StackScore

StackScore grades how well a stack was shot, from 0 to 100. It sits at the top of the Editor’s right sidebar, above LOOK. It tells you what cost points and what to try on your next shoot.

It grades the capture, not the photo. A soft lens, a dull subject or a busy background cost nothing. They aren’t about how the stack was shot.

Reading the score

The score and its grade appear in the section’s header, so you can see them with the section folded.

Score	Grade
90-100	Excellent
75-89	Good
60-74	Fair
Under 60	Needs work

Every stack starts at 100 and loses points for what was found. Each row in the section shows one thing that was checked and the points it cost.

The dot beside the score shows the grade: green for Excellent, light green for Good, amber for Fair, red for Needs work. Each row has its own dot for what it found: green for fine, amber for worth a look, red for a real problem.

What it checks

Row	What it checks	Most it can cost
Focus overlap	How much of your subject is sharp in both of each pair of neighboring frames	50
Subject movement	Parts of the scene that moved between frames, after alignment lined the frames up	20
Steadiness	How much the camera moved between frames: 2 to 5 when alignment lined the frames up, 5 for each frame alignment couldn’t place, and 25 when alignment failed	25
Lighting	How much the light changed between frames, such as flash that varied or a single frame lit very differently	5

Subject movement and Steadiness cost nothing or at least 2 points, so an amber dot on either always comes with points.

Focus overlap counts the most, because it is the problem you can see. When two neighboring frames barely overlap in focus, the detail between them is soft in every frame. The result shows a soft band at that depth.

Unused frames at the start or end of a stack cost nothing. They waste time, not detail, so StackScore mentions them as a tip.

Frames that StackCheck suggests leaving out don’t have a row of their own. A frame lit very differently shows in Lighting, and a frame alignment couldn’t place shows in Steadiness, because the camera moved more than alignment could fix. A frame that adds nothing costs nothing: it only takes time.

Subject movement

Alignment lines up each whole frame. It can’t fix something that moved on its own between shots, such as a web swinging in the wind, a leg the insect lifted, or a stem in front of your subject that shifts when you shoot handheld. Each frame shows that part in a different place, and the result can draw it twice: doubled hairs, or one strand drawn as several.

Subject movement checks how much of your subject’s sharp detail was still out of place after alignment, between each pair of neighboring frames. The row names the frames where parts moved.

Small parts count too. An antenna or leg that moved costs at least 2 points, because the result shows it doubled and you’ll need to retouch it. A shift of the whole frame, such as a bumped camera, doesn’t count here.

Steadiness is a different check. The camera can move a lot and still score well on Subject movement, as long as alignment lined everything up.

To fix it next time, shield the subject from wind, or take the frames faster. A tripod or rail also helps when you shoot handheld.

The focus overlap chart

The chart has one bar for each pair of neighboring frames. Its height is how much of the detail near those two frames is sharp in both. Hover over a bar to see which frames it is.

Green (50% and up): plenty of overlap.
Amber (10% to 50%): thin. Fine on its own, but a little softer than a stack with more frames.
Red (under 10%): a gap. Expect a soft band at this depth.
Gray: too little of your subject is sharpest here to measure, such as frames past the front or back of the subject.

On a long stack, neighboring pairs share a bar. The bar shows the worst pair, so a gap never hides.

To fix a gap, use a smaller focus step. About half the size usually closes it. Or shoot more frames over the same depth.

Next time

The amber Next time note lists what to change on your next shoot, such as a smaller focus step around certain frames, shielding the subject from wind, a tripod or rail, or steadier flash. It only appears when there is something to change.

In the Library

When you select a saved stack in the Library, its StackScore and grade appear on the left of the star rating row. Hover over them to see the same breakdown as in the Editor.

This works for DNG files saved by Macro Studio. TIFF and JPEG files don’t carry the data, so they have no StackScore.

When parts aren’t measured

Stacks saved before StackScore have no focus overlap data. Their score covers the other rows, and the section says so.
Stacks saved before Subject movement was added show it as not measured. Stack them again to measure it.
Stacks of 2 or 3 frames get a score too. Steadiness and Lighting need 3, and the check for frames alignment couldn’t place needs 4.
Single photos you edit have no score, and the section stays hidden.