Enfuse, part of the Enblend-Enfuse project, blends bracketed exposures directly by exposure fusion instead of building and tone-mapping an HDR image. The result tends to look natural, with no tone-mapped halos. It is free and open source, runs from the command line, and is usually paired with align_image_stack from Hugin. Lightroom users often run it through the LR/Enfuse plugin. The last Enblend-Enfuse release, 4.2, dates from 2016.
Exposure fusion is a good fit for interiors, but plain fusion tends to give flat, grey-looking rooms and washed-out windows unless you add your own post-processing.
| Enfuse | CasaVivid | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free and open source (some front-ends are paid or donationware) | Free during open beta |
| Runs on | Command line on Windows, macOS, Linux; GUIs and plugins available | Web browser; processing in the cloud |
| Approach | Exposure fusion weighted by exposure, contrast and saturation | Automatic merge plus window pull, colour correction and a finished look |
| Batch a whole shoot | Yes, by scripting or through a plugin | Yes. Upload a whole shoot and brackets are grouped automatically |
| Window view | Whatever the fusion weights give; often bright | Automatic window pull (on by default, can be switched off) |
| Colour casts | Manual | Automatic white balance and colour-cast cleanup, with a Natural or Bright & Airy look |
| Perspective | Not part of Enfuse | Automatic on interiors (straightens converging verticals; can be switched off). Not applied to exteriors or drone shots |
| Works offline | Yes | No. Photos are uploaded |
When Enfuse is the better choice
If you are comfortable scripting, want full control, and are happy to finish photos in another editor, Enfuse is free, offline and predictable. It is a solid base for a pipeline you build yourself.
When CasaVivid is the better choice
CasaVivid does the steps that come after fusion: bringing back the window view, removing colour casts, brightening, and straightening interior verticals. You get finished listing photos without building or maintaining scripts.
Where CasaVivid fits
CasaVivid is a web app made for real-estate photographers who shoot bracketed interiors and exteriors every day. You upload the whole shoot, RAW or JPEG. It groups the brackets, merges each set, brings back the view through bright windows, evens out colour casts from mixed lighting, and gives you finished listing photos. Staging and AI edits are in the same project.
Perspective correction (straightening leaning walls and converging verticals) runs automatically on interior photos and can be switched off. It is not applied to exteriors or to drone shots, where it was more likely to tilt a good frame than fix it.
It is in open beta and free to use while the beta lasts. It is not a general-purpose HDR tool: there are no tone-mapping operators to choose from, and no 32-bit output for further grading.
FAQ
- Is exposure fusion better than HDR tone mapping for real estate?
- For natural-looking interiors it usually is, which is why many real-estate workflows use fusion-style blending. Fusion alone still leaves windows and colour casts to fix afterwards.