Once you have your 10-50 images on your hard drive, follow these steps.
No stacking software is perfect. You will get "halos" (ghost edges) where a foreground object overlaps a background. Here is how to fix it:
Helicon Focus offers three main stacking algorithms — choose by subject and texture: helicon focus user guide
Quick guidance:
Pro Workflow: Render once with Method B, then render again with Method C. Use the "Compare" tab to switch between them. You will rarely use Method A. Once you have your 10-50 images on your
Before diving into buttons and sliders, it is vital to understand why we use Helicon Focus. A single camera shot has one focal plane. In macro photography, that plane might be thinner than a sheet of paper. To get the stamen of a flower and its petal edges sharp, you must take 20 to 200 images, shifting the focus slightly each time.
Helicon Focus aligns these frames (compensating for camera shift) and extracts the sharpest pixels from each layer to construct a composite. Clone Stamp: If you have a dead pixel
Use the Export menu to resize images for social media. A common mistake is exporting 4000px wide images to Instagram—resize to 2048px for faster uploads.
If you own the Premium license, Helicon Focus integrates seamlessly with Helicon Remote. This turns your computer into a focus stacking robot.
Best setting: Use "Step size: Auto" – Helicon calculates the perfect focus increment to avoid missing gaps.