Dynamic Photo HDR vs HDR Merge Master

Dynamic Photo HDR is Windows software for merging exposures into HDR images or creating an HDR-style result from one image. It supports RAW files and provides tone mapping that ranges from smooth, natural treatments to dramatic or painterly effects. Source images can be aligned automatically, manually, or with auto-assist. An anti-ghosting mask lets users paint over moving objects in source shots, while batch processing queues images and can align them automatically. The editing toolkit includes effect layers and effects such as Orton, Sepia, Black/White, Vignette, and Mysterious Light. Real-time preview and advanced denoising are listed, along with Match Color for matching a tone-mapped image to another photo or painting. Output formats include JPG, PNG, BMP, TIF, Targa, 16-bit TIFF, and layered PSD. The product page identifies version 6.1, build 14/11/2017. It is described as a 64-bit Windows application, with a 32-bit version also linked. The listed price is $59 as a one-time purchase.

HDR Merge Master is a free, GPL-3.0 open-source tool that uses Blender’s compositor to combine exposure brackets in batches. It outputs 32-bit OpenEXR or Radiance HDR files and creates tonemapped JPG previews alongside them. Multiple input folders can be added, with optional recursive subfolder processing and JSON batch import or export. Alignment choices include none, Hugin pre-alignment, and MTB alignment, depending on Blender version and mode. A headless command-line mode supports folder processing, JSON input, alignment, thread settings, and cleanup. Camera RAW processing requires RawTherapee, with adjacent PP3 profiles applied automatically. Documented workflows include Blender, RawTherapee, Hugin, Luminance HDR, and PTGui; a script can replace JPG paths with EXR paths in PTGui PTS projects. Blender 4.5 LTS and 5.1 LTS are actively tested, while older versions use a reduced-feature legacy script. The tool does not remove ghosting, so a steady tripod is advised.