shinestacker

Graphical User Interface

Introduction

FocusStack processes focus-bracketed images in two phases:

• Project: Batch processing (alignment/balancing/stacking)
• Retouch: Layer-based refinement

  [!NOTE] Advanced processing details in main documentation.

The batch processing supports image alignment, color and luminosity balance, vignetting removal, noisy pixel masking.

Starting

• The python package can be installed from PyPI using pip:

> pip install shinestacker

Onace installed, the GUI app can start either from a console command line :

> shinestacker

• The app can be dowloaded from the releases page:
  • Windows: as installer or zip archive for local installation
  • macOS: as dmg disk image, where the app can be dragged to the Application folder
  • Linux: as tar.gz archive

The GUI has two main working areas:

• Project
• Retouch

Switching from Project to Retouch can be done from the ShineStacker main menu.

Project area

When the app starts, it proposes to create a new project.

Creating Projects

1. Select source folder (JPEG/TIFF 8/16-bit)
2. Configure job actions (auto-saved in project file)
3. Run processing:
   • Real-time logs & progress bar
   • Thumbnail previews for each stage

Large Set Tip: For 100+ images:

• Split into 10-15 image “bunches”
• Set number of overlapping frame from consecutive bunches
• Combine intermediate results later

The newly created project consists of a single job that contains more actions. Each action produces a folder as output that has, by default, the action’s name. Some actions can be combined in order to produce a single intermediate output (alignment, balancing, etc.).

Pro Tip: Duplicate jobs when processing similar image sets to save configuration time. You can run multiple jobs in sequence.

It is possible to run a single job, or all jobs within a project.

Project Run Tabs

1. Job progress bar with CPU and RAM usage monitor
2. Real-time log viewer
3. Retouch button (enabled after processing)

When the job finishes, a Retouch button is enabled, which opens the output image into the retouch area.

Retouch area

Brush Properties

Adjust in the top toolbar:

• Size: Brush diameter (px)
• Hardness: Edge softness (0-100%)
• Opacity: Paint transparency
• Flow: Paint accumulation rate

💡 Pro Tip: Use low opacity/flow (20-40%) for subtle corrections

Retouch Workflow

1. Navigate:
   • Zoom/pan to defect area
   • Toggle between master/source (X)
2. Correct defects/artifacts:**:
   • Select source layer with clean area
   • Adjust brush properties (size/hardness/opacity)
   • Paint over defects
   • Use Ctrl+Z to undo strokes
3. Verify:
   • Toggle master view (M) to check results
   • Compare before/after with L/M toggle
4. Filters:
   • Improve the final image with sharpening, denoise and color balance
5. Export:
   • ✅ Final image: Single TIFF/JPEG
   • 🗂️ Editable: Multilayer TIFF (large)

| Action | Shortcut | |———————|—————————| | Zoom in/out | Ctrl + +/- or mouse wheel or pinch on touchpad | | Reset view | Ctrl + 0 | | Pan | Space + mouse drag or two fingers on touchpad | | Prev./next layer | Up/Down arrows | | View master layer | M | | View source layer | L | | Toggle master ↔ layer | T | | Temp. toggle master ↔ source | X` |

See help menu for complete list of shortcuts.

Export Formats:

• Single TIFF: Final image (highest quality)
• Single JPEG: For web and quick preview (lower quality)
• Multilayer TIFF: Preserves all layers (large file)

EXIF metadata:

• EXIF data can be imported from source images and saved with final file.

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