Helicon Focus User Guide |link| May 2026

Introduction: What is Helicon Focus? In the world of macro photography, product photography, and scientific imaging, achieving a image that is perfectly sharp from foreground to background is one of the most difficult challenges. Due to the laws of physics (specifically, depth of field), a lens can only keep a single plane of focus sharp. When you are working with high magnification or wide apertures, that plane can be thinner than a sheet of paper.

Download the 30-day trial from Helicon Soft. Load your last failed stack. Reprocess it using Method B with a Smoothing value of 3. Retouch the mistakes. You will be amazed at the resurrection. This user guide was accurate as of Helicon Focus version 8.x. For video tutorials, visit the official Helicon Soft YouTube channel. helicon focus user guide

Enter —the industry-standard software for focus stacking. This powerful application takes a series of partially focused images (a "stack") and intelligently merges the sharpest areas from each frame into one completely focused composite. Introduction: What is Helicon Focus

| Feature | Helicon Focus | Photoshop | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Seconds to render 50 images | Minutes to render 20 images | | RAW Support | Native (direct decoding) | Must convert first | | Halos & Artifacts | Minimal with Method B/C | Frequent, especially on hair | | 3D Export | Yes | No | | Tethering | Yes (Helicon Remote) | No | | Retouching | Non-destructive pixel-level brush | Mask painting | When you are working with high magnification or