# Auto-align in LR?



## John Little

I'm pretty sure the answer is No, but is there a way to auto-align several images in LR? This feature is present in Photoshop; it seems like it would be feasible to select several images and auto-align them. Perhaps there could also be an auto-crop option, or (ideally) a boundary-warp feature such as is present in the Panorama feature. What I would like to do is take several images of the same scene, taken hand-held at different times, and be able to superimpose them.


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## Dan Marchant

What you want isn't possible in LR, because superimposing images requires layers and LR doesn't support layers. You will need to use PS for that.


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## Gnits

The best you can do is ......

Select images to be aligned in Lr. 
Right click on significant image. 
Select “Open as layers in Ps”

In Ps select command Auto Align. 

You then have the further option Auto Blend. 

Save the result. 

Return to Lr where aligned / blended image is now available. 

I use this all the time for focus stacking.


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## John Little

Thanks to you both! This will be a big help. I didn't know about the "Open as layers in PS" command. 

Also, I find that in PS I can crop the whole set of images (which don't align perfectly due to being hand-held), then go to File/Export/Layers to Files to export each layer as a separate file. Then I need to import these files into LR in the usual way.


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## Gnits

I will apply basic exposure , profile, lens, settings to the first image in the series, then apply a generous crop. Then select all images to be aligned and synch the settings. At this stage I export as layers to Ps. Having the basic crop done before going to Ps will speed up the Ps alignment and blending process. You can refine your crop based on the actual result.


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