During the last five years the technique focal-series reconstruction has evolved to a powerful tool for investigating materials science problems in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Compared to the conventional interpretation of one single high-resolution image, the quantum mechanical electron wave function at the exit plane of the object (exit-plane wave function, EPW) is in many cases a better starting point for the materials analysis. The retrieval of the EPW is achieved on a routine basis by applying automated numerical procedures to a series of images taken from the same specimen area at different objective lens defocus values. The application of the reconstruction procedure allows one to remove numerically all the well known instrumental artifacts, such as nonlinear contrast formation or delocalisation effects due to spherical aberration and other parasitic aberrations. The reconstructed EPW gives thus direct insight into the atomic structure in the case of sufficiently thin objects and renders tedious image simulations of complicated defects unnecessary in many cases.