Isssue when stacking photos in Photoshop 2023

[Peace_VN]

Dear all

I am very new to stacking, especially with macro photography.

I tried with this flower - but I noticed that I can't get it right. The photo seems to have an uneven stack. Did I do something wrong?

I believe it is because Photoshop did not pick up the layers to stack the focus. But How can I do this? I used this method:

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and the result:



I took 45 photos, in tripid with flash (AD200). I used the focus shift mode in D850.

Files are here:

Macro stack

(I have the raw files, pts files and the result file there)



Could you help, please

Thank you all

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[jim mij]

Hi, I’m not at my pc so I can’t look at your files or try them in another stacking tool yet

what did you expect from the stack, eg what do you think is missing with the result ?

Top down on flowers can be problematic, it’s not the easiest (for me anyway). Perhaps start with something simpler ?

other stacking tools give 2 or more methods to generate the stack, they can resolve some issue with eg ghosting.

As I said to someone yesterday… Welcome to the odd habit of stacking, its a love/hate thing with me, when it works its worth the hassle, but that hassle is a pain. I process using focus fusion (free on the microsft web store) as its MUCH faster than OMWS and you can also choose bits from each frame to get a better result. Also If the jpg stack is good i might process again via RAW/TIF (it should be better). consider Helicon (or zerene ) if you really get the stacking bug (you can’t get 30 day trials)

jim

 

[Paul5566]

I am also new to stacking and had a similar problem using Photoshop. You can read this thread and see the improvement when I used another stacking product. https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4753480 There is quite a lot of other talk in the thread but there some images using Photoshop and then Zerene. I have also had a similar problem with Photoshop when stacking landscape images but it is usually easy to rectify as there may be only 3 images in the stack.

Paul Stickley - Insects and Close Ups

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[deednets]

Dear all

I am very new to stacking, especially with macro photography.

I tried with this flower - but I noticed that I can't get it right. The photo seems to have an uneven stack. Did I do something wrong?

I believe it is because Photoshop did not pick up the layers to stack the focus. But How can I do this? I used this method:

https://creativecloud.adobe.com/discover/article/focus-stacking-in-photoshop

and the result:



I took 45 photos, in tripid with flash (AD200). I used the focus shift mode in D850.

Files are here:

Macro stack

(I have the raw files, pts files and the result file there)

Could you help, please

Thank you all

I used Fuji a lot to do focus stacks, using their fabulous built-in rendering. I am mentioning this here as I think you had - or still have - some Fuji gear??



I don't but the images I got from the Fuji cameras were fine ...



Regarding your shots: possibly not enough frames in between the top and the lower part, maybe the image would have gained some heft by using more frames below the top flower??

Here is my attempt using Helicon (reduced to 1800px to make life easier ;-) ):





Here is one taken with the X-Pro3. Your D850 is superior in almost all respects so maybe changing your parameters to include MORE of that flower:





Good luck, maybe as somebody else suggested, start with something a bit easier like a camera or a matchbox? A watch??

Hope this helps?

Deed

 

[Peace_VN]

Hi, I’m not at my pc so I can’t look at your files or try them in another stacking tool yet

what did you expect from the stack, eg what do you think is missing with the result ?

Top down on flowers can be problematic, it’s not the easiest (for me anyway). Perhaps start with something simpler ?

other stacking tools give 2 or more methods to generate the stack, they can resolve some issue with eg ghosting.

As I said to someone yesterday… Welcome to the odd habit of stacking, its a love/hate thing with me, when it works its worth the hassle, but that hassle is a pain. I process using focus fusion (free on the microsft web store) as its MUCH faster than OMWS and you can also choose bits from each frame to get a better result. Also If the jpg stack is good i might process again via RAW/TIF (it should be better). consider Helicon (or zerene ) if you really get the stacking bug (you can’t get 30 day trials)

jim

Hi

Do you mean this software? https://www.delphitools.info/focusfusion/

I will give it ago and also the helicon

Thank you

 

[jim mij]

Hi, I’m not at my pc so I can’t look at your files or try them in another stacking tool yet

what did you expect from the stack, eg what do you think is missing with the result ?

Top down on flowers can be problematic, it’s not the easiest (for me anyway). Perhaps start with something simpler ?

other stacking tools give 2 or more methods to generate the stack, they can resolve some issue with eg ghosting.

As I said to someone yesterday… Welcome to the odd habit of stacking, its a love/hate thing with me, when it works its worth the hassle, but that hassle is a pain. I process using focus fusion (free on the microsft web store) as its MUCH faster than OMWS and you can also choose bits from each frame to get a better result. Also If the jpg stack is good i might process again via RAW/TIF (it should be better). consider Helicon (or zerene ) if you really get the stacking bug (you can’t get 30 day trials)

jim

Hi

Do you mean this software? https://www.delphitools.info/focusfusion/

I will give it ago and also the helicon

Thank you

yes thats the one, good luck on your next pic

Jim

 

[Person9]

Not sure what you are unhappy about.

Most of the pistil seems fine, but the dome-shaped part at the 4 o'clock position is unsharp; I think you started the stack too far forward.

Looks like you are using Photoshop properly: stack the individual layers, then Auto Align, the Stack Images. Certainly for getting started with stacking Photoshop is okay. It gets terribly slow when the number of slices gets high (maybe more than 25-40, depending on your computer). Yes, Photoshop does not handle artifacts (ghosting) as well as Helicon and Zerene (both of which have free trials). But many times the difference between Photoshop and standalone programs is subtle, requiring 100% views to see the difference.

I think initially, perfecting the focus bracketing aspect is most important. If you will be doing focusing stacking a lot, then you may want to indulge in Helicon or Zerene. With their free trials, maybe try running your existing files through them and see if you can detect a significant difference compared to Photoshop.

Lester Lefkowitz www.MacroPhotographer.net