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HDR Software
This alphabetical list contains HDR software products with which you can 1. merge your source exposures to a 32-bit HDR image and 2. tone-map this 32-bit HDR image to get an 8 or 16-bit image for further processing. Most of the descriptions are quotes from the vendors’ home pages (clearly marked as such). They do not necessarily reflect my opinion or that of any of the contributors. Wherever possible, one or more links to reviews were added in order to provide further and in-depth information about the products.
The order is alphabetical and does not imply any ranking.
Note: The HDR Resource List is living – it evolves and changes in the same way as the community changes. Therefore, this list is certainly incomplete and may not reflect the view of all visitor. If you feel that there is an important resource missing here, please contribute to the list (how to contribute). If your contribution is added to the index, I will add you to the list of contributors.
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Dynamic Photo-HDR(http://www.mediachance.com/hdri/index.html)by Media Chance Type: commercial OS support: Windows (32-bit and 64-bit), Pseudo HDR part available for IOS devices Price (approx.): $59 Description: "Dynamic Photo-HDR is a next generation High Dynamic Range Photo Software with Pin-Warping, Anti-Ghosting, Fusion and Color Matching." [source: http://www.mediachance.com] The product won the '2008 Popular Photography Award for Outstanding Product' Reviews: Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
easyHDR PRO(http://www.easyhdr.com/)by Bartłomiej Okonek Type: commercial OS support: Windows Price (approx.): €40 (€29 for non-profit users) Description: "EasyHDR PRO is an image processing software that produces and tone maps High Dynamic Range (HDR) images out of photo sequences taken with a digital camera. It is capable of importing several image formats: JPEG, 24/48-bit TIFF and any RAW photo (thanks to integration with DCRAW program). EasyHDR PRO can also import Radiance RGBE (*.hdr) or 96-bit TIFF HDR images that were previously generated with any other HDR image processing software." [source: http://www.easyhdr.com/] Reviews: none Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
Essential HDR(http://www.imagingluminary.com)by Imaging Luminary Type: commercial OS support: 32-bit Windows XP Price (approx.): $49 Description: "Essential HDR™ (code name Wukong*) is a revolutionary new HDR tone mapping software. It includes two proprietary tone mapping algorithms: Fast Tone Balancer™, for global tone mapping, and, Detail Revealer™, for local tone mapping. Both tone mapping algorithms provide superior results and lightning fast performance." [source: http://www.imagingluminary.com] Reviews: atncentral.com Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
Essential HDR Community Edition(http://www.imagingluminary.com/Download.aspx)by Imaging Luminary Type: free OS support: 32-bit Windows XP Price (approx.): $0 Description: Essential HDR Community Edition is the free version of 'Essential HDR'. It is limited to images with 1 megapixel or less. Reviews: atncentral.com Added on: 2012-01-21 | |
FDRTools Advanced(http://www.fdrtools.com/fdrtools_advanced_e.php)by Andreas Schömann Type: commercial OS support: Windows, Mac OS Price (approx.): €39 Description: FDRTools Advanced are a collection of capable tools for professionals and ambitious shutterbugs alike. It offers more functions and tone-mapping operators than its free counter part, FDRTools Basic. Reviews: none Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
FDRTools Basic(http://www.fdrtools.com)by Andreas Schömann Type: free OS support: Windows, Mac OS Price (approx.): $0 Description: FDRTools stands for 'Full Dynamic Range Tools' and consists of a collection of software tools for HDR processing. FDRTools Basic is the free version, FDRTools Advanced is the commercial version. Reviews: none Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
Fhotoroom HDR(http://www.fhotoroom.com/products/artizen/fhotoroom-hdr.asp)by http://www.fhotoroom.com/products/artizen/fhotoroom-hdr.asp Type: commercial OS support: Windows Price (approx.): $45 Description: "Fhotoroom HDR is an easy to use powerful image editor that will make your photos stunning. It can help you fix exposure, color, and distortion problems for your JPEG's, Digital Camera RAW and High Dynamic Range photos. Our give your photo stunning extra touch using our Club Lights, Bokeh, Focus Tilt Shift, Vignette or Vogue filters." [source: http://www.fhotoroom.com] There is also a free version available with reduced functionality. This software was formerly called 'Artizen HDR'. Reviews: captainkimo.com Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
