color_adjust_HDR

This isn't real HDR - real HDR merges multiple exposures of the same shot. color_adjust_HDR does the thing people usually mean when they say "HDR look": pull detail back out of the shadows and highlights, punch up local contrast, all from one already-rendered image. It's the tone-mapped style, not the bracket-merge technique, and it's punchy enough that you'll want to use it deliberately rather than as a default finishing step.

It sits under Apt_Preset/image/color_adjust, the pack's general image post-processing bucket alongside curves, HSL, and color balance.

How it works

The dials effectively split the image into tonal zones. highlight_detail, midtone_detail, and shadow_detail control how aggressively each zone gets its detail pulled back and recovered; gamma reshapes the overall midtone curve; underexposure_factor and overexposure_factor push against the extremes; HDR_intensity is the master strength; overall_intensity is your final blend-with-original safety dial.

The inputs and outputs that matter

• HDR_intensity (0.5-3, default 1) - the overall strength of the whole effect.
• gamma (0.1-3, default 0.9) - below 1 brightens midtones.
• highlight_detail / midtone_detail / shadow_detail - very small default values (highlight_detail defaults to about 0.033), so these are sensitive; nudge them gently rather than typing round numbers.
• overall_intensity (0-1, default 0.5) - the dial to reach for first. It scales the entire effect down without you having to re-balance seven other sliders.
• image in, IMAGE out.

How to install it

Through ComfyUI Manager: search "ComfyUI-Apt_Preset", install, restart. Manually:

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/cardenluo/ComfyUI-Apt_Preset.git

then run install.bat (Windows) or install the pack's requirements yourself on Linux/Mac, and restart. Pure image math - no model downloads for this node.

Common issues & troubleshooting

Nothing looks different. overall_intensity starts at 0.5 and HDR_intensity has a floor of 0.5 - if the result looks nearly identical to the input, push both up before touching the detail sliders.

Result looks blown-out or crunchy. That's overall_intensity combined with a high HDR_intensity doing exactly what this effect is built to do. Back both off rather than trying to compensate with the *_detail sliders - those are for fine tuning, not for reining in an overcooked overall look.

Looking for the version with a live preview? color_adjust_HDR_visual has the identical dial set - same math, just flagged as an output node so it renders inline while you drag sliders. Use that one while dialing in numbers, this plain one once you're feeding the result deeper into a pipeline.

IMPORT FAILED on the pack. ComfyUI-Apt_Preset is large and updates often; users have reported import failures after some updates. Reinstall via Manager and restart before assuming it's this node.