The image stacking procedure is basically the same in most applications: You’ll feed the program your image stack, and add in the dark frames if you shot any. Select a few options, then let the program register (align) and blend the photos. Some applications will also let you specify an image to use to create a mask for the foreground. AstroGuider (Mac OS X, payware, free trial) PHD2 (Mac OS X, free, open source) Hardware. A few weeks ago I bought a ZWO ASI120MC-S astro camera, as that was on sale and listed by Nebulosity as supported by OSX. Until then I'd messed around with a hacked up Logitech webcam, which seemed to only be supported by the Photo Booth app.
Focus stacking is very important in photography. There are times when one shot of the subject isn’t enough, or maybe the shots look good, but they’re a bit out of focus. To correct that, there are focus stacking software available and some HDR Camera Apps as well.
Related:
If you’re an aspiring photographer or if you just like taking photos and editing them in a way you haven’t done before, then our suggestions below will definitely work for you. Get your cameras ready and take those shots. These software will do the rest and improve the image’s quality to the best.
Picolay
Chasy Draw IES
Enfuse
Helicon Focus for Windows
ImageJ for Mac
Lights, Camera, Edit!
Picolay Picolay is a focus stacking software with multiple uses. It can perform image processing, create slide shows, make animated GIF images, and more.
Chasy Draw IES Chasys Draw is capable of providing super-resolution image stacking, supports icon editing, can convert multiple files images, and many more. Runs on Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 7, 8, and 10.
Enfuse Enfuse makes images more compelling with its image blending tools. You can take shots with different exposures or angles and merge them into one unique picture. Supports Mac OSX 10.4 or higher and Windows XP, 2000, Vista, and 7.
Helicon Focus for Windows Helicon Focus was designed for macro and micro photography. Helicon has accurate color renditioning, state-of-the-art algorithm processes, and more.
ImageJ Built for scientific multidimensional images, ImageJ is an open source image processing software. It’s capable of performing a wide range of tasks and is highly flexible. It can also be used along with other software like MATLAB, KNIME, and ITK, to name a few.
Stacking Photo for Android Stacking Photo is one of the Camera Apps for Samsung Galaxy S6. Designed for those who can’t bring their laptops everywhere and would opt to use their smartphones for stacking images instead.
Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is easy to use, has stock assets like design templates, graphics, images, etc., helps you design your business cards or brochures, and it can remaster photos, remove objects, and combine images.
TuFuse TuFuse is a focus and exposure blending software that generates focus blended and exposure blended images. It’s also an open source software and is free of charge. It’s compatible with any Windows OS.
Photoacute studio PhotoAcute Studio improves image resolution, increases the depth of field, corrects geometry distortions, and a whole lot more. Compatible with Mac, Linux, Windows Phone, and Windows.
Zerene Stacker Zerene Stacker has amazing retouching capabilities, clean handling of bristles and hairs, advanced stacking algorithms, and a lot more. Supports Linux, Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, and Mac OS X.
Stacking Photo for Android
Adobe Photoshop- Most Popular Software
TuFuse
Photoacute studio
Zerene Stacker
Focus stacking software and apps are very useful. It lets us bring out a new kind of image from the picture we just took. We could make it brighter, darker, shinier, and a bunch of other things we could do. When we are using them, our imaginations are truly the limit.
They have the same value as Mobile Camera Apps, which lets us edit our faces into funny-looking images. Lets us enhance our facial features, lighten our skin, etc. Today, we’re not just taking pictures anymore. We are now enhancing them to the fullest and making them the best.
Related Posts
Mac app journal articles. Astrophotography is closer to science than art, and there is no such thing as “getting it right in camera.” This means you cannot simply point the camera at the sky and snap away.
In astrophotography you cannot avoid post processing your images, so stacking and editing your images serves three main purposes:
Reduce noise and deal with light gradients and vignetting.
Improve signal to noise ratio.
Reveal the faint details in the image.
Image stacking is the technique used to improve the signal to noise ratio, and it is the only noise reduction method that will boost the image details rather than smear them out.
In this article, we will discuss some of the most popular software available for astrophotography image stacking.
Note: Don’t miss the detailed video at the end of this article, It was created to help show you how to quickly start using some of the stacking software mentioned in this article. Click here to skip to our Image Stacking Demo Video.
What Does Stacking Photos Mean?
The concept behind image stacking is simple, but to appreciate how it works, there are a couple of things we have to consider:
A stack can be visualized as a pile of images all stacked one on top of the other;
Each digital image is formed by a set of pixels, all having a certain value: dark pixels will have a lower value than the bright ones;
In the simplest form of image stacking, the pixels values for all images in the stack are averaged to produce a single image.
What is the purpose of stacking photos?
The result is a single image with improved signal to noise ratio, i.e., with better details and lower (random) digital noise and better details.
The scheme below illustrates the concept.
If the considered digital noise affects the pixel values randomly across the stack, then the result of averaging the stack is that the random component of the noise to the pixel value is significantly reduced.
ISO noise and Luminance noise and Chrominancenoise are examples of digital noises that are random.
