easyHDR vs HDRMerge
easyHDR
easyhdr.comHDRMerge
jcelaya.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | easyHDR | HDRMerge |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 1 |
| Spec score · HDR Software | 8.0 (#5) | 7.7 (#11) |
| Integrations | easyHDR includes a plug-in for Adobe Lightroom, which is installed along with the application. | The maker says RawTherapee, darktable, and recent Adobe products support the floating-point DNG formats HDRMerge produces. |
| Support | The maker says it aims to reply to support emails within 1–2 days. | The maker directs users to GitHub to file bugs and feature requests and asks them to include the HDRMerge version, full error messages, and a link to sample raw files. |
Plans
easyHDR
- HOMEPrice not published
- COMMERCIALPrice not published
- easyHDR 3 COMMERCIALPrice not published
- easyHDR 3 HOMEPrice not published
In their own words
HDRMerge
HDRMerge combines exposure-bracketed raw files, or bracketed frames within one raw file, to create raw images with extended dynamic range. It outputs DNG 1.4 images with floating-point data, drawing on less noisy input pixels to retain shadow detail. In its graphical interface, users can adjust the merge mask to address ghosts from objects that moved between exposures. The command-line interface supports batch processing of raw image sets. HDRMerge can align small translations and crop the output to the area shared by the inputs. Input images must match in size, orientation, Bayer pattern, and black and white levels; the manual says this usually means using images made with the same camera. Tone mapping can happen later in another program that supports high-dynamic-range raw DNG images. The maker identifies RawTherapee, darktable, and recent Adobe products as supporting the floating-point DNG output. HDRMerge is free software under the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later, and runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. The maker describes it as a way to bring merged HDR images into a standard raw development workflow.