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Alternatives to Photoshop

dark star

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dark star

dark star

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Can anyone recommend a free alternative to Photoshop as it is rather expensive, plus the number of different versions make it rather confusing. Also, when I read about using Photoshop for astrophotography there often seems to be advice to buy other software as well as it does not do everything needed.

Or is it possible to do all the processing needed in DSS as well as stacking?

Regards

David

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dark star

dark star

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Unfortunately RAW cannot be used in GIMP. Also it is 8 bit and using 16 bit TIFF files you lose data. I only know this because GIMP warned me of this when I opened a TIFF file! Has anyone had good results stacking in Deep Sky Stacker and then using GIMP?

Regards

David

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dark star

dark star

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Everyone seems to use Photoshop!

Is Photoshop Elements 10 any good, as I could possibly spend 80 pounds eventually if it seemed to be worth it. I am far too old to be a student!

I have messed around with GIMP, not got anywhere, it would be nice to know if someone has used it successfully for astrophotography, then I would start reading tutorials. I need a light pollution filter so any expenditure on processing software will have to wait!

Regards

David

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squeaky

squeaky

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Any of the Photoshop tutorials work well with PSP, just some slightly different commands, but the effects are the same.

Yeah, I've seen a couple of photoshop ones. I'll need to study and practice though.

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dark star

dark star

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The problem with RawTherapee is that I stack the images first in DSS which results in a TIFF file! Will investigate the other alternatives further. Is there much difference between Photoshop 7 amd 10?

Regards

David

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dark star

dark star

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RawTherapee loads TIFF files, I assumed it didn't because of the name!

Now I just need to start learning about mysterious things such as curves!

I really want to process my TIFF images from Deep Sky Stacker as they are really washed out. Apparently this is normal, but it makes it hard to tell what is caused by DSS and what by light pollution!

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Proper (legit) Ps is never cheap but if you look on Amazon etc older versions like CS3, which is all you need, go for about a third the price of the latest version. It is a very powerful programme with many key plug ins. CS3 does work on Windows 7 despite predating it.

Pixinsight is a complete and spectacularly powerful astro graphics programme but it written by geniuses who are far from talented when it comes to communicating with non-geniuses.

Ps is the first language of most imagers with PI gaining ground...

Olly

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dark star

dark star

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I will give Paint Net a try, persevere with RawTherapee and splash out on some of the recommended software when I have some spare cash, and when I have learned something about processing!

This will not be for a while, as I want to get a CLS light pollution filter which is not that cheap!

David

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Jessun

Jessun

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Is Photoshop Elements 10 any good

Never used it but heard it lacks some major features, can't remember which ones. Could even be levels and curves!

PSP works a treat. As Merlin66 said, the idea is basically the same and so is the terminology so PS tutorials work fine. And PSP is much more intuitive with layers I find. In PS I have yet to nail it.

PI is probably king for AP specific needs, if you spend enough time on Harry's Astroshed - without the guides on there PI would just be a desktop icon on my laptop... And I wouldn't chuck my holiday pictures in there for a tweak, so it is limited outside the AP area.

Knowledge on PS is good enough to put on a CV for some jobs! Universal in a way.

By the way I'd rather have the proper software than any LP filter :-)

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digitaldave

digitaldave

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As someone that's looking at doing some basic DSLR imaging, this is an interesting read.

What adjustments need to be made in the image editor? Is it just levels / curves, or do you need to stack layers? Do you even need layer functionality if you use another program to do the stacking, for example? Sorry if this is a daft question, I've only just started to look in to simple imaging.

Thanks,

Dave.

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Jessun

Jessun

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Dave you use it for all sorts pretty much. Levels and curves to fish out what you captured and then a plethoria of routines depending on the image. Loads of filters for gradients, different blurs and sharpenings etc.

You don't by definition have to do layers but it is so handy that it's hard not to once you get the hang of it. I reckon it depends on the target.

Below is just a snapshot from a simple layer run, where all different elements can be processed separately, and then blanded back together to form the final image.

post-28991-133877783158_thumb.jpg

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digitaldave

digitaldave

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Thanks for the reply. I was wondering if I'd be able to get away with using Apple Aperture (I've already got that), but it doesn't do layers, so from the sound of it I'd be better off looking at something else. Paint Shop Pro looks like a good option, but I'm tempted by Photoshop Elements as well, as apparently if you buy the boxed version, you get the Windows and OS X versions together, so I could put one copy on my laptop, and one on my desktop :-).

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