The image below shows a real-life example from stacking 30 images from my Sony RX10 bridge camera taken at ISO 6400. As you can see, the original images showed a greater deal of noise (grain) than the stacked one.
The More Images You Stack, The Better
The more images you stack, the cleaner the resulting images are, as shown in the comparison below.
While Image stacking creates a cleaner image, it often softens the image: digital sharpening techniques are then used to recover sharp looking details.
Finally, bear in mind that the progression of image quality is not linear.
If stacking 4 images improves the image quality of 50% respect what you got by stacking only 2 images, to improve a further 50% the image quality from stacking 50 images, you may need to stack 300 images or more.
Image Stacking And Movement
If nothing moves between shots, like in the previous real life example, implementing image stacking is very simple: just group the images and average them to smooth out the noise.
With a moving subject, grouping and averaging the images will not only smooth out the noise, but also the subject itself.
This is the same principle for which long exposures of passing traffic and crowd result in a street image without cars nor people.
This effect is amplified with the number of images used, and the moving subject could simply disappear from the stacked image.
To resolve the issue, you have to align the images based on their content before stacking.
Due to image alignment, you may have to trim the edges of the stacked image to get rid of artifacts, but your target will not be lost.
Note that while in theory you can stack images of a static scene taken with the camera on a tripod, in reality, those images will probably differ at the pixel scale due to micro-movements. It is always beneficial to align the images before stacking. Airpods connect app mac.
How To Shoot For Exposure Stacking Your Images
Image stacking can be done with any camera and even camera phones and with images in both RAW and JPEG format.
Nonetheless, some things can be done to improve the final result:
Lock the focus, so that the camera will not hunt for it between images. This will also help to keep the focus consistent through the shooting sequence.
Keep the same settings, in particular shutter speed, aperture, and focal length: you don’t want to change the camera field of view during the sequence, nor the brightness of the images or the depth of field.
If you are shooting on a tripod, disable image stabilization. If you want to shoot handheld, do so only for short sequences at very high shutter speed.
Image Stacking In Astrophotography
Related:Astrophotography Software & Tools Resource List
As said previously, image stacking is a standard technique implemented in any astrophotography editing workflow for,
A star field from a fixed tripod.
A deep sky object from a tracking mount.
The Moon handheld.
A starry landscape from a fixed tripod or tracking mount.
Every astronomy image will benefit from image stacking.
List Of Photo Stacking Software For Astrophotography
Here is a list of software used in astrophotography for image stacking.
Adobe Photoshop
Complete Image Editor | Commercial – Subscription Plan Photography Bundle $9.99 / Month | Mac OS X, Windows
Pro
Versatile
Available for Mac and Windows
In bundle with Adobe Lightroom CC, Bridge, Camera Raw, and web space
Many action packs and plugins available for astrophotography
Cons
Subscription Plan only
Can’t be used to calibrate light frames
Stacking capabilities are somehow limited
If you are interested in photography, chances are you know Adobe Photoshop is the standard in the industry and does not need introductions.
With Adobe implementing a subscription plan for their applications, if you are using Lightroom CC for your everyday photography, your plan subscription will also include Photoshop CC and Bridge CC.
And for astrophotography, Photoshop is what you need. Lightroom cannot stack your images nor perform the histogram stretching, two crucial steps in the editing workflow for astrophotography.
In this article, we have already covered in detail how to stack astrophotography images with Photoshop.
Sequator
Deep Sky And Starry Landscape Stacker | Freeware | Windows
Pro
Free
Easy to use
Fast
Suitable for both Starry Landscapes and Deep Sky images
Can create Star Trails
Cons
Windows only
Limited set of options
Not suitable for Planetary astrophotography
Sequator is an easy-to-use and intuitive astrophotography software for stacking both starry landscape and deep-sky images. It can also be used to create star trails.
While not as advanced as other stackers, it nonetheless allows you to calibrate your light frames with dark and flat calibration frames. It also allows you to remove light pollution, reduce noise, and perform other simple tasks on the stacked image.
Starry Landscape Stacker
Starry Landscape Stacker | Commercial, $39.99 | Mac OS X
Pro
Fast
Easy to use
Cons
Mac Os X only
Does not read RAW files
If you are into starry landscapes and you are a Mac user, Starry Landscape Stacker is a must-have.
Easy to use, it allows you to stack and align the sky and the foreground independently by letting you easily mask the sky.
Unfortunately, the software lacks the support for RAW formats, thus forcing you to convert your RAW images in the more heavy TIFF format.
Aside from that, it works very fast and the final image is of good quality. You can also save the sky only, which is useful to further edit the shot in Photoshop or similar editors.
Starry Sky Stacker
Deep Sky Stacker | Commercial, $24.99 | Mac OS X
Pro
Fast
Easy to use
Cons
Mac Os X only
Does not read RAW files
Basic
Starry Sky Stacker is Starry Landscape Stacker brother and it has been created to stack deep sky astrophotography images.
As Starry Landscape Stacker, Starry Sky Stacker is very easy to use and intuitive, although very basic.
If you are a casual star shooter and a Mac user, this could be a good choice for you.
