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Macro Studio Docs

Quick Start

This guide takes you from a folder of photos to a finished, saved image. If you’ve shot focus brackets before and want the shortest path to a stacked result, this is it.

Prefer to watch? Here’s a 13-min video walkthrough of the same steps.

The two-mode layout

Section titled “The two-mode layout”

Macro Studio has two modes:

  • Library (L): folders, the filmstrip and stacking. This is where you start.
  • Editor (E): masks, adjustments, crop and Save, for your stacked result.

The mode bar at the top of the window shows which mode you’re in. The active tab is white with a green bar under it, and the other is gray. Each tab shows its shortcut: LIBRARY [L], EDITOR [E]. In the Editor, a Standard / Advanced switch sits at the right end of the same bar.

1. Add a folder

Section titled “1. Add a folder”

In the FOLDERS section of the left panel, click + Add a folder. Pick the folder that holds your macro shoots (for example, ~/Pictures/macro/). It appears in the list, and you can expand it.

You can add several folders, such as one per shoot location, drive or year. They’re still there the next time you open the app.

2. Load a stack

Section titled “2. Load a stack”

Click any subfolder to load all its images as one stack. Thumbnails appear in the filmstrip at the bottom of the window.

Right-click a folder for more options, like Load N images, Add to Favorites and Reveal in Finder.

Star a folder to add it to FAVORITES at the top of the panel, for shoots you’ll come back to.

3. Select the frames

Section titled “3. Select the frames”

The source-control bar above the filmstrip has four buttons:

  • Set First [F]: marks the first frame of the range.
  • Set Last [L]: marks the last frame.
  • Select All [A]: selects every frame in the folder. When they’re all selected, it reads Deselect All and clears the selection instead.
  • Compare [C]: compares two selected frames.

Most of the time, press A to select all. For part of a folder, click the first frame, then Shift-click the last. To leave out a stray frame, ⌘-click (Ctrl-click on Windows) its thumbnail, or arrow onto it and press D.

The button at the bottom right shows what happens next:

  • No folder loaded yet: it reads Stack selected → and is grayed out.
  • Fewer than two frames selected: it’s blue and reads Edit single image [Enter] →. This opens that one frame in the Editor.
  • Two or more selected: it’s green and reads Stack selected images [S] →.

4. Stack

Section titled “4. Stack”

Press S or click Stack selected images [S] →. There’s nothing to set up first: no method to choose and no sliders. Macro Studio:

  1. Aligns the frames, correcting for focus breathing, camera movement and rotation.
  2. Stacks them into one sharp image.
  3. Switches to the Editor with the result.

The job appears in the history strip at the bottom of the Editor. When its bar fills, the result is ready.

You don’t have to wait. Stacking runs in the background, so you can go back to the Library, look through frames, or start another stack. Autostack works the same way for whole folders. See Stacking for more.

5. Refine the result (optional)

Section titled “5. Refine the result (optional)”

Standard vs. Advanced. New installs open the Editor in Standard mode, which shows only the basics: Compare, Crop, Save, the Look slider, Species ID and your history strip. Switch to Advanced at the top right of the Editor to see everything. That adds the Retouch, Spot Correct and Defringe buttons, and the Masks, Adjustments and History sections. See Editor overview.

The right sidebar has five sections, top to bottom:

  • LOOK: a slider from Natural to Enhanced that sets how much extra sharpening and local contrast the image gets. In both modes. See Look.
  • MASKS: Global, Subject, Background, the Radial and Linear gradients, and Brush. Pick one and your adjustments apply only there. (Advanced)
  • ADJUSTMENTS: 14 sliders for exposure, color, tone and detail. (Advanced) See Adjustments.
  • HISTORY: every edit as a step you can click back to. It appears once the image has edits. (Advanced) See Edit history.
  • SPECIES IDENTIFICATION: identifies your subject and drafts a caption for social posts.

The buttons at the top of the Editor:

  • Compare [C]: compare two history entries side by side.
  • Crop [R]: straighten and crop, with rule-of-thirds guides. In both modes.
  • Retouch [T]: paint pixels from an aligned source frame into the result.
  • Spot Correct: brush away spots and blemishes.
  • Defringe [D]: brush out color fringes on out-of-focus highlights.
  • Save…: open the Save dialog.

All of this is optional. A stack with no edits is fine.

6. Save

Section titled “6. Save”

Click Save… at the top right of the Editor. Tick one or more formats, and Macro Studio writes them all in one pass:

  • TIFF 16-bit: a full-quality master that opens in any editor.
  • JPEG: for sharing online.
  • Macro Studio DNG: reopens here with your edits, and opens in Lightroom with your sliders still live.
  • Raw DNG (camera-raw mode stacks only): for finishing in Lightroom or another raw editor, like a file from your camera.

You can also add a watermark to the TIFF or JPEG. DNG files can’t carry one. See Saving.

You now have a sharp macro image, ready to keep, share or edit further.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”