EnfuseGUI vs HDRMerge

EnfuseGUI is a desktop application that creates high dynamic range images by blending photographs made at different exposures. Swipeware describes uses including combining room and window exposures, night photography, and focus stacking. It accepts TIFF and JPEG files plus raw formats such as NEF, CR2, and DNG. Align Image Stack helps line up hand-held shots before blending. Batch processing and multi-processor use support larger sets of images, and EXIF data transfers to the final image. The maker describes EnfuseGUI as a graphical interface exposing all options of the Enfuse engine. It runs on Windows and macOS. A 30-day free trial is available inside the application after downloading and installing it. One license key activates the application on two computers.

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.