Photo stacking is a unique technique that allows photographers to blend the parts of the images that are in-focus in order to make the depth of the photo more dramatic. It is a style that is often employed by photographers who are capturing images for a product being sold by a company, as it is one of the best ways to get the clearest and smallest details and bring them to the forefront. Photo stacking is thought to be one of the simplest techniques both in terms of learning and in application. For something so simple, it can be deceptively so when you consider the beautiful, striking images that are produced from this process.
Helicon Focus is one of the most popular programs for focus stacking. While many photographers have gotten comfortable with the idea of using Photoshop for every single aspect of their editing, there are some things that it simply cannot do as well as independent software that is specifically designed for this purpose. Instead, many turn to programs like Helicon Focus to ensure the best possible results. In this article, we’ll examine the program from an objective standpoint to help you decide if it suits your editing style.
Perks of Using Helicon Focus for Photo Stacking
- Rendering. Perhaps the most distinctive difference between using Photoshop and Helicon Focus is the rendering methods employed by the latter. Once you tune the program to the best settings for each photo, Helicon Focus quickly and efficiently brings to life your stacked photos, creating detailed photos in a fraction of the time that Photoshop can.
- Customization of smoothing and radius. The program has a sophisticated retouching tab geared specifically toward photo stacking, which is ideal for those photographing subjects in motion, such as an insect. It allows you to smooth out the motion effect and help bring the subject into clearer focus.
- Easy saving. After you have rendered the stacked photo, you can easily save it raw by choosing to save it as a DNC file.
- Batch processing. If you have a lot of stacks you want to merge at once, the batch processing function will allow you to merge them all at one time, further saving you time and effort.
Now coming to the special and upgraded features that can make your work more easy and simple has been listed below. Just check out the hints simply given below to get a rough view on what can be utilized to have the best focus stacking images. With the study from these, one can make sure about the possibilities to buy or download this software for focus stacking the photo’s or pictures for a rendering color combinations and classic images. On the best part, customers can download them with information on the salient features given here.
Features to watch for in Helicon Focus:
- Automated Focus Brackets
- Trigger Shooting Remotely
- Improved bit by bit single shots for HDR and EDoF
- Folder monitor which can stack the images or photo’s automatically from the specified folder by the user
- Adjustable Codecs for more development on RAW files
- Accurate 16 bit precision on images with exact color photo’s
- 64 bit processor for memory and performance
- Increased handling in long stocks of high resolution images
- Merge and get a classic micro panorama view
- Hold down the shutter button for movie creations
- Combines the stack shoots into one full focused image
- No Additional power supply needed
- No Additional connections on Focus imaging during shooting
Drawbacks of Helicon Focus
- Price. Using the premium version of Helicon Focus will naturally provide you with more features and benefits, but it is not cheap. This makes it suitable for photographers who often create stacked photos instead of a photographer that uses it only once in a while.
- Outdated UI. The interface is a bit difficult to get used to and comes with something of a learning curve, but there are resources online to help new users learn how to navigate the program more easily to help you bypass this.
Final Thoughts
While Helicon Focus is quite pricey for professional photographers especially with e-commerce clients, this program will turn out consistent, incredible results. Its ease of use, gorgeous end-results and seamless rendering might make the price worth it to some.