HDR Darkroom(http://www.everimaging.com/products/hdrdarkroom.htm)by Everimaging Type: commercial OS support: Windows, Mac OS Price (approx.): $59 ($89 for the Pro version) Description: "HDR Darkroom, revolutionary high dynamic range imaging software can solve this problem by extending the dynamic range possible in a digital image. Details that would otherwise be lost are now visible in your images. It is as simple as taking three bracketed photos: one normal-exposure, one over-exposed and one under-exposed. HDR Darkroom then emulates the range of details the human eye detects by compressing the content of these multiple frames into a single image. The results contain rich details and vivid colors without introducing anomalies such as halos or other blemishes. This is the strength of HDR Darkroom." [source: http://www.everimaging.com] Reviews: hdrsoftware.com, scottwyden.com Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
HDR Efex Pro(http://www.niksoftware.com/hdrefexpro/usa/entry.php)by Google Type: commercial OS support: Windows Vista / 7 / XP, Mac OS X Intel, Mac OS X Price (approx.): $149 (for the entire Nik Collect Description: HDR Efex Pro is a software plugin for different host applications (e.g. Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture). Reviews: northlight-images.co.uk Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
HDR Expose(http://www.unifiedcolor.com/hdr-expose)by Unified Color Type: commercial OS support: Mac OS, Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) Price (approx.): $149 Description: HDR Expose is an HDR program that uses Unified Color’s Beyond RGB color technology, that separates color and luminance information to avoid color shifts when changing brightness. Reviews: hdriblog.com Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
HDR Shop(http://www.hdrshop.com/)by HDR Shop Type: commercial OS support: Windows Price (approx.): starting at $400 Description: Welcome to HDR Shop version 3.0! HDR Shop is an interactive graphical user interface image processing and manipulation system designed to create, view and manipulate High-Dynamic Range images. HDR Shop can also be used as an advanced and very rapid image viewer for all common low/high dynamic range formats including almost every current RAW digital camera image format. HDR Shop allows you to perform many simple and complex mathematical, filtering, and other useful image processing operations on single and multiple images with floating point accuracy and readout through a simple but powerful user interface. The software also supports scripting and is extensible via user-written plugins. [sourec http://www.hdrshop.com] Reviews: evermotion.org Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
HDRtist(http://www.ohanaware.com/hdrtist/)by Ohanaware Type: free OS support: Mac OS Price (approx.): $0 Description: HDRist is a minimalist HDR software that only runs on MAC computers. Reviews: electronista.com Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
Luminance HDR(http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/)by open source project Type: free OS support: Mac OS, Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) Price (approx.): $0 Description: Luminance HDR is an open source graphical user interface application that aims to provide a workflow for HDR imaging. Reviews: libregraphicsworld.org Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
Machinery HDR Effects(http://www.machineryhdr.com/)by www.machineryhdr.com Type: commercial OS support: Windows Price (approx.): €29 Description: HDR Effects is a software that lets you create HDR images and apply image enhancements (similar to Topaz Adjust) to them. "Program do HDR MACHINERY 2 - inexpensive, powerful, fantastic easy-to-use HDR software! You don’t need to be a specialist to achieve in a simple way wonderful effects even from a single picture in JPG format. Ready sets of settings give the chance of achieving the effect with just one click of a mouse! Go and see in the Samples section, what wonderful effects may be achieved with the software." [source: http://www.machineryhdr.com/] Reviews: Mike Hardisty Added on: 2012-01-31 |  |
Oloneo HDRengine(http://www.oloneo.com/en/page/products/hdrengine.html)by Oloneo Type: commercial OS support: Windows Price (approx.): €49 Description: Oloneo's unique selling point over other HDR products (according the Oloneo) is full control over light and exposure in real-time. Reviews: thehdrimage.com Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
