What is so useful about Zerene Stacker’s retouch feature is that I
can (using the mouse) run up and down my stacked photo layers in
real-time watching how each layer affects my final image. At any
point I can press a key to alternate my finished image with how this
particular layer affects that image. I can see what could be added.
If I find an area that I would like to add to my finished image, using
the mouse and an adjustable curser, I just brush over that area and
it overwrites my finished image. Using this method, I can touch up
areas that are troublesome. And while this can take real time, just
as often as not I can overwrite an entire section of the image in a
second or so.
(7) Commit the Retouching -- When I have done what I need in
retouching, I commit the retouching.
(8) I then save the image to disk and reimport it into Lightroom or
whatever I like to view my photos.
That is it for many stacked images. However, in some cases, no
matter how finely I retouch, there are areas that remain
bothersome. In that case I add an extra step:
(9) Photoshop – I import the final image into Photoshop and using
the Clone tool I very carefully touch up the offending areas. I have
to alternate between using a hard edge and a softer edge on the
Clone too and perhaps add some Healing brush strokes as well.
(10) I save the finished photo.
Anyway, I hope I have given you some idea as to what is involved
in retouching stacked photos. I include four images as an example
in this and the next two posts. The four images are:
(1) Image using PMax. Notice all of the blurry or hallowed areas,
only some of which are marked by red arrows.
(2) Image using DMap, 1st Pass. Things look a little better with
DMap and I am not getting as many halos, but more single artifacts
where one part of the plant overlaps another.
(3) Image using DMap, 2nd Pass. Upping the threshold on DMap
did not do a lot of good in this particular instance.
(4) Finished Image. Here is the image after retouching using both
PMax, Dmap, and the various individual layers of the stack. I did