MergeHDR vs rawhdr

MergeHDR detects exposure-bracketed photos in a library and merges them into HDR images after approval. It identifies three-, five- and seven-frame groups using metadata such as capture time and exposure values. Users can select alignment and one of four deghosting levels, then switch tone-mapping presets without repeating the merge. The app reads and writes through Apple Photos; its App Store listing also says it can connect to an FTP server to merge brackets directly from a camera. Listed inputs include Canon CR3, Sony ARW, Nikon NEF, Fujifilm RAF, Olympus ORF, Panasonic RW2, DNG, Apple ProRAW, HEIC and JPEG. Merged images can be saved at full quality or compressed to HEIC. Merging and previewing are free; the first 10 exports are free, with a limit of five free exports per day. Unlimited saves cost $9.99 a year or 19.99 USD once, with Universal Purchase for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Processing runs locally and offline, according to the maker, and the stated privacy label is Data Not Collected.

rawhdr is a free command-line package for combining multiple RAW photographs into a high-dynamic-range image. It also performs focus stacking from multiple images. RAW input can use formats known by the rawpy library, while output can use HDR formats known by imageio. The resulting HDR exposure follows the first RAW file supplied. Installation is documented with pip install rawhdr, and a Python API is available for exposure merging and focus stacking. Its exposure-scaling helper leaves out extremely bright pixels that may be saturated and very dark pixels that may be noisy. OpenEXR writing may require the additional freeimage library through imageio. Python 3.7 or newer is required. PyPI classifies the package as OS Independent, with Linux and API listed as platforms. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2 or later. PyPI names Felix Thaler as author and maintainer.