Photoshop confusion

[baggywrinkle]

On the Photoshop website there are a number of packages. I have been using Corel 's equivalent and I am not happy with it so I want to change.

If you have Photoshop Lightroom do you need Photoshop or Photoshop Elements?

Obviously Photoshop is better than Photoshop Elements but do I really need the full blown Photoshop to manipulate astro images?

[baggywrinkle]

Just checked their website for pricing...you cannot buy a whole package, you now have to rent on a monthly basis! US$20/m equiv!!!

[Alien 13]

Hi I have PS elements it does seem to do most things like levels etc but i cant find curves and the interface is not as user friendly as my old photoshop even simple stuff like adding multiple images in seperate layers took me ages to figure out.

[perfrej]

Elements, I believe, only supports 8-bit per channel, which effectively puts it in Gimp territory. Apart from that it is fine. The full blown version handles full colour. You can buy Photoshop 5, 5.5 and 6 if you do not buy from Adobe themselves. They advocate their new rental system but the re-sellers still has the older license types in stock (at least some).

So, why would you need to go beyond 8 bits per channel? Well, your astro images start out way down in the low levels, thus yielding very little dynamic range if they are not stretched before going into Photoshop Elements. 8 bits is 256 levels of gray per channel - not much.

/per

[michaelmorris]

If you want Photoshop just for astro images and it's too pricey, what about choosing an alternative specialist astro imaging package?  I hear Pixinsight http://pixinsight.com/ or Imagesplus http://www.mlunsold.com/ are both well regarded.  Whilst neither is cheap, they are considerably less expensive than Photoshop.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I do believe PS CS2 is still around for 'nothing'. Now techically it isnt free because they put the licence keys online and the download link for people who have already bought the licence, but there is nothing stopping people downloading it and using the keys.

Only downside is that it is fairly old compared to the newer ones but if your like me and have no clue what your doing, it doesnt really matter.

Matt.

Sent from my GT-I9100P using Tapatalk

[perfrej]

Pixinsight is a must. Nothing stacks like it and the processing options are absolutely wild. It does, however, lack the layer approach that Photoshop pioneered. So, what I am saying is that you need both... 

/per

[ollypenrice]

You can pick up CS3 quite cheaply. And you do need Pixinsight for some things so, like Per, I'd go for both. Your kit costs a bomb and the software is vital to a good final result.

I don't think SGL are comfortable with the 'free CS2' business because it is available only to CS2 license holders if you read the rules. You can see the point. Forums must respect the law.

Olly

[MonicaA]

You could try PhotoLine, 30 day free trial and looks very promising at a price of EUR 59.- Check out this thread, especially post 5:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/160093-photoline-or-photoshop/

Works with 16 and 32 bits also, and has Adjustment Layers (which I believe GIMP will not have for some time, even if it will be 16 bit in the next version)

Monica

[MonicaA]

Link to PhotoLine:

http://www.pl32.com/

Monica

[jgs001]

Lightroom is an image managment tool and raw processor. It's really good at what it does, and for a lot of normal photography is more than sufficient (I use Aperture, the Apple equivalent) and that means you rarely have to use photoshop. However, as has been said, you really need 16 bit processing for astro images. Curves in Elements is not an issue on windows, as you can use the plugin.. smartcurve. You can get it from http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Graphic-Plugins/SmartCurve.shtml which I think is probably the same program... the original website http://free.pages.at/easyfilter/curves.html I was unable to connect to just now. This I believe supports 16 bit processing. But when you're done with curves, you can then only operate in 8 bit mode.

You should always verify yourself, that any software you download from an unknown source is free of nasties and safe to use before execution.

[baggywrinkle]

Thanks everyone, plenty to chew over and look at..

[perfrej]

Lightroom lacks layers... At least it did when I looked last. You do need layers - there is no substitute for it.

/per

[jgs001]

Per, that's true, but layers in PS gives non destructive editing... and Lightroom/Aperture do the same.. The 'edits' you make are stored in a DB and viewed against the original image. The 'edits' are only applied to the image (read locked into place if you like) when you export the image from Lightroom. However, it's not a substitute for PS, but a great adjunct to it. I actually have all my astro images in my Aperture library, as it's a much better way to manage them (once I've finished processing them elsewhere) than trying to use something like explorer/finder.

[Luke]

The latest development version of the free GIMP (version 2.9, NOT the stable 2.8 version) supports 16 bits, I think. Maybe worth a spin if it's stable enough?:

http://nightly.darkrefraction.com/gimp/

I liked GIMP when I gave it a whirl a while back. I especially liked the big curves window, but the lack of 16 bit editing limited it for my astro efforts.

[pixelsaurus]

If you want to use Photoshop Elements, you can add features previously only available in Photoshop. Some features will support 16 bit processing.

http://www.thepluginsite.com/products/elementsxxl/index.htm

[sloz1664]

There is also a software package dedicated to astro imaging called StarTools (www.startools.org/), which is currently getting good reviews.

[Gina]

The latest development version of the free GIMP (version 2.9, NOT the stable 2.8 version) supports 16 bits, I think. Maybe worth a spin if it's stable enough?:

http://nightly.darkrefraction.com/gimp/

I liked GIMP when I gave it a whirl a while back. I especially liked the big curves window, but the lack of 16 bit editing limited it for my astro efforts.

I used the GIMP a lot before I really got into AP and it's rather like a cut down version of Photoshop in some ways.  But 8bit processing is useless for astro and now that I've got Ps I use it for all my image editing including ordinary photos and don't use GIMP any more.  GIMP users have been waiting for a 16bit version for years and it's been a case of always just round the corner.  A 16bit version could be a world beater IMO.

[kirkster501]

I have never seen CS3 for purchase anywhere......  If anyone knows where then i am all ears!

I do use CS3 actually but only on my work computer where there is a legal licnese.  I would love to have it on my powerful home PC though if the price were right.