The number of free high dynamic range imaging programs available is growing rapidly all the time. There are some that stand out and can boast a loyal set of users, and others that help support the aforementioned examples simply without cutting them. For those of us who love HDR photography and are just beginning to explore what this field has to offer creatively, free HDR software is the logical gateway to creating our own body of HDR work. Listed below are a variety of free downloadable HDR programs.
i.pfstools
The pfstools package is basically a set of command line programs for manipulating, reading and writing high dynamic range images and video frames. pfstools can be integrated with GNU Octave or MATLAB, so it can function as a broader platform for processing HDR images. It also includes Qt and OpenGL HDR image viewers. For those who don’t want to work with a command line interface, Qtpfsgui might be a better way to go. Qtpfsgui bundles the functionality of pfstmo and pfscaling into a GUI interface.
II. Qtpfsgui
This is an open source GUI application that can provide a decent workflow for HDR images. Being free software, this is rightfully a favorite first choice as an introduction to HDR image processing. Great as a springboard if the artist is looking to go deeper and more confidently into HDR photography. Qtpfsgui is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Users just starting out should be encouraged to really explore their options to the fullest for worthwhile results. It should be considered good enough for the price favorably free. Qtpfsgui will create HDR files from JPEG, 8-bit/16-bit TIFF, and RAW files. You can rotate, resize, tint, load and save HDR images. You can also copy exif data between image sets. Qtpfsgui will also support a variety of formats such as openEXR (extension: exr), radiance RGBE (extension: hdr), RAW image formats, native PFS format (extension: pfs), and TIFF (16-bit, 32-bit) formats. and LogLuv).
third FDRBasic tools
FDRTools Basic is a collection of basic tools for the novice HDR enthusiast looking to learn about what is possible with HDR experimentation. It will combine bracketed exposures into an HDR image comfortably enough. It will import RAW images and prepare the HDR images for display or print with its tone mapping option. It will also archive and export the HDR image in the format chosen by the user. This free software is not one that claims the loyalty of many. But it’s free and can be used as a springboard to learn more about the scope of HDR image processing.
IV. Imagenauta
Picturenaut, which grew out of the German photo arts community, has been constantly developing over the last few years. It seems to grow with consistent updates made possible by user feedback. Picturenaut often receives rave reviews, but many find that it has limited resources, so it delivers limited results. Some Picturenaut features include image alignment, color balance, exposure correction, and noise reduction. Picturenaut will also support various HDR formats, such as PFM (Portable Floating Map), EXR (OpenEXR), HDR (Radiance), JPEG, TIFF (32-bit floating point), TIFF (LogLuv), and TGA (Targa, no alpha channel). ).
V.Photomatix Pro (trial)
This is the only paid program that should be included here as the trial version is fully functional and is a superior product for serious HDR photographers and artists. The main difference that calls for full disclosure up front here is that Photomatix trial users can’t save their work without watermarks embedded in the image. Otherwise, the testware is an amazing tool that will produce HDR the way it’s supposed to, and can educate the first-time browser user on a lot of things in no time. Some key features of Photomatix, while generalizing for brevity, are: merging of bracketed exposures, batch processing, image alignment, de-ghosting, noise reduction, and permissions for 8-bit and 16-bit images. or RAW files. Also, there is the powerful tone mapping feature along with Exposure Fusion.