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Archive 2017 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??

  
 
Tom RC
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


I'm doing interior photography and one final image is a composition of many. I am not having any issues with my 24mm tilt shift lens when I align layers but am not able to get multiple images from my 16-35mm f4 IS lens to line up precisely in photoshop. I am shooting off of a heavy duty tripod and using a camranger so I am not bumping the lens, am shooting in manual focus and have image stabilization turned off.

Is there a more precise way to line up layers? It's odd because multiple shots from my 24mm tse line up perfectly. Is it because its zoom lens? Just not sure. I LOVE the images from my Canon 16-35mm f4 IS, but it does me no good if I can't precisely align the layers in photoshop. Thanks for any help!!

-Tom




Jul 26, 2017 at 12:24 PM
Peter Figen
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


Can you explain exactly what's not working and also exactly how you're going about using the AL command. Are you trying to blend exposures? Is it possible that a lens correction was applied to one raw file and not the other? Because, if everything is locked down on manual focus and no IS, they should be perfect right out of the box.


Jul 26, 2017 at 01:08 PM
Tom RC
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


I may have 4 to 6 layers of the exact same shot of a room open if photoshop. An ambient shot, a flash shot, a window pull, etc. The layers need to be perfectly aligned in photoshop as you are masking portions of the ambient shots on to portions of the shots that were lit with flash. I'm using "auto align layers" in photoshop and there NO issues whatsoever when using my 24mm TSE but the shots from the 16-35mm f4 IS are not aligning perfectly.....they are close but not perfectly aligned and this causes an issue when you apply a layer mask and then start painting.

Again NO issues when using the prime 24mm TSE. Thanks!




Jul 26, 2017 at 02:28 PM
JBPhotog
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


Is there any refocusing between shots, albeit via AF and you not touching the camera?

If so, this could explain the slight shift.



Jul 26, 2017 at 02:41 PM
Tom RC
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


Not touching camera, using camranger, heavy duty tripod, manual focus, image stabilization off.

What is the best way to align layers in photoshop? I'm using "auto align" but maybe there is a more precise method of aligning layers I could try.



Jul 26, 2017 at 03:00 PM
Abuttolph
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


I don't know if this will help or not, but you might try (if you have not already) using Lightroom to correct for lens distortion on all of your images before bringing them into Photoshop. LR should have the lens profile.


Jul 26, 2017 at 03:06 PM
redcrown
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


I have the 16-35 and a 24-105. Use both to shoot a few HDR sequences. Three to five exposure brackets. I've found the Photoshop auto-align to be hit or miss. Mostly good, but maybe 1 out of 20 sets simply won't align. I've never figured out why, but I suspect it's because of exposure differences.

When Photoshop is trying to align the highest plus exposure shot and large portions of that shot are blown or close to blown, maybe it can't line up enough detail with the other, lower exposure shots to do the alignment. Maybe ditto for the lowest exposure shots where detail is mostly blocked up and gone.

I remember once, long ago, I had a landscape set with 2/3 bright cloudy sky. In the two top exposure shots that sky was mostly blown out. The 5 layers would not align. So I selected the sky and filled it with 50% gray on each layer, then tried again. The layers then aligned OK, with only the foreground to use.

That does not explain why your 24mm shots are OK but the 16-35 are not. Unless the 16-35 shots have wide exposure differences in key areas of the image. For example, are there very bright "flash" areas that are trying to align with very dark areas in the ambient shot?

Also related, the Lightroom/ACR "Upright" tool often gives significantly different results on different exposures of a well aligned bracketed set. Makes sense, I think, since Upright depends on finding vertical and horizontal elements, and those elements will be more or less prominent depending on exposure.



Jul 26, 2017 at 11:34 PM
Ho1972
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


If the shots are staged as you say, then align them manually, one at a time, using the Difference mode.


Jul 27, 2017 at 02:23 AM
dhphoto
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


Ho1972 wrote:
If the shots are staged as you say, then align them manually, one at a time, using the Difference mode.


If they are shot as the OP says, on a tripod with manual focus they shouldn't really need any aligning
Maybe there is some auto lens correction going on



Jul 27, 2017 at 02:27 AM
Ho1972
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


^ If so, it will show up when doing a manual align. Another idea is to give one of the other aligning methods (perspective, reposition, etc.) a shot. Can't hurt.


Jul 27, 2017 at 02:30 AM
Tom RC
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


Thanks for the input. Will try the suggestions mentioned. There are extreme exposure differences / exposures times. Operator error I'm sure


Jul 27, 2017 at 07:26 AM
- MS -
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


I share your pain in not being able to align layers in Ps.
I've had the same problem for years, but using the 17mm TS-E.
Everyone thought I was mad when I asked a similar question

The more you use Ps, the more you realise what a buggy pile of sh1t it really is.

The best advice I can give, is to crop the elements down to size and then try to align them.
For example, if you had a darker exposure of a window, crop to around the window, place it on the base layer and then try to align it.
Repeat multiple times for each window.

When the above fails, paint on the layer mask with a low opacity brush to blend out any "errors".

Another solution which (sometimes) required less work is to use Luminosity Masks, to blend the exposures together.
I recommend watching this YT channel and his software.
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheJimmymac20/videos



Aug 03, 2017 at 05:42 PM
Peter Figen
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


"if you had a darker exposure of a window, crop to around the window, place it on the base layer and then try to align it."

I'm not really sure why you'd ever need Align Layers in this situation, or any where you've got the camera locked down on a tripod. All you need to do in these situations is drag one image one top of the other with the shift key down and it automatically pin registers, then you just have to mask your image to suit. Now, with windows in architecture, that can be an issue to do flare coming in, but generally some soft brushes on a layer mask at low opacities with deal with that effectively.



Aug 04, 2017 at 04:08 AM
John Wheeler
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


Hi Tom

Without seeing the actual images it is hard to give a good recommendation, yet if you have you camera titled up or down no the shots, you end up with perspective issues in merging the images.

A tilt shift lens handles this with ease with the shift function which allows capturing the higher looking image with the lens still pointing straight forward and avoiding the perspective distortion and the images merge seamlessly.

Since I do not know how you are using the tilt shift lens vs you wide angle zoom, I don't know if this is the difference or not. Yet it is a possible explanation.

Here is the basic information in this link (even references your TSE lens: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt%E2%80%93shift_photography

Hope this helps or gives you an angle to consider.



Aug 04, 2017 at 08:04 AM
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Photoshop Align Layers HELP??


Peter Figen wrote:
"if you had a darker exposure of a window, crop to around the window, place it on the base layer and then try to align it."

I'm not really sure why you'd ever need Align Layers in this situation, or any where you've got the camera locked down on a tripod. All you need to do in these situations is drag one image one top of the other with the shift key down and it automatically pin registers, then you just have to mask your image to suit. Now, with windows in architecture, that can be an issue to do
...Show more

That's the whole point of this thread
In the real world that technique doesn't always work, especially with TS-E lenses, for some reason.
I know it should, but Ps can and does mess it up.
The saying "Couldn't hit a cow's ass with a banjo" springs to mind



Aug 04, 2017 at 05:38 PM





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