Stereo Editing Software

Software Options

Good stereo photo editing software is essential to make the most of what digital technology has to offer. Listed below are two programs I use that I find quite satisfactory:

 Anaglyph Maker 3D *

This program is quite simple because it only does two things - make anaglyphs (of various kinds) from a set of stereo pairs or make LCS views that you can look at with shutter glasses. It is easy to use, works flawlessly, and is freeware!
 
 

 Stereophoto Maker *

This is another piece of freeware that does a very comprehensive job of handling and formatting stereo images in just about any format. It has become my primary editing tool in recent years.

* - if the links are not working, try doing an Internet search using the names of the programs to find a site where the software can be down-loaded.

Stereo Editing for Dummies

All of our stereo image projects start with a basic stereo pair made up of a left and right image, shown here in much reduced size in a side-by-side format.

While we might be able to get away with simply aligning the images, side-by-side, for viewing, there are three possible areas where we might encounter problems - left/right image selection, vertical alignment, and the "stereo window". Let's look at a very easy way, using any editing software, to avoid such common problems.

(1) All basic stereo editing software will let you load the left and right images of the stereo pair so that is your first step.

(2) All software will also let you look at the image pair in the stereo format of your choice - usually as an option under STEREO on the toolbar. Select Grayscale Anaglyphs.

(3) Left/Right Image Selection. The first thing to do is to look at the image with a pair of red/blue glasses. If the image has the proper "look" of a stereo image, the left and right images have been selected properly. If the image looks strange, you have probably reversed the left and right images. This is quite common with JPS images, since the components of the stereo pair are reversed in the raw image format.

A quick look will tell you that this one definitely isn't "right"! Most software has the ability to instantly "swap" the left and right image pairs. Use the option and recheck the picture:

Having "swapped" images, we have the proper stereo effect. Note that the image may cause a bit of eyestrain at this point, simply because of some basic misalignments that we will fix in the steps that follow.

(4) Vertical Alignment. It is critical that the left and right image pair be properly aligned vertically. To check this, take off your glasses and take a close look at some fairly contrasty part of the image. For example. is we look at the labels in the foreground of the image above, it is obvious that the red image is significantly offset below the blue image (or vice versa). Use your editing software to slide the blue image down or the red image up to eliminate the alignment problem:

Here the alignment has been "fixed" and the image already has less eyestrain when viewed through red/blue glasses.

(5) The "Stereo Window" is defined as a frame made up of the boundary of the image. In effect, it is like a window through which we view the scene. What we want to avoid are so-called window "violations", where objects, particularly along the edge of the image, appear to be protruding out beyond the window boundary. For example, with your red/blue glasses, look at the lower edge of the picture shown above. It will probably make you uncomfortable to do so because the lower edge objects appear closer than the window boundary and thus appear to be cut off and hanging in space. This is definitely not normal and you brain has trouble handling it, causing discomfort and distortion to other stereo relationships in the scene.

All kinds of adjustments can typically be made, but a "quick and dirty" starting point is to simply look round the edges of the image for the object that is likely to be closest to the camera. In this case, it is likely to be the lower edge of the rock that can be seen in the lower-left of the image shown above. Adjust the left and right placement of the stereo pair, glasses off, until the red and blue image of the rock merge into one:

This will place the rock at the same "depth" as the window. With all the alignments in order, the resulting image can be viewed with notably less eye strain than the original version:

You will note that in the case of the final version of the image, I have placed a black frame around the picture itself. It is not necessary that the boundary be black, but it is desirable that it be simple and uniform. The incremental improvement in appearance can be verified by comparing this image with the one above it. The two stereo images are identical and only the background/frames are different.

While there are endless nuances with respect to editing stereo images, what I have covered here are the most fundamental things that have to be done to produce a respectable stereo image.