Posted by Greg Hitchcock on October 20, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Lots of mentions of this these days. Being a fan of macro and OOF backgrounds I want to try some, and spent time at the weekend taking images to this end. Are there any recommendations from anyone with regards software, tips and techniques etc.
On a related note I have access to Photoshop 7 and Photoshop Elements 2, but am looking to buy software of my own for image processing. No chance of stretching to CS3/4 price range, but maybe the latest PS Elements, or do people use other software (e.g. Corel)? And what about RAW processing - I currently use Canon's DPP but are there better ones out there with more functionality (again, that aren't too expensive)?
Thanks in advance!
Greg
Posted by Andy Astbury on October 20, 2008 at 1:27 PM
Greg - if I don't do a manual stack then I use Helicon Focus.
Very effective, simple to use and will stack RAW files.
For RAW processing have a look at Bibble Pro - very good for me and one or two others here and less system-intensive than Lightroom - cheaper too I should imagine.
Something I do a lot with my job... Like Andy our prefered method is Helicon Focus, I was a beta tester, it is quick and gives good results but is a commercial program.
To try the technique cheaply then google CombineZP, it is free, a little bit quirky, will sometimes shift colour slightly (Not noticable unless you are being really picky) and does the job, allow a little bit of room around the image to crop away possible edge artifacts. It works and is free...
For RAW look at C1 v4 (not the Pro version) it does most things you would expect.... another option is to get Photoshop Elements which will do all and probably more than you need (possibly 80% of the functionality in Photoshop is not used)
Again a free RAW processor albeit slightly complicated but reputedly produces good results is Raw Therapee.
HTH
Phil
Posted by Matt Cole on October 20, 2008 at 3:26 PM
I've never used Helicon but have used CombineZM a fair bit. It does the job fairly well but there are often a few artefacts to crop or clone, as Phil says. More recently I've simply used layers in Photoshop Elements (v5) and done the merging manually.
In terms of RAW conversion, I think the results of Canon's DPP are hard to beat. Adobe Camera Raw in PS Elements offers a bit more functionality (e.g. colour vibrance and clarity) but I still often do the conversion in DPP and then open in PS Elements if I want to make further changes.
Matt
Posted by Ben Micklem on October 21, 2008 at 4:06 AM
I use Helicon too. I've been very happy with it. PS CS4 also has the ability to stack, but I've not tried it yet.
Discussion
5 repliesOn a related note I have access to Photoshop 7 and Photoshop Elements 2, but am looking to buy software of my own for image processing. No chance of stretching to CS3/4 price range, but maybe the latest PS Elements, or do people use other software (e.g. Corel)? And what about RAW processing - I currently use Canon's DPP but are there better ones out there with more functionality (again, that aren't too expensive)?
Thanks in advance!
Greg
Very effective, simple to use and will stack RAW files.
For RAW processing have a look at Bibble Pro - very good for me and one or two others here and less system-intensive than Lightroom - cheaper too I should imagine.
Hope this helps
Something I do a lot with my job... Like Andy our prefered method is Helicon Focus, I was a beta tester, it is quick and gives good results but is a commercial program.
To try the technique cheaply then google CombineZP, it is free, a little bit quirky, will sometimes shift colour slightly (Not noticable unless you are being really picky) and does the job, allow a little bit of room around the image to crop away possible edge artifacts. It works and is free...
For RAW look at C1 v4 (not the Pro version) it does most things you would expect.... another option is to get Photoshop Elements which will do all and probably more than you need (possibly 80% of the functionality in Photoshop is not used)
Again a free RAW processor albeit slightly complicated but reputedly produces good results is Raw Therapee.
HTH
Phil
In terms of RAW conversion, I think the results of Canon's DPP are hard to beat. Adobe Camera Raw in PS Elements offers a bit more functionality (e.g. colour vibrance and clarity) but I still often do the conversion in DPP and then open in PS Elements if I want to make further changes.
Matt
Greg