What is the best focus stacking software for Mac?

Helicon Focus, Zerene Stacker, Photoshop, Affinity and Detalia all run on macOS. Detalia is the one built only for Mac, with Finder and Lightroom Classic integration and no settings to learn.

Can I stack several focus series at once?

Yes. Drop a whole folder from a shoot into Detalia and each stack is found and finished on its own.

Does Detalia work on Intel Macs?

Detalia is made for Apple Silicon (M-series) Macs running macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

Focus stacking on a Mac: Finder, Lightroom and keyboard shortcuts

All guides

Updated 2 November 2026 · 2 min read

A focus stack should take a few seconds to start, not a round of exporting. On a Mac you can send frames to Detalia straight from Finder, from Lightroom Classic, or with a keyboard shortcut of your own.

From Finder: right-click

Select the frames
Select the photos of a stack, or a whole folder from a shoot. RAW files work directly; there’s no need to export TIFFs.
Right-click
Choose Services › Stack with Detalia. With only a few services installed, macOS shows it directly at the bottom of the menu.
Watch it stack
Detalia opens, sorts the frames into separate stacks and starts on the first.

Select the frames, right-click, Stack with Detalia.

Your own keyboard shortcut

In the same place (System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › Services › Files and Folders), double-click to the right of Stack with Detalia and press a key combination, such as ⌃⌥⌘S. From then on: select files in Finder, press the shortcut, done.

Other ways in

Drag and drop: drag files or a folder onto Detalia’s window or its Dock icon.
Open With: right-click an image › Open With › Detalia.
Open…: ⌘O inside Detalia lets you choose files and folders.
Shortcuts app: an Open File action with Detalia as the app. Turn on “Use as Quick Action” in the shortcut’s details to see it under Quick Actions in Finder too.
Lightroom Classic: Library › Plug-in Extras › Stack with Detalia. Results come back into the catalogue. See focus stacking with Lightroom.

Keyboard shortcuts in Detalia

⌘O: Open files or folders
⌘R: Stack again
Space: Compare with the sharpest single frame
⌘+: Zoom in
⌘−: Zoom out
⌘0: 100 %: every pixel
⌘9: Zoom to fit
⌘K: Crop (exports use the same crop)
←→: Previous or next frame in the filmstrip
B: Paint in from the selected frame
⌘Z: Undo the last brush stroke
Esc: Back to the stacked image
⌘E: Export TIFF, full quality
⇧⌘E: Export JPEG for sharing
⌥⌘E: Export DNG for Lightroom and other editors
⇧⌘L: Send to Lightroom

Touching up a spot

Click a frame in the filmstrip to see it lined up with the result, step through with ← and →, and press B to paint from it. Each stroke takes pixels from that frame with a soft brush, and ⌘Z takes it back. While painting, ← and → switch the frame you paint from.

Paint in from a single frame where something moved; every stroke can be undone.

Why native matters

Detalia is built for Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later. It runs offline, your photos never leave your Mac, and memory use stays the same however many frames a stack has.

Questions

What is the best focus stacking software for Mac?: Helicon Focus, Zerene Stacker, Photoshop, Affinity and Detalia all run on macOS. Detalia is the one built only for Mac, with Finder and Lightroom Classic integration and no settings to learn.
Can I stack several focus series at once?: Yes. Drop a whole folder from a shoot into Detalia and each stack is found and finished on its own.
Does Detalia work on Intel Macs?: Detalia is made for Apple Silicon (M-series) Macs running macOS 14 Sonoma or later.