Raw images in Zerene

A forum to ask questions, post setups, and generally discuss anything having to do with photomacrography and photomicroscopy.

Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau

Kathleen
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:12 pm
Location: New Forest national park, UK

Raw images in Zerene

Post by Kathleen »

Hi there. I currently use Helicon for my image stacks - it works well for the most part, and more importantly works perfectly smoothly with Lightroom. However I am so sick of the halos and ghosting in images. It's definitely time to learn Zerene.

I've found though that Zerene doesn't work with Raw files as far as I can tell? I've waded through pages but can't find a quick start guide.

Usually my process overview is as follows:
-load .cr3 files into Lightroom catalog
-export to Helicon to stack
-save stacked .dn image back to Lightroom
-edit/colour grade file
-tidy up in Topaz Labs
-save back to Lightroom
-export final .jpg


It's looking to me like I have to edit all the images for the stack in Lightroom first, export as jpg, import into Zerene, and go on from there.

Could anyone help please?
How do I export Raw images from Lightroom to Zerene then save back into Lightroom so I can edit the stacked image?

Thank you,

Kathleen

rjlittlefield
Site Admin
Posts: 23561
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:34 am
Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
Contact:

Re: Raw images in Zerene

Post by rjlittlefield »

Hi, I'm Rik Littlefield, the fellow who wrote Zerene Stacker.

It sounds like you'd like to be using the Lightroom plugin that is provided by Zerene Stacker as a Prosumer/Professional feature.

Documentation on how to install and use the plugin can be read at https://zerenesystems.com/cms/stacker/docs/workingwithlightroom ("Working With Lightroom"). See the first section, labeled "Lightroom Plugin". Note that when you install the plugin, you'll have to acknowledge that it's a Pro-level feature and you'd like to begin the 30-day trial of that feature.

After that, your best attack on halos is to learn how to use the DMap slider and how to use retouching to combine the best bits of PMax and DMap outputs. There's an overview of that process at https://zerenesystems.com/cms/stacker/docs/howtouseit ("How To Use Zerene Stacker"), with a lot more information in tutorials that are linked on the Tutorials index page at https://zerenesystems.com/cms/stacker/docs/tutorials/tutorialsindex .

For new users, I usually recommend to start at the top of the Tutorials index page and just read/watch items in order from the top down, going at least through "Tips for Retouching" and "Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts". The two video tutorials on retouching are particularly important, because there are some features that you're not likely to find by experimenting. I also recommend to read the FAQs, since those are likely to answer some questions you might not have thought to ask.

I hope this helps. If you have further questions, feel free to either post here or send email to support@zerenesystems.com . I'm also the fellow who answers all the email there.

Best,
--Rik

Lou Jost
Posts: 5945
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Ecuador
Contact:

Re: Raw images in Zerene

Post by Lou Jost »

Generally it is best to use the least-compressed, highest-bit-depth file format you possibly can in Zerene. So I would not use your workflow. I'd recommend converting he RAW files to tiffs, editing them in lightroom (without excessive sharpening), then stacking the tiffs in Zerene, and working with the output tiffs from Zerene.

wbodine
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:37 pm
Location: Arizona

Re: Raw images in Zerene

Post by wbodine »

Lou Jost wrote:
Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:04 pm
Generally it is best to use the least-compressed, highest-bit-depth file format you possibly can in Zerene. So I would not use your workflow. I'd recommend converting he RAW files to tiffs, editing them in lightroom (without excessive sharpening), then stacking the tiffs in Zerene, and working with the output tiffs from Zerene.
Here is my workflow.
  • Shoot in JPEG not RAW.
    Import images into Zerene as JPEG and perform both PMax and DMAP stacks
    Edit the stacked output image using both PMAX and DMAP as well as individual images and then save with a compression quality of 11 as a JPEG
    I import into GIMP for editing the stacked image for color, contrast correction and cropping and export that at 98% as my final image as a JPEG
I am a bit confused about your workflow process. I see the value of RAW for post editing a single image, but what I don't understand is how do you edit the RAW files before converting them to tiff or JPEG for stacking? If I have 200 images I can't edit (dust spots, etc) in each of these 200 RAW shots before I convert them to JPEG to stack stack in Zerene. Help me understand.

Lou Jost
Posts: 5945
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Ecuador
Contact:

Re: Raw images in Zerene

Post by Lou Jost »

In Adobe Photoshop there is batch processing. You can learn about it online. You can apply any complicated RAW development to all the pictures in a folder automatically.

iconoclastica
Posts: 486
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:34 pm
Location: Wageningen, Gelderland

Re: Raw images in Zerene

Post by iconoclastica »

Lou Jost wrote:
Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:04 pm
Generally it is best to use the least-compressed, highest-bit-depth file format you possibly can in Zerene. So I would not use your workflow. I'd recommend converting he RAW files to tiffs, editing them in lightroom (without excessive sharpening), then stacking the tiffs in Zerene, and working with the output tiffs from Zerene.
Do we have topics here where the comparison between stacking direct jpg and raw-->Tiff was made?
--- felix filicis ---

Lou Jost
Posts: 5945
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:03 am
Location: Ecuador
Contact:

Re: Raw images in Zerene

Post by Lou Jost »

I don't know if there is a specific comparison but I have often done stacks both ways. I usually do stacks with jpgs but I convert to tiffs first for important stuff, or stuff that seems under- or over-exposed. I like to reduce sharpening a bit, and also reduce highlights, and sometimes raise shadows.

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic