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One of the new features in Photoshop CS4 is the ability to Increase the Depth of Field of a final image by composing multiple images of the same subject taken at different points of focus.
In order to test this I set up some sophisticated and expensive equipment. I jammed three pens into a cardboard box. I used a Canon 180mm Macro lens which has a very small depth of field and took three images, manually focusing on each of the pens in turn. The processing is as follows:
- I stacked the three images as layers. Files>>Scripts>>Load files into Stacks (Check “Attempt to automatically Align Source Images”)
- Click on the three layers in the layers view to select them
- Edit>>Autoblend Layers (Check Stack Images and Seamless Tones and Colors)
Photoshop makes masks of each, choosing those parts that have the most detail. The resulting image is below.
Resulting Image
A pretty good result although it was admittedly not a tough test. I did a quick test with a more complex landscape scene, and there were a few small things that needed cleanup after.
Some things to keep in mind:
- While Photoshop will align the images, you want them very close. Use a tripod, mirror lockup, shutter release.. anything to keep a tight precise result.
- This is a very memory intensive operation. I reduced the files to 6mg and 8 bit to make it easier. This becomes even more important with larger number of files stacked.
- You can also stack the images in Bridge and use the Edit>>Align Layers Command in Photoshop.
Macro shooters should find this feature very useful.
This tutorial is a part of the Photoshop Workflow Series
All Images are Available for Licensing at Singular Video&Pix
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