Using software to matchup B+A pics

[Rchawks]

Is there some sort of quick shortcut method to aline or match up a before and after shot that is similar? I have many pics like this and would like to cut down the the amount of time it takes to do manually.

 

[PanoVolo]

Lightroom has A-B comparison of 2 photos side by side.

 

[Fizzbang]

Do you mean: as with spot the difference pictures. Like these or something else.
For these I simply lay them side by side and go crosseyed.
I merge the two images into one and the differences pop out.

But of course it would help us understand your issue if you had attached two example pictures.

 

[Rchawks]

Sure, I have a before and after picture of a building that has been torn down, well partially, it's a work in process. First pic was taken in 2008, the others last year. I’d like to frame the difference between the two in a visually accurate way. I was hoping there might be a method of marking a center spot on each picture and working from the center out. I'm not willing to post the pictures in question just yet until I'm able to align the two seamlessly. It's been frustrating trying to aline pictures from different sites past and present.

 

[PanoVolo]

Ah sorry I misunderstood what you are trying to achieve.

Not an easy problem to solve as you will have different perspective distortions and probably lens distortions between the 2 photos. The method is to select a bunch of matching control points on both photos and align minimizing the difference between them. Similar to what photogrammetry or panorama stitching algorithms are doing but not exactly.See if openODM or Alice Vision may have something for this.

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

Ah sorry I misunderstood what you are trying to achieve.

Not an easy problem to solve as you will have different perspective distortions and probably lens distortions between the 2 photos. The method is to select a bunch of matching control points on both photos and align minimizing the difference between them. Similar to what photogrammetry or panorama stitching algorithms are doing but not exactly.See if openODM or Alice Vision may have something for this.

Is there some sort of quick shortcut method to aline or match up a before and after shot that is similar? I have many pics like this and would like to cut down the the amount of time it takes to do manually.

I have to make one translucent then lineup not the fastest way to do it. Sorry

 

[WackeDad]

If you work with photos even a little bit, at the very least you should have Photoshop for Photographers plan ($9.99/mo). You can layer two images (or more) one above another, lower the transparency of the top photo, rotate/size/set geometry/etc. and save the top layer (after setting transparency back to 100%) as a new file. In this way, you can get both images color, brightness, contrast etc. to match up quite easily. There are doubtless free and on-line editors that provide transparency capabilities, but it will take time to test and learn. As @WildDronePilot says, each one needs to be touched to some extent, especially if the camera position changes between shots.

 

[Robert Prior]

If you work with photos even a little bit, at the very least you should have Photoshop for Photographers plan ($9.99/mo).

I do a metric crapload of photography, and I've avoided Photoshop since CS5. Affinity Photo has all the capabilities I need, and purchasing a perpetual license costs less than an annual subscription to Photoshop.

Affinity Photo – award-winning photo editing software

The only fully-loaded photo editor integrated across macOS, Windows and iPad, Affinity Photo is the first choice of millions of professionals around the world.

affinity.serif.com

 

[Robert Prior]

Is there some sort of quick shortcut method to aline or match up a before and after shot that is similar? I have many pics like this and would like to cut down the the amount of time it takes to do manually.

I would try treating them as images for a panorama, and using panorama software to align them. You'll probably have to manually set a lot of the control points. Then output the panorama treating each image as a separate layer (so the distorted version is output separately).

You'll get the best results if the focal length and point-of-view of the two images are as close as possible, of course. And you might have to manually alter image settings like focal length in your panorama software (depending on what software you use).

 

[WackeDad]

I do a metric crapload of photography, and I've avoided Photoshop since CS5. Affinity Photo has all the capabilities I need, and purchasing a perpetual license costs less than an annual subscription to Photoshop.

Affinity Photo – award-winning photo editing software

The only fully-loaded photo editor integrated across macOS, Windows and iPad, Affinity Photo is the first choice of millions of professionals around the world.

affinity.serif.com

Never used Affinity, but it looks promising. Depending on the nature of the adjustments, having the ability to create "Actions" whereby you record the components necessary for the adjustments and run the action and simply tweak them accordingly as the action plays.