To begin this tutorial it is assumed that you have a basic understanding of what HDR images are and their importance as well as a basic understanding of how to use Tone-Mapping Operators in Artizen. If not, please read What is HDR tutorial and Using Tone-Mapping Operators

The Fattal tone mapping operator is one of the most complex operators available in Artizen. As a result it is also the slowest, but is able to enhance the local contrast of a image making detail not usually visible to the human eye very pronounced. One of its greatest advantage is also its greatest disadvantage. Halos can produce quite appealing surreal results but these also never occur naturally in nature. This is a similar type of operator used by products such Photomatix and FDRTools. As you can see from the examples below there is clearly a halo that surrounds the Lighthouse and shoreline. 

Brightness/Luminosity: This option unlike other operators only works on the Bright areas of an image and is an excellent way to control the overall luminosity of an image. This option and Highlights should be used in conjunction with each other, so that if you prefer to increase the overall image's brightness, the Highlights option and then the Luminosity option can be used to pull back some of the effect, controlling over exposure on the Bright areas.  (-10 to 10)

Saturation: Saturation boosts the brightness of each individual color channel. Unlike most other operators the Fattal version of Saturation is very powerful and can easily add to much saturation to your image, to the point that the image almost has a cartoon result. In some situations this option can erode image detail, so it is actually more desirable to start with an under saturated image and work your way from there. This will ensure that the user achieve the image detail desired without confusing the user by allowing the possibility to add too much Highlights or Luminosity.  Range (0.0 to 1.0)

Strength: This option reduces the effect of the tone mapping operation, which is very useful at restoring black areas to a more natural look. A good initial value is between 0.5 - 0.9 depending on the image. Brighter images may require higher values while Darker images with black areas may require lower values. Range (0.0 to 1.0)

Micro: The Micro option controls the amount of Micro Contrast that is applied to the image. This option is directly tied to the Strength option so if Strength is zero this option will have no affect. Range (0.0 to 1.0)

Soft Light: This option controls the level of smoothening that is applied to the light sources and Micro Contrast of your image. This option could also be thought of as Micro Contrast because they work together. This option is also directly tied to the Strength option so if Strength is zero this option will have no affect. Range (0.0 to 1.0)

The image below shows how the Soft Light option affects the appearance of your image. Using default values for every other option the Soft Light option was adjusted from 0 for the image on the left to 0.5 for the middle and 1.0 for the image on the right. 

Contrast: Where Micro Contrast reduces/increases contrast using a local method, this Contrast option is a little more common to users as it can either reduce or increase contrast on an individual color basis and is also referred to as Global Contrast. Range (-1.0 to 1.0)

Highlights: This option allows for fine tuning of the Highlights in an image. This is usually one of the last options to be applied as it is one of the last functions applied to the image. In addition, this option can be used very closely with the Histogram. Range (-1.0 to 1.0)

Shadows: This option like the Highlights is for fine tuning only the Shadows in an image. This option is also one of the last functions applied to the image and is therefore very easily used in conjunction with the Histogram. If this value is set very low your image may appear to very dark. By simply bringing this value closer to zero it will help significantly. Range (-1.0 to 1.0)

Midtones: This option controls the entire image as a whole, by helping to position the majority of image detail in the most visible way. Overly dark images can easily be converted to an overly bright image. Range (-1.0 to 1.0)

Working with the Fattal operator has many pitfalls and tricks, but once mastered, Fattal is able to produce absolutely breath taking results.