“Lighten” and “Darken”
The camera compares multiple selected pictures and selects only the brightest or darkest pixels at each point in the picture to create a single new JPEG copy.
- Select [Retouch] in the i menu, then highlight [ - Lighten ] or [- Darken ] and press 2.- [Lighten]: The camera compares the pixels in each picture and uses only the brightest.  
- [Darken]: The camera compares the pixels in each picture and uses only the darkest.  
 
- Choose how pictures are selected. - Option - Description - [Select individual pictures] - Select pictures for the overlay one-by-one. - [Select consecutive pictures] - Select two pictures; the overlay will include the two pictures and all the pictures between them. - [Select folder] - The overlay will include all pictures in the selected folder. 
- Select the source slot. - Highlight the slot with the card containing the desired pictures and press 2.
- You will not be prompted to select the slot if only one memory card is inserted.
 
- Select the pictures. - If you chose [Select individual pictures]: - Highlight pictures using the multi selector.
- To view the highlighted picture full screen, press and hold the X button.
- To select the highlighted picture, press the W (Q) button. Selected pictures are marked with a check ( ). To remove the check ( ). To remove the check ( ) and deselect the current picture, press the W (Q) button again. The selected pictures will be combined using the option selected in Step 1. ) and deselect the current picture, press the W (Q) button again. The selected pictures will be combined using the option selected in Step 1.
- Press J to proceed once selection is complete.
 - If you chose [Select consecutive pictures]: - All pictures in a range chosen using the multi selector will be combined using the option selected in Step 1.- Use the W (Q) button to select the first and last pictures in the desired range.
- The first and last pictures are indicated by  icons and the pictures between them by icons and the pictures between them by icons. icons.
- You can alter your selection by using the multi selector to highlight different pictures to serve as the first or last frame. Press the center of the sub-selector to choose the current picture as the new start or end point.
 
- To view the highlighted picture full screen, press and hold the X button.
- Press J to proceed once selection is complete.
 - If you chose [Select folder]: - Highlight the desired folder and press J to overlay all pictures in the folder using the option selected in Step 1. 
- Save the overlay. - A confirmation dialog will be displayed; highlight [Yes] and press J to save the overlay and display the resulting picture.
- To interrupt the process and display a confirmation dialog before the operation is complete, press the G button; to save the current overlay “as is” without adding the remaining pictures, highlight [Save and exit] and press J. To exit without creating an overlay, highlight [Discard and exit] and press J.
 
Cautions: “Lighten” and “Darken”
- Only pictures created with this camera can be selected. Pictures created with other models cannot be selected.
- The overlay will include only pictures created with the same options selected for [Image area] > [Choose image area] in the photo shooting menu.
- The image quality setting for the completed overlay is that of the highest quality picture it contains.
- Overlays that include NEF (RAW) pictures will be saved at an image quality of [JPEG/HEIF finem].
- All JPEG pictures in the overlay must be the same size.
- The size of overlays that include both NEF (RAW) and JPEG images is determined by the JPEG picture.
- “Noise” (in the form of randomly-spaced bright pixels, fog, or lines) increases with the number of pictures in the overlay. - Noise will be less noticeable if the pictures for the overlay were shot with 0 or a negative value selected for the [Sharpening] Picture Control parameter.
- Noise becomes noticeable in overlays that include around 50 pictures or more.