Post Processing Software

[CosmicOrangutan]

Hi again everyone

Could anyone give me some tips on recommended post processing software options?

I will be mainly photographing DSO's so i've heard that Deep Sky Stacker is a great free option for layering images?

As for the actual image processing i'm not so sure, can anyone recommend any free software programmes that will allow me to at least alter the basics with my images?

I dont think I can afford Photoshop yet which would be my first choice so im just seeing if there are some decent alternatives.

Clear Skies,

George 

[Alien 13]

One of the most popular is GIMP but im not sure if it supports 16bit images yet.

Alan

[lensman57]

Hi again everyone

Could anyone give me some tips on recommended post processing software options?

I will be mainly photographing DSO's so i've heard that Deep Sky Stacker is a great free option for layering images?

As for the actual image processing i'm not so sure, can anyone recommend any free software programmes that will allow me to at least alter the basics with my images?

I dont think I can afford Photoshop yet which would be my first choice so im just seeing if there are some decent alternatives.

Clear Skies,

George 

DSS is as the name suggest an image stacking software that is free, it has very basic image processing tools. I like StarTools and Pixinsight. Pixinsight is a more complete package than ST but it is very expensive and has a very steep learning curve. StarTools is much easier to come to terms with but it is a dedicated AP software and some of the tools get some getting used to ( IMHO it still has one of the bset Noise Reduction Tools around ) but at the asking price it is a steal. I am not a fan of PS for image processing unless you are like Olly Penrice and some others. Gimp is free but I think that it is very limited compared to PI or ST as far as AP is concerned.

Regards,

A.G

A.G

[Thalestris24]

Hi again everyone

Could anyone give me some tips on recommended post processing software options?

I will be mainly photographing DSO's so i've heard that Deep Sky Stacker is a great free option for layering images?

As for the actual image processing i'm not so sure, can anyone recommend any free software programmes that will allow me to at least alter the basics with my images?

I dont think I can afford Photoshop yet which would be my first choice so im just seeing if there are some decent alternatives.

Clear Skies,

George 

Hi George

DSS is for stacking multiple sub-frames (subs). It will also debayer a colour image from a ccd during the stacking. Thereafter you need some image processing software in order to adjust the image appropriately and bring the detail out. This should really be a piece of software capable of handling 16-bit images. I can't afford Photoshop either! I use StarTools which isn't free but is cheap and lets you do a lot. It's a dedicated astro processing program.  It can save images in Tiff format which can be loaded into the free Photoshop CS2 and adjusted a bit more and saved as .png or .jpg.

Hth

Louise

[Alien 13]

I do like my photoshop but im more of a wide field and lunar imager.

Alan

[GuillermoBarrancos]

I was Lucky to jump on the offer back in February and now got a subscription to Photoshop CC for half the price.

Still looking at some of the Processing suites tho, like Nebulosity, PixInsight, StarTools and AstroArt 5.0.

But as I am still 2 months away from buying a CCD and then have to wait again until end of August before I can start imaging (midsummer Nights here in Norway /sigh).

I have plenty of time to check things out.

EDIT: Actually they still have the PhotoShop CC / Lightroom for $9,99/month offer on http://www.adobe.com/ .

[lensman57]

" But as I am still 2 months away from buying a CCD and then have to wait again until end of August before I can start imaging (midsummer Nights here in Norway /sigh).

I have plenty of time to check things out. :)"

Hi GB,

Did I hear you correctly? Summer? This is such an alien word to us in the UK. Simply does not compute.

A.G

[GuillermoBarrancos]

" But as I am still 2 months away from buying a CCD and then have to wait again until end of August before I can start imaging (midsummer Nights here in Norway /sigh).

I have plenty of time to check things out. :)"

Hi GB,

Did I hear you correctly? Summer? This is such an alien word to us in the UK. Simply does not compute.

A.G

I wasn´t exactly implying the weather, but more like the days without darkness. Hehe.

Summers here aren´t always that great either. Last summer was horrible with the weather.

[lensman57]

I wasn´t exactly implying the weather, but more like the days without darkness. Hehe.

Summers here aren´t always that great either. Last summer was horrible with the weather.

Judging by some of the great images that comes from your part of the world I am sure that u enjoy better skies than us, that I am sure.

A.G

[GuillermoBarrancos]

Judging by some of the great images that comes from your part of the world I am sure that u enjoy better skies than us, that I am sure.

A.G

The winters can be great............ and very cold.

But this winter was actually terrible, with over 3 months straight cloud cover. So no better than the UK this time.

[CosmicOrangutan]

Thanks everyone, i'll have a look at some of these programmes

[Merlin66]

The demo version of AstroArt will show you the capabilities......

(Can't afford PS either...sometimes use a "freebie" copy of PaintShopPro X for layers/ adjustments)