharp.

02 Outdoor Natural - Perfect for outdoor/daylight scenes you wish to render in a natural fashion. Some tone compression, detail enhancement, and micro-contrast adjustments. But nothing too obvious or over the top.

03 JLHDR - A favorite starting point for dramatic but realistic HDR images. This preset has good depth and detail. Great general purpose preset for most subjects.

04 JLH Mod - A "lite" version of the popular JLHDR preset, this version dials things back a bit for a more subtle effect. A more natural and realistic version for those who prefer a softer touch.

05 Bright Punch - This preset increases exposure quite a bit while maintaining as much shadow and highlight detail as possible.

06 Dark Punch - The opposite of Bright Punch, this preset decreases exposure quite a bit while maintaining as much shadow and highlight detail as possible. Great for urban night-time scenes with lots of man-made lighting, neon, etc.

07 Dark and Deep - Stronger contrast, tonal compression, and color saturation. Another favorite.

08 DD Open Shadows - Like "Dark and Deep" above, but with the shadow tones opened up entirely.

09 Shady Grove - General purpose shaded or overcast preset. Clouded landscapes work well with this one.

10 Shady Halo Fixer (Warm) - Preset for photos taken on shady days. Removes halos from sky/clouds and warms the color temperature.

11 Shady Halo Fixer (Cool) - Preset for photos taken on shady days. Removes halos from sky/clouds and cools the color temperature.

12 Shady Halo Fixer (Neutral) - Preset for photos taken on shady days. Removes halos from sky/clouds but doesn't change color temperature.

Style Presets:

13 New Dark City - For a slightly darker look without getting to murky. Light amount of Depth, Drama, and Detail enhancement. Great for urban and other complex shots.

14 Ektachrome Dreams - Emulates the look of Ektachrome slide film. Great with nature and portraits

15 Hip Sister-gram - A vintage retro-style preset for the iPhone generation

16 McQuarrie - For a more abstract painterly look. Inspired by the great illustrator.

17 Soft Squash - Muted but saturated. Detailed yet soft.

18 Sunset Stacker - Designed to enhance sunsets with a strong foreground element.

19 Sunset Smear - A more surreal version of the Sunset Stacker preset.

20 Eclipse - Dark, saturated contrast with a high level of detail. Great for almost any subject other than portraits.

21 Lunar Light - For a moonlit look

22 Mono Pop - Black and White with sharp details and good contrast

23 Toned and Mapped - A bright general purpose Sepia Toned preset

24 WWII X-ray - Dark green monochromatic preset with very strong contrast and extremely textured details

25 Cyanotype - This vintage style preset is inspired by the cyanotype photo process that produced images with a predominantly cool tone.