Deep Sky Stacker
Deep Sky Stacker | Freeware | Windows
Pro
Free
Easy to use
Fast
Full light frames calibration
Features Comet stack modes
Can Drizzle
Many advanced stack options and methods available
Cons
Windows only
Post-processing is quite limited
Not suitable for Starry Landscapes nor for Planetary astrophotography
Deep Sky Stacker, better known as DSS, is arguably one of the most widely used software to calibrate and stack astrophotography images.
With DSS, you can fully calibrate your images with Darks, Flats, Dark Flats, and Bias calibration frames for the best results possible. Light frames are analyzed and scored by quality so that you can decide which percentage of best images you can stack (Best 75% by default).
A very interesting feature is that with DSS, you can easily combine images taken during different imaging sessions, to produce images of higher quality.
Autostakkert!
Planetary Stacker | Freeware | Windows
Pro
Free
Easy to use
Suitable for Planetary, Lunar and Solar images
Stack full planetary disk and lunar surface close-ups
Cons
Interface a bit confused
It does not offer wavelet sharpening
Windows only
Autostakkert!, also known as AS!, is a very popular free software among the solar system astrophotographers. With AS! it is easy to stack both images showing the full Planetary (or Lunar or Solar) disc and images showing lunar surface close-ups.
The interface is a bit confusing, particularly in the beginning, but it is easy to navigate through the different steps for the stacking.
Unfortunately, AS! does not offer wavelet sharpening, which is a widely used technique in planetary and lunar astrophotography. For this, you can load your stacked image in Registax, another freeware software for Windows only that, sadly, is now “abandoned-ware.”
Lynkeos
Planetary Stacker | Freeware | Mac OS X How to delete apps from launcher mac.
Pro
Free
Has deconvolution and wavelet sharpening
It is probably the only freeware planetary stacker for Mac OS X
Cons
Not very intuitive
Somewhat slower than Autostakkert!
Lynkeos is perhaps the only freeware planetary stacker software for Mac OS X, sparing you from turning to Windows for using Autostakkert!.
The interface is quite intuitive to navigate, but not when it comes to performing the different tasks.
On the other hand, it offers a deconvolution method and wavelet sharpening, a must-have for a planetary stacker. Definitely worth having a look at it if you are a Mac user.
SiriL
Deep Sky Astrophotography Editor | Freeware | Mac OS X, Windows, Linux
Pro
Free
Cross-Platform
Active development
Cons
A bit convoluted and not as intuitive as other stackers
SiriL is a freeware, cross-platform, astrophotography package that will let you calibrate, stack, and develop deep sky astrophotography images.
While not as easy and intuitive as Sequator or DSS, it offers a lot of options and produces good results. There is an active community, and it is under constant development.
Astro Pixel Processor
Deep Sky Astrophotography Editor | Commercial $60/Yr Renter License Or $150 Owner License | Mac OS X, Windows, Linux
Pro
Photo Stacking Software
Full-grown astrophotography package
Fairly easy to use
Mosaics are created with ease and are of great quality
Active and constant development
Cross-Platform
30-days Trial period
Affordable yearly subscription
Cons
Only for deep sky astrophotography
No Comet stacking mode
With Astro Pixel Processor (APP), you step in the realm of full-grown astrophotography packages, with many advanced options and methods to calibrate, stack, and post-process your deep-sky images.
Compared to PixInsight (PI), the software benchmark for the category, APP is cheaper and way easier to use, which makes it one of the best PI alternatives.
Free Photo Stacking Software
If you decide to buy it, you can choose between the renter’s license for $60/yr, to always get the latest version of APP, or the owner’s license for $150, but you will have to purchase the license again for major update releases.
PixInsight
Astrophotography Editor | Commercial – €230+VAT | Mac OS X, Windows, Linux
Pro
It has all you need for astrophotography
45 days trial period
A lot of tutorials and information available
Cons
Expensive and without subscription plan
Extremely steep learning curve
Long and convoluted process
Needs a powerful computer
When it comes to astrophotography, PixInsight is the software of reference against which all others are measured. It offers everything you may possibly need to produce pro graded images, and it is objectively the best software in the field.
But user experience can be frustrating, as the learning curve is very steep, the editing is long and convoluted, and your computer must be quite recent and powerful to make it run smoothly.
The €230 + VAT price tag is also quite steep: sure it is worth every penny, but this makes PI be even more the software of choice for professional and keen amateur astrophotographers.
A Comprehensive Demo About Image Stacking
In this video, I show you how easy it is to wet our feet with image stacking.
This is particularly true if you use Starry Landscape Stacker, Sequator, Deep Sky Stacker and Autostakkert!, as I showed in the video below.
Conclusion
App Stacking Software
Image stacking is one of the crucial steps in the astrophotography editing workflow.
Best Photo Stacking App
You’ll need the appropriate stacker for each type of astrophotography: starry landscapes, star trails, or deep-sky and planetary images.
In this article, we have covered the most popular astrophotography stackers available on the market, both freeware and commercial.
Photo Stacking Program
And while Windows users have the more extensive choice, some notable stackers are available for Mac and even Linux users.