Aurora HDR App Reviews

This is an amazing photo app. I haven’t found any other that has so many effects & filters for HDR photos as this one!! And it’s really soo easy to use. Thank you guys! I’m totally in love with Aurora :)

One word… wow! I own a couple of other Macphun apps and they all work really well. This new Aurora HDR app though has re-opened my eyes to HDR which I hadn’t tried in a couple of years. I’ve only had it for a few hours, but have gotten great results on single images and multiple [bracketed] photos. Tried on landscape and “urbex-style” shots - very realistic! The presets are fun to explore too.

I have been a closet fan of HDR for a long time and I am happy to see that someone has finally done it right. Most of the time the built in presets for tone mapping hdr images make things look unnatural and fake, which I am not a big fan of, but the base result in Aurora is a great starting point, and even where I have kept most of my images without any need to adjust! If you want you can push things further towards the sureal, but the main thing for me is that the end results are what I intended. I am able to accomplish this in Aurora with just a few clicks! I might have to jump back on the HDR train. Five Stars for great built in presets, natural looking base toning and the flexibility to go wild if you want to.

Seems like a good program, but this version has no support for RAW images. This should definitely have been mentioned on the page as one would assume that an HDR program would have it. Kind of worthless without it, in my opinion. Fortunately, they have an option to upgrade to the pro version, which is $99.99.

It creates vivid, outstanding results even from regular ‘boring’ pictures. Great presets!

Had I known it didnt support the RAW format I would have passed on buying it. Uh well, just another program tht might collect dust, little mad it didnt support RAW.

I have used different HDR tools on both Mac and iPad. But they all look like toys in compare with Aurora HDR. For years there was nothing new in this part of photography, and I know that many photographers just like me, stopped doing HDR a lot. Mostly for the lack of simple and powerful software. But now with this tool, I see a lot of people actually coming back. Plus I can see a lot of amateur photographers digging Aurora HDR for its speed and simplicity. Heads up to the developer for launching another great software, I also have noiseless that I use to remove digital noise from suome photos. Just like Noiseless, Aurora is very fast and simple to use. And of course the ability to import your own presets is a winner.

After days of using Aurora HDR, here’s what I’ve discovered. - I agree that in terms of HDR photography, this tool is more advanced than anything else - It works great with multiple exposures, but you still need to learn how to get best results out of it - Please add deghosting to this version - very critical for pro users - I convert RAW DNG to TIFF in LR and then export to Aurora HDR - same great results, but much faster workflow - Love the layers, this is definitely a big difference - Agree that extension is need, but not sure how photos will export several photos at once - Batch processing would be nice, but not critical - Love the presets, I am sure most of people will end up using just them, without extra controls - Finding how to add texture was a bit touch (I’ve got used to the way it’s done in Tonality) - But when I found how to add textures, it changed everything - lots of creative possibilities - I like how you can boost details with clarity control, haven’t seen this anywhere else - HDR denoise is a winner also Thank you for a great tool. So far I’m impressed.

Just thaught it would be a good idea to let everyone know. This version does not work with Raw files. There is a button that says upgrade to pro today. As of today there is a link offing you a black friday deal. Beware this deal does not include Aurora HDR. It includes 6 other programs and a $10 gift card towards the purchase of Aurora HDR which is another $99. All the programs are great just be careful and read what you are buying.

I’m revising my review to reflect my experience. I upgraded to the pro version since I work primarily in RAW. I had to contact Aurora HDR to get the upgrade link, paid the difference, and downloaded it. It didn’t immediately work. Over the course of about two hours Macphun’s customer support worked with me to get everything squared away, and they were great. If you upgrade, do not delete the app store version until after the upgrade is completed and you have activated it. That was my big problem. Still a great product and I’m enjoying figuring out how it all works. I’ve gotten very good results without the harsh, overdone HDR look. Of course, if you want that it’s certainly available as well. Overall a very solid program for working in HDR; one that rewards patience and curiosity. Original review: I don’t review apps often, but this time a warning is needed. I love the potential here and this could be an outstanding program. But there’s a REALLY big catch: the app version does not support RAW files. That’s only available with the pro version, apparently. I’d still happily recommend Aurora HDR, but if you work with RAW files you’re going to want to spring for the pro version.

