Inspiring

Answered

why aren't masks from focus stack EDITABLE?

Forum|Forum|30 days ago
August 10, 2026
18 replies
127 views

a “focus stack” has masks. There are some errors so I want to

edit the masks with paint brush, black or white. They wont edit.
Thanks
Steve z

Correct answer davescm

Focus stack masks are no different to any other mask and therefore should be editable in the same way. Check the options bar for your brush blend mode.
Dave

I

Impressive_customers752f

Participating Frequently

ok here it is:
looking at the mask, it looks like this

but looking at the whole, it looks like this:

those unrequired undesired selections were stopping the mask behavior.

🤔

jane-e

Community Expert

@Impressive_customers752f

I see that your reply is your very first post in the Adobe Community Forums. We see your screenshot — can you tell us what your question is?

Jane

Conrad_C

Community Expert

Photoshop doesn’t have a feature specifically labeled “focus stacking,” it’s sort of an unlabeled benefit of using the command Edit > Auto-Blend Layers on a set of limited depth-of-field photos taken at different focus distances. So the question is, are you talking about a focus stack built using Photoshop, or built using separate focus-stacking software and then sent to Photoshop?

If your focus stack was built in Photoshop using Auto-Blend Layers, then a focus mask should have been created for each layer in the document. And each layer’s mask should be viewable and editable using normal masking techniques, as shown in the demo below. If yours looks different, that’s why others have asked for screen shots of what it looks like to you, so we can figure it out. But the demo below shows how it normally works to edit the layer masks created for a focus stack by Auto-Blend Layers.

D Fosse

Community Expert

@Conrad_C

Correct, but there is the blend option called “stack images”, so that should for all practical purposes be considered a dedicated focus stack option:

The one to watch here, however, is “seamless tones and colors”. This adjustment will be hard baked into the pixels, and so a ghost of the mask will remain after editing. It might be better to uncheck this and do the tone correcting later.

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

Correct, but there is the blend option called “stack images”, so that should for all practical purposes be considered a dedicated focus stack option:

@D Fosse , funny, though, that the icons in the dialog window seem to show a sharp »sun« (possibly) on the left/before and a blurry one on the right/after.

I hadn’t noticed that before but it didn’t distract from the likely use-case anyway.

edit:

D Fosse

Community Expert

You can edit the masks, but tonal adjustments (to match exposures) are baked into the pixels and for some reason they do follow the hard masks. That’s why you see a ghost of the mask after editing it.

Yes, I agree, the whole focus stack algorithm appears outdated and never worked very well. I stopped using it long ago. It’s time for a full overhaul, if they can find time between other things.

I have generally recommended Zerene Stacker or Helicon Focus; don’t know if they’re still in business.

All that said, there can be an inherent problem with macro focus stacking if you don’t shoot carefully, and that has nothing to do with Photoshop. If you just adjust focus with the lens, you will move the optical center of the lens forward and backward, and that changes the perspective (the angle of view). To eliminate this, the lens should ideally be fixed and static, and only the camera body moved to adjust focus. This is hard to do without a bellows and focusing rail system, however. A compromise is to move the camera and lens together.

davescm

Community Expert

Both Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker are still in business. Personally, I use Zerene Stacker but you can get a trial for both and see which you prefer.
Dave

davescm

Correct answer

Community Expert

Focus stack masks are no different to any other mask and therefore should be editable in the same way. Check the options bar for your brush blend mode.
Dave

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

Could you please post screenshots with the pertinent Panels (Toolbar, Layers, Channels, Options Bar, …) visible?

What are the Brush Tools settings (Blend Mode, Flow etc.)?

S

Steve ZeeeeeAuthor

Inspiring

there’s really not much reason too, is there? I edit a traditional mask the traditional way, and then jump to a focus stack and no changes, and it does not work. ??

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

Please answer the question and post the requested screenshots.

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