Focus Stack Photos in Photoshop for Full-Depth Sharpness
Focus stacking lets you merge several images focused at different distances into a single photo that’s sharp from front to back. It’s essential for product and macro photography and is straightforward in Photoshop. In this tutorial, you’ll align your shots and blend them into a seamless, sharp composite.
Step-by-step instructions
Load your focus-bracketed images into a single stack
Open all source images in Photoshop.
Go to File → Scripts → Load Files into Stack…
Click Add Open Files.
Enable Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images.
Click OK to create a layered document.
Blend layers to achieve full-depth focus
In the Layers panel, select all layers (click the top layer, then Shift-click the bottom layer).
Go to Edit → Auto-Blend Layers…
Choose Stack Images (if shown) and click OK.
Wait for Photoshop to create masks on each layer and render the composite.
Inspect and refine the result
Zoom in to review sharpness across the frame and along edges.
If alignment looks off, ensure all layers are selected and re-run Edit → Auto-Blend Layers…
Optionally fine-tune individual layer masks with the Brush Tool to correct small areas.
