Hi Stas,
unfortunately, automatic sorting is a big problem for me and for everybody who (like me) does
a) micropanoramas like this (mounted from 15 stacks of 150-350 shots each):
https://www.stephanbuerger.com/makro/
and/or
b) sequential stacks (VR objects, timelapse etc.) of macro/micro objects like this:
https://www.stephanbuerger.com/taraxacum2
and/or
c) substacks ("slabs") to avoid/mask "transparent" elements when using render method C (which affects nearly every microscopic stack using reflected light and about every third of those using transmitted light).
Reason is that in all of these cases you depend on stacking results that all have an identical scale
and are stacked starting from the "closest" frame in the stack. To achieve that, it is essential to start every stack photo series from the same object plane which has to be the closest point of the
whole object, take as many shots as your current object field requires, and then stack the photos in ascending order. If you would use descending order instead (which is what, in most cases, automatic order will do since it recognizes the image with the farthest focus plane as the largest in scale), you would get an individual scale for each resulting stack, making it impossible to stitch the results to a panorama, combine them in a movie or VR object, or mount substacks to mask out transparencies.
I don't see a need to be able to set the order in the batch dialog individually (would be luxury but not essential), but, as you yourself said in the other thread: It should respect the currently selected (meaning, last used) option, be it ascending, descending, or automatic.
So please, please, please don't "take back the promise"...
As for the betatesting thread: Ok, I will be glad to start one - still will have to do some testing before this will make sense, though. So, if anybody would like to pre-empt me in that respect, I would simply participate in that thread.
Kind regards
Stephan