To create a new HDR image, click the icon located on the toolbar. After clicking the icon, a dialog window will open in which you should select the source image or images (if the image is to be created from multiple exposures) and confirm the selection.

The source image files can also be dragged into the program window directly from a file manager window (Windows Explorer or Finder on macOS). To do this, open the folder containing the source images in the system and drag the images into the SNS-HDR workspace.

After the source images have been selected, the program will display a window in which you should set the image pre-processing parameters.

Depending on whether a single source image or several exposures have been selected, the following options will be available in the window:

• Size reduction
  
  This option is used to reduce the size of the source images. Setting a size reduction is recommended when the processed image can be smaller than the original and you want to speed up the image pre-processing. Image pre-processing is time-consuming, and smaller images are processed faster. A twofold size reduction means four times faster processing.
   
• Image alignment
  
  When this option is checked, the source exposures will be aligned automatically. This option is only active when creating an image from multiple exposures.
   
• Ghost reduction
  
  Checking this option makes the program automatically reduce the shifts of objects between the individual exposures. Object shifts are reduced starting from the brightest exposure of the image, so a positive side effect of this function is noise reduction in the image. This option is only active when creating an image from multiple exposures.
   
• CA reduction
  
  When this option is checked, the program automatically reduces chromatic aberration, i.e. the colored (most often purple and green) fringes visible on the edges of high-contrast objects, such as branches against the sky. For RAW images, lateral chromatic aberration is corrected already while decoding the file, and the remaining fringes are removed after the exposures have been merged. This option slightly increases the processing time.
   
• Automatic luminance
  
  When this option is checked, the program stretches the image histogram to optimally fill the entire available tonal range. Enabling this option is recommended for most images, as it makes the black point of the generated HDR image take the value of zero and the white point the maximum value. Disabling this option is only recommended when processing HDR images that are part of a larger image, e.g. a panorama. This ensures that all components of the larger image will have uniform brightness.
   
• 360° panorama mode
  
  When this option is checked, the program takes into account that the processed image wraps around, which means that its left and right edges actually meet. Checking this option ensures that when the final image is presented in a 360° view, the seam where the image edges join will not be visible.
   
• RAW/HDR profile
  
  The color space of the resulting image (sRGB, Display P3, Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB) for source files that have no color profile of their own: RAW data is always decoded in a wide color space and the result is converted to the selected profile; for OpenEXR and Radiance HDR files without an embedded profile the selected profile also indicates the color space of the source data. TIFF, JPEG and HEIC files (and HDR files with an embedded profile) keep their own profile — the result is saved in the color space of the source images, and the field is inactive for these formats. All source images are processed in a common internal space, so the result does not depend on the input profile. The default is Adobe RGB; the last choice is remembered. The profile of the loaded image can be changed later with the tool in the main window.

After the parameters have been confirmed, the program will begin pre-processing the image. A window will be displayed with information about the processing progress and a button to optionally cancel the operation.

When the processing operation is complete, the pre-processed image will appear in the program workspace.

An HDR image can also be created from a previously saved image in the SNSX format. To do this, click the icon, select the file and confirm the selection, or drag the SNSX file directly from a file manager window into the program window.