At first I was a little upset about the clunky upgrade process because I was misled to think there would be a simple unlockable upgrade to pro built into the appstore version of this software. I left a negative review about that experience but now I’ve moved past it and been able to use the sotware and I must say I am truly impressed. I will still say that if you shoot RAW and plan on using the pro version of this software the App Store version is pointless, just buy the pro version directly from their website. They should have made this more clear from launch, actually before launch while they were offering a discount. I have been using Photomatix Pro and Photoshop CC with several plugin packages for every HDR photo I’ve processed over the last 10 years and it was a multistep process that created several large files and took a fair bit of my time. Aurora HDR is powerful enough with its layers, masking, curves and sliders for every aspect of your photograph from colors to contrast to detail enhancing and noise reduction filters etc. etc. that I no longer need to use Photoshop at all to process an HDR photograph. There is nothing lacking in this software that you need to make stunning photos and in fact I got better results off the first bracket I processed than I’ve been getting after years of using the other software combination. It is much easier and more intuitive to do it all in one program like this where you can see the results for every step in the process and be able to go back and adjust every detail to taste as you make new changes. No more having your choices made in photomatix set in concrete on a TIFF file that you can only add to in photoshop. It is a much smoother, more enjoyable process and there are less files cluttering up my hard drive when I’m done. I honestly can’t recommend it highly enough, there is a ton of creative freedom here and at the price of $99 for the pro version it is cheaper than one plugin package that does far less, not to mention the monthly fees for Photoshop, which is suddenly much less essential to create awesome HDR photos. It doesn’t just trump photomatix and every other HDR processing program out there, it completely changes the paradigm of HDR editing by being an all-in-one solution from “load bracket” to “export to web”.

Well I like the app but if the image cant be exported and saved, what good is it?

I did not read the entire description, this does not support RAW. So for $40 I have a version that I can’t use, but Trey and his friends are kind enough to offer me access to RAW support for only $99 more. No thanks Trey, I’ll stop here - you got my $40 enjoy it. You aren’t getting any more.

I’ve been enjoying MacPhun products including the recently-purchased Creative Kit. This resulted in them sending me a $10 gift certificate towards a purchase of their Aurora HDR, which I’ve had my eye on. It looks very impressive and had lots of good write-ups. However… I first downloaded the demo, which is Aurora HDR Pro. So far, so good. If one likes the Pro version, you have to shell out $99; I wanted the basic $39.99 without all of the extras. I hit the button to download this version and it automatically directed me to Apple’s App Store to purchase. Not getting the sense that I had a choice, I went ahead to buy it. Of course, Apple automatically bills you on the credit card you have on file with them. There was no opportunity to redeem the $10 gift card. What’s more, when I opened Aurora and started playing with it, I was not allowed to export and save any images. Thought maybe the demo version I had was usurping the basic program, so I deleted the Aurora HDR Pro demo and reinstalled the basic version. Same problem. I emailed customer service. Only reply I have gotten was this lame response: “... Im clearing the details. I will get in touch with you as soon as possible.” No one has gotten back to me yet, and I am still waiting while they have my money and I’m left with a defective production. Buyer Beware!

Over the last couple of years I hadn’t processed many HDR photos - was too tricky in Photoshop, older plug-ins were a complication and I never bothered to learn how to do it in Lightroom. I own other Macphun apps and know about Trey Ratcliff, so when I heard about Aurora HDR it seemed worth a try. Pretty fantastic! In typical Macphun fashion of late, there is a clearly laid-out interface, cool one-click presets for instant magic, simple-to-understand controls for accessing “under the hood” power and a layers/brush/mask feature set that begs to be used for selective adjustments. Aurora has rekindled my love for all things HDR — definitely worth the price of admission!

Though not in any of the promotions, this version of the product only works on JPG files, not RAW. RAW files and Lightroom plug in requires the Pro version, for the “special” additional price of $59. Do the math, after purchasing this very limited product, it is the same as the total Pro listed price of $99. This limitation should be spelled out in all of the product promotion, it is not.

Unfortunately, the company website is a bit confusing. As such, I purchased the app from withn the app store. Once I realized that this app is not the “Pro” version, I had to contact the company. While their customer support is great, I had to pay another $60.00 to get the pro version. This brought my total to $100.00. When I inquired about the bonus features, I was told that I am not entitled to them as this is was an “Upgrade” to the app store app. So basically, I paid the same money that I would have if I purchased their Aurora “Holiday Offer”, yet I did not get Noiseless CK or the Arcanum membership. I went back and forth with them, but they wouldnt budge. This is unfortunate as I have purchaed most of their other apps so I was already a loyal customer. At this point, I wont be dealing with them again. One more important item to note. There is no Photos extension for this app or for the program purchased from their website.. This was another huge disappointment. Use caution and if you want the “Pro” version and the bonus features, do NOT purchase the app from the app store.

Aurora HDR is the best Photo fixer and easy to use even for a beginner, but the depth of control goes over the top. I’ve never used anything that can compare for fixing, saving and using ones imagination. Congratulations Aurora staff. I have worked taking and printing photos for 40 + years. I will surely buy it.

I have another which I really like, but after the learning curve on Aurora HDR it tops my list. It took me some time to make a decision as I felt I didn’t need two programs, but have absolutely no regrets. Highly recommended!1

Be care folks. You are NOT getting the pro version and won’t be able to edit RAW files. Once you figure that out, after the download, you’ll have to contact Macphun, pay the difference, then install the pro version. by the time you are done… you could have simply purchased the pro version and gotten a bunch of extra stuff they are currently offering. Their App Store page for Aurora HDR is deceptive. No indication that this is not the pro version. Makes you think your getting the great “introductory” price… Again.. the software is terrific. The advertising and explanations on the store are severely lacking.