Photomatix Pro(http://www.hdrsoft.com/index.html)by HDRsoft Type: commercial OS support: Windows, Mac OS Price (approx.): $99 Description: Photomatix is the industry-leading HDR software. It is the most widely used product in this sector. Reviews: stuckincustoms.com Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
Photoshop(http://www.photoshop.com/)by Adobe Type: commercial OS support: Windows, Mac OS Price (approx.): €1000 Description: The industry-leading professional image editing software Photoshop provides an HDR component that lets you merge source images to a 32bit HDR image. Reviews: hdrsoftware.com, howgreenisyourgarden.wordpress.com Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
Picturenaut(http://www.hdrlabs.com/picturenaut/)by Type: free OS support: Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) Price (approx.): $0 Description: Picturenaut is a free HDR software originating from the German HDR community. It's fast processing speed enables real-time previews that look exactly like the final tone-mapped image. Reviews: www.twin-pixels.com, rf-photography.ca Added on: 2012-01-21 |  |
SNS -HDR(http://www.sns-hdr.com)by Sebastian Nibisz Type: commercial OS support: Windows Price (approx.): €30 - €85 Description: Unfortunately, the website of SNS-HDR is almost entirely Polish (which I don't speak). Therefore, I cannot really give any official information here. There are two versions. A Home version for €30 and a Pro version for €85. If you happen to be associated with SNS-HDR, feel free to write a few lines of description, and I'd be happy to base my description upon them. Reviews: by Christian Bloch Added on: 2012-01-31 |  |
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Great list, Thanks. It would be helpful to have platform info (Windows/Mac?) prominently displayed for each program.
Thanks, Mark!
I have added the OS info to the table.
Cheers
Klaus
Lots of stuff to research! Agree with need to prominently display Mac/Windows platform— Thanks
Another software:
Machinery
http://www.machineryhdr.com/
(I have no connection with them, I’m just a customer).
Thanks, Andrea!
I have added the software.
Cheers
Klaus
Klaus,
Another package worth looking at is SNS -HDR
http://www.sns-hdr.com/full.htm
I have been playing with it for a few weeks, and while it can take time to process the images, the results are really good.
Thanks for the list.
Regards,
Paul Zietsman
Thanks, Paul! I have added SNS-HDR to the index.
Macrofusion.
Work only in Linux.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/macrofusion/
Fusion (freeware)
Windows
http://fusion.ns-point.com/home
Very descent post. Keep updating!
Thanks, Candis! I will!
This is a very descent post. Please keep updating and I’ve already subscribed.
Thanks Aletha!
There is another update of the HDR Resource Index coming up over the next few days. Stay tuned!
The description of FDR-Tools is no longer current as Andreas changed the features of the free version, see quote from his website below:
FDRTools Basic is the gratis variant of FDRTools. The range of functionality is identical compared to the Shareware FDRTools Advanced.
However, there is a clear distinction to the Advanced variant: FDRTools Basic ist less suited for the processing of many and large images as it does not support parallelised – and hence much faster – image data processing. Furthermore FDRTools Basic is available as 32-bit version only, imposing limits on the size of processible images.
SNS-HDR is also available as a free version called SNS-HDR Lite. The free version comes with several fixed presets that cannot be changed, contrary to the commercial versions, as there are no sliders etc. The installation program leaves a shortcut for the standard (default) preset on the desktop. Just drop one or several (bracketed) image files on the shortcut and after tone mapping the result will be saved in the same directory as the original image files. The programs (all three versions) are in particular recommended if photo realistic results is what you aim for and they are halo tolerant, in fact, one could say that it is difficult to get halos.
The author is prompt with updates, such as new camera RAW formats, but also new features (partly suggested by other users) are regularly added, such as masking, curves and vignetting.
Another pro of the two commercial versions is that the program comes with 10+ languages, which means that most of the Western, Central and South European languages are included.