Atik 314L+ New To Mono - how do I?

[Interested]

Hi all,

Hope someone can help!

I have only used OSC cameras before so imaging using a mono camera + colour filters is completely new to me. I have to admit, I'm ok at technical stuff but I am not a photographer!

I've set up the camera in the daylight and taken some pictures in L, R, G & B in Fits format. How do I stack/combine them to get a colour image?

I am using Artemis capture but also have Registax and have d/l'ed Nebulosity2 with a view to buy. I also have PS Elements 9.

Registax and Nebulosity both align & stack ok but I just get a B&W image at the end of it!

Any help would be very much appreciated (or a point to some tutorials?).

Many thanks

[Cornelius Varley]

This tutorial might be usefull http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-tips-tricks-techniques/57834-lrgb-imaging-primer.html

Peter

[Interested]

Peter,

Thank you for the link. I have 'skim' read and will go back to it later.

The author mentions using PS and Maxim DL; both are expensive software in the full versions. He also says there are plenty of other programs around that do the same as Maxim.

What other programs are people using - would AstroArt be a good program for combining & aligning? What other programs would be good for processing the RGB?

I hope I won't regret choosing mono over OSC in the long run. It's looking like it might be some time before I start to produce colour images!

[MartinB]

For stacking your luminence and individual colour channels - Nebulosity, AstroArt, ImagesPlus, Maxim, PixInsight, CCDStack or the very popular and free Deepsky Stacker. I am only really familiar with Maxim and PS. You may be able to do the combine using elements using the method I outlined for PS or, if this isn't possible, I know you can combine using ImagesPlus, CCDStack and PixInsight. Not sure about the others.

I can recommend ImagesPlus which is very good value and has a comprehensive suite of processing tools. These can appear complicated but it comes with a superb collection of video tutorials which guide you through all aspects of the programme.

[Merlin66]

I've been using AstroArt for the last seven years - the quiet achiever....bang per buck it does a lot.

(I now use it for spectroscopy as well!)

[Interested]

Martin,

Thanks for your reply. A great article by the way! It explained 'binning' quite well and will save me a lot of time when imaging the RGB chanels. and I now understand that the chanels have to be stacked seperately before combining.

I will look at Imageplus and AstroArt (as suggested by Merlin).

Merlin,

Also, thank you for your input. It's a shame the camera manufacturers don't provide (or point you to) the software required to do the job!

[Interested]

I have just posted my 1st image in the DSI section...........it's not good but, it is in colour!

Thank you all for the advice given, without which, my 1st image might have been some months away.