AndyT Loc: Hampstead, New Hampshire

Morning everyone. Been a photog for many years, but always felt you can and should learn something new. Well, new to me anyway but used by many of you out there apparently for some time. I understand the concept of focus stacking, but want to know what program I can download that will (1) Work with Adobe's Elements 15, and (2) How do I add it to Element 15 as a "plug in". Looking forward to expanding my photography.
PS. I don't think it matters here, but I shoot a variety of subjects, mostly landscapes, little true macro work, and have both the Fuji X-T2 with their 18-135 lens, and also Nikon D-7100 with Nikon's 18-140 lens. I'd like to learn the technique before spending money on any true macro lenses. Thanks in advance for any replies.
Andy

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgoUF1DA_T4&feature=youtu.be

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

I use Helicon Focus, you'll have to see if it works with Elements; it does work with PS and Lightroom. You can most likely do it from within Elements: I know you can do it from within PS.

AndyT Loc: Hampstead, New Hampshire

Thanks for your reply. Watched the video. Down below in the viewer comments was a reply saying that this is not in Elements and that a third party add on is required. The add on, or plugin in, is what I'm looking for.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I've never used it but it is called "Elements+". Reading suggests it is a popular add on to Photoshop Elements. Get it here: http://elementsplus.net/

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Yes, and it is $12 and you download right off the net.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

You can do focus stacking in PSE direct without any add-ons, but it is a rather tedious job, it is really easy to do in PS however, as well as in dedicated software, such as Helicon or Zerene Stacker!

AndyT Loc: Hampstead, New Hampshire

Thanks to all. I downloaded something called Combine ZP, and will give it a try.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Focus stacking can be useful in landscapes as well, say if you have important information you want in sharp focus in Fore-ground, Middle-ground (main subject), and Back-ground. For this you might only need 3 to 5 images to stack (composite). Personally my own style is to not have anything in the fore-ground, or I let it go soft. But I might want to try something different. As you say, learning. I have done a few close-up and macro stacks. I have not mastered that yet. But it is pretty easy with Photoshop. The camera shooting is the tricky part. I shy away from Elements as it only have 8-bit image handling. I work in 16-bit and sometime even 32-bit with Ps CS6.

You can get good close-up or near macro images with a good prime lens that is not even a macro if you use extension tubes. I have several macro lenses and several sets of tubes and bellows, yet I rarely go higher than 1:1 magnification. You may want to join the True Macro Section of the UHH. They do some amazing photography.

This Is Only A 5 Image Stack. I Had To Work Fast As The Flower Was Wilting As I Shot. There Are Some Movement Remnants Do To The Flower "Moving".

(Download)

AndyT Loc: Hampstead, New Hampshire

Beautiful shot!

parishard

1. Most, if not all, focus stacking (FS) programs are stand alone programs and there is no advantage to trying to use them as plugins. The working procedure is essentially the same for all of them, shoot the images, load them into the program, push the 'go' button and wait for the software to do it's magic. That's it! The procedure is far simpler than trying to correct a color cast in PP, for example, because all decisions are made automatically by the software.
2. A determining factor in deciding which program to purchase is the the type of subject you are going to photograph. A one millimeter 'hairy' bug photographed with a 100 mm micro lens at 1:1 is a different problem than that posed by a rose photographed at 1:5 with a 50 mm prime lens. You have to define what your problem is before you can identify the solution.
3. If I was just getting into focus stacking and wanted to 'try it out' before making any major financial commitments, I would
buy the Affinity program (serif.Affinity.com). It performs a 'great many' PP functions (far more and far better than any PSE version) including focus stacking (which PSE does not include at all). The current cost is only $50.00. You can buy more expensive programs to use as your intro to FS, but you do not need too. Once you define what your subject material is going to be, you might want to then buy Helicon or Zyrene; both these programs do a fantastic job on 1,000 shot stacks of 1 mm 'hairy' bugs but you might not 'need' their incredible capability for a rose as your first project.
4. The answer to your problem is not definable in 10 words or less. You need to start slow and find solutions to the problems as you are able to identify them; unless, of course, money and time are of no consequence in which case just buy everything and go-for-broke.