Is Photoshop the way forward???

[Simon Dunsmore]

Hi Folks 

Another question to you wise astrophotographers! 

When it comes to editing your astro pics, what software do you use? If Photoshop is your weapon of choice, did you buy the whole package or is there a cheaper option? 

Better still, is there a free option? 

Looking forward to your responses

Thanks 

Simon 

[PeterCPC]

I would recommend Affinity Photo. One off small cost with all updates free.

Peter

[Merlin66]

Simon,

check out AstroArt, it does 90% of what you need. Download the demo to assess.

For those final tweaks look at PaintShopPro, cheap and does 99% of PS.

 

[TerryMcK]

I use Photoshop CC and pay the £9.98 a month photography plan. Although I got it cheaper (A few pence cheaper 😆) as I paid 12 months in advance. Adobe’s model is rental rather than buying outright these days. Advantage is you always have the most up to date versions.

Edited March 1, 2020 by TerryMcK

[bottletopburly]

You could try Startools free to try for as long as you want no time limit, just the save function disabled until purchase but affordable at £40 if you can’t afford drop Ivo an email and he will work something out , there’s a startools forum with plenty of info http://forum.startools.org/ 

YouTube videos to help 

 

ivo @jager945 has recently updated his videos and other videos are on there too just a matter of searching  any questions just ask 👍.

Dave 

 

[Aramcheck]

Another alternative would be GIMP which is free.  Pixinsight also has a free 45 day trial which is fully featured. I tried that  in December & fell in love with the program. It's very expensive, but I prefer it to my ancient version of Photoshop.

Cheers
Ivor

[Xplode]

I would recommend Pixinsight, it's a little expensive, but remember it's a one time fee.
It has some features that it does a lot better than other options like DynamicBackgroundExtraction which can save an image with really bad gradients.
The basic functions you need are actually pretty simple to use even if it seems hard to learn with so many options available.
Calibration and stacking gets a better result than the free alternatives.
There's tons of videos and tutorials available from many people which is always a good help-
If you're getting just 1 pay-software i'd say go with PI since it does calibration, stacking, processing, finishing all in the same software.

GIMP: Free, but only works in 8bit,  use it only for finishing touches as an alternative to PS.
Astroart: Old software and really outdated, it has a very small userbase and most people seem to switch to PI after using it for a while.

[ollypenrice]

I work mostly in Photoshop CS3 which I bought on a disk years ago. I like it because I don't like compulsory updates and changes! Most of my processing is done with this but a few key preliminary steps are done in Pixinsight. You can do everything in PI but Ps offers a