Processing: PS?, Pixinsight? or other?

[Tim99]

I have had some decent success so far with DSO AP.  Using Nebulosity for capture and preprocessing.  Now, I am ready to take the next step to try to do good post processing.  Should I just get PhotoShop and be done with it or what about Pixinsight?  I know there is free software out there but i don't want to settle for something that I can't get great results with.  

I'm at the fork in the road and any suggestions would be appreciated.

Tim

[DanL]

Register for the Pixinsight trial license and give it a go. Personally, I find it very powerful and far easier to use the PI masks and toolset than trying to get the same results with something like PS and multiple layers. But each to their own

[glowingturnip]

+1 for Pixinsight here.  It really is first class, has many many tools, some of which are really cutting edge straight off the academics' workbench, and all are specifically designed for AP and do the job very very well.  I do pretty much my whole processing flow in PI now, including all the pre-processing, and will only drop down to PS elements if i need to make a hand-built mask for something.

It is expensive, but at EUR230 for a life-time any-PC licence it's not too bad, and considering I spend many more hours with PI processing an image than with my much more expensive kit taking it in the first place, I'd say it's a decent investment.

Beware though, the learning curve is very steep, and instructions often almost absent, though Harry's videos do a good job of getting you started.

This question is a hot potato - there'l be plenty of folks along to tell you that PS is better !

[JR1987]

Ive been using photoshop for just under a year and about a month ago decided to check out pixinsight. And personally I think thats when my processing actually started showing up some good images. 

However, I find optimally I really like to jump back and forth from PI to PS and vice versa. I always start with Pixinsight.. all the calibrating, noise reduction and the initial stretches etc. then move into photoshop and extract a luminance layer and work on that, plus all the layer masks etc. It feels more native in Photoshop although I am new to Pixinsight and still have lots I dont know about it. But It definitely comes into good use! 

[StuartJPP]

However, I find optimally I really like to jump back and forth from PI to PS and vice versa. I always start with Pixinsight.. all the calibrating, noise reduction and the initial stretches etc. then move into photoshop and extract a luminance layer and work on that, plus all the layer masks etc. It feels more native in Photoshop although I am new to Pixinsight and still have lots I dont know about it. But It definitely comes into good use! 

This for me...

There are PixInsight tutorials that exclusively use PixInsight...so it is possible, but that will either come with time or not...

[wxsatuser]

Ive been using photoshop for just under a year and about a month ago decided to check out pixinsight. And personally I think thats when my processing actually started showing up some good images. 

However, I find optimally I really like to jump back and forth from PI to PS and vice versa. I always start with Pixinsight.. all the calibrating, noise reduction and the initial stretches etc. then move into photoshop and extract a luminance layer and work on that, plus all the layer masks etc. It feels more native in Photoshop although I am new to Pixinsight and still have lots I dont know about it. But It definitely comes into good use! 

I use both as well and nearly the same but I do the luminance in PI.

In PS I like Annie's Actions and Noel Carboni's stuff.

[ollypenrice]

Use both. Sorry, but I can't stop myself saying that!!

There are certain key differences and how you feel about them will depend on your way of thinking and working.

PI does not use layers, it uses masks. In order to select a part of the image for specialist processing (eg noise reduction on faint signal) you have to persuade it to give you just the mask you want. In Ps you can noise reduce a whole bottom layer then, using your eyes (this has to be a good idea, no?) you erase from the top only that which you wish to erase and in the proportions of your choice.

But PI has certain astro-dedicated tools which are vital. Its colour caibration, background neutralization and background extraction are second to none and are my first post-processing operation on colour data.

My personal nickname for PI is 'The Lunatic Asylum' though I'm never sure whether it's they who are mad or I!

Olly

[cjdawson]

+1 on using both.

I've personally decided to go the Photoshop route, as with the photography subscription, it doesn't feel like a wallet killer, even though in the long run, I know it costs more.   Pix insight looks interesting and might be a worthwhile future investment for me.

The photoshop subscription also has an advantage of coming with Lightroom.  This program is great for keeping my images in and keeping them organised.  Being able to make lots of catalogs and importing them all into my main catalog something that I feel is a great way of keeping me organised.

[Joel Shepherd]

PixInsight takes some getting used to -- it feels like software developed for engineers by engineers -- but with some patience it is a pretty powerful tool. You won't outgrow it. :-)  There are a few good tutorials on the web (and since the program itself doesn't come with any sort of "getting started" documentation, these are vital). Harry's AstroShed has some good videos. Another great resource are the Light Vortex tutorials: http://www.lightvortexastronomy.com/

I stumbled across another site earlier this week, looking for helping in dealing with some dust donuts: haven't fully explored it but it seemed to have some helpful info: http://trappedphotons.com/blog

The Light Vortex pages are really helpful though: I wouldn't have gotten very far with PixInsight without them.

[RSM]

Tried both as trial software. Preferred pixinsight. Great tutorials on YouTube. Search for pixinsight and Richard Bloch for two on stacking and processing. I learnt these two sessions and use as the base for processing my subs. Harry's astroshed has some great individual tutorials on DBE and Mosaics which are worth a look too.  Also preferred the buy option for PI rather than rent for PS if you don't have an older version. 

[Merlin66]

What about looking at the latest PaintShopPro for your post processing?

It does 99% of what the $$$$PS does.

Download the demo and give it a go.

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/corel_paintshop_pro_x8_review/

[brrttpaul]

I tried PI last year and liked it  even though I didnt have a clue what I was doing  then my comp went haywire during the trial  so never really got my teeth into it. If I thought I could use it ok I would get it