Best post processing software?

[Alveprinsen]

Currently I am working with what I know the best... Photoshop, and Lightroom.

However, as some of you may already be aware of, I've been struggling with both M31 as well as M42... I have about 9 hours of data on M31, and just last night my M42 data amounted to 10 hours 40 minutes.

I've done the stretching, masking and layering Photoshop technique for M42, but I get the same results with 10h 40m exposure as I do with 6h 10 minutes. I've also noticed that many people achieve greater results with much less data.

I suspect I am either not using my tools correctly, or that I am using incorrect tools for the job.

Which astro-image processing software is considered to be THE software to use? I am not looking for the "cheapest option", but the best, regardless of whether or not its freeware or an actual commercial product. What matters is quality.

I see people on this forum use a wide range of tools, both for stacking as well as post processing.

What would be my smartest choice of software to get into for the best possible results?

And don't give me "its not the tool, its the person who uses it" speech. When your skills surpass what the tool can offer you in terms of performance, you need better tools. I may be lacking in skills, but I'd rather hone my skills with the best tools, instead of wasting time with inferior ones before finally switching over to the big-boy guns.

Now let me have it!

Alveprinsen.

[Leveye]

I like DSS and StarStax for stacking and PS and LR for post. Now if your a mad scientist, love to tinker like Doc Brown and can figure it out PixInsight might just work for you but a warning it has a WAY steep learning curve and an interface that really turned me off but I see lots of people using it. Someday I will dive in and try again but it sure wasn't easy to use I ended up going back to my old standbys.

For me PS is the most powerful tool in my arsenal. You may also want Photomatix Pro for stacking different exposures. This works great on Orion and such things with so much range without having to use layers in photoshop. Lots of control. You may also want to invest in a few plug-ins for PS. I like HLVG and Gradient Xterminator.

[Daniel-K]

I have just started using nebulosity 3 for post processing the DDP tool is really good I do a few tweaks and the finish it off in cs6 with noels actions. As said above gradient exterminater and HLGV are a must in PS they are fantastic.BTW that's alot of data !!!

[ollypenrice]

I use Pixinsight for certain preliminary tasks and will probably use it for more than that as I come to terms with it's uncomunicative interface. Those tasks are vital. On your M31 I used Dynamic Background Extraction to give a neutral background sky colour. (It sets background to parity in RG and B.) It also does a good colour calibration. I then used Selective Colour Noise Reduction on the green channel. All this is done in linear form.

 

All the rest was done in Photoshop. I'd recommend Hasta La Vista Green (free from the Deep Sky Colors website of Rogelio Bernal Andreo) as an alternative to SCNR in Pixinsight.

I'd also recommend Noel's Actions, now found here; http://www.prodigitalsoftware.com/Astronomy_Tools_For_Full_Version.html

If you don't go for Pixinsight you'll need a gradient remover like Gradient Xterminator by Russ Croman.

 

While I use layers a great deal I make far fewer masks than most people because I find it hard to make the mask go where I want it to go. I tend to use colour select to identify the part of a layer I want to retain/remove and use the eraser. Pixinsight is very mask-orientated and this lack of control over the mask (or my lack of skill in creating it) rather bugs me.

 

This is a really great book. You need it. We all do! http://www.springer.com/astronomy/astronomy,+observations+and+techniques/book/978-1-4614-7833-1

 

Personally I rarely use deconvolution and never use DDP. I need to look at deconvolution again, really, but I feel I can beat DDP with custom stretches of my own.

 

Your data was good.

 

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=2277139556&k=FGgG233

[Alveprinsen]

2. ...I use Pixinsight for certain preliminary tasks ...

 

3. All the rest was done in Photoshop. I'd recommend Hasta La Vista Green (free from the Deep Sky Colors website of Rogelio Bernal Andreo) as an alternative to SCNR in Pixinsight...

 

2. Yes, I have been looking into that software. It looks really kickass, but as I understand from a couple of people on the forum here - the learning curve is pretty much free-fall... I guess I'll have to take a look at it!

3. I will look into that plugin.

 

I've looked at the links you provided. The Astronomy Tools Action Set looks particularly interesting. Thank you very much for those tips!

 

Sincerely, Alveprinsen.

[Alveprinsen]

I've looked at the links you provided. The Astronomy Tools Action Set looks particularly interesting...

I see the plugin requires Adobe Photoshop 6 ... Would that be CS6 ? I am currently running CS 5.1 ....

Alveprinsen.

[lensman57]

I see the plugin requires Adobe Photoshop 6 ... Would that be CS6 ? I am currently running CS 5.1 ....

Alveprinsen.

If they have not changed the Noel's action set then is currently running quite well with my version of CS2. I just had a look at the price of the full package of CS6, good job I am sitting in my couch at the moment.

A.G

[ollypenrice]

Like AG I run Noels' Actions happily on CS3 and used it on 7 before that.

Olly

[r3i]

Like AG I run Noels' Actions happily on CS3 and used it on 7 before that.

Olly

IRIC, Noel provides 3 versions of the Actions that enable it to work with various versions of PS.

[PhotoGav]

I see the plugin requires Adobe Photoshop 6 ... Would that be CS6 ? I am currently running CS 5.1 ....

Alveprinsen.

Photoshop CS5 is really version 12..... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop_version_history).

[idigitize]

And plugins and actions are two very different things.

"it's not the tool, it's the person who uses it"... and actions are just a way of letting someone else use your tool that does know how to use it .

Sorry couldn't resist.... Looks like an interesting set of actions!

[RikM]

I probably use far more programs than necessary, but I find that some of them seem to suit me better. Calibration, stacking and colour combining I do in Maxim DL. Where used (which is quite often as my local seeing is rubbish) I use CCDSharp for deconvolution. Almost everything else is done with Photoshop CS3 and the same plug-ins and actions as previously discussed. I use HLVG! and Gradient Xterminator. I also have one called WhiteCal that I think came from the same stable as HLVG! it is a colour balancer that sometimes works wonderfully and other times atrociously (but I blame the operator!). I have the appropriate Noel's actions set for CS3 and regularly use the deep space noise reduction, increase star colour, make stars smaller, local contrast enhancement and select bright stars. I have learned how to do all those processes manually, but these are very nice shortcuts. I tend to apply them 'as a new layer on top' and then do my own tweaking and selective masking; I don't often apply them to the whole image.

Many people say that Pixinsight is the future (if only it had a more intuitive interface) but I still haven't learned all there is to know about Photoshop, so I can't start on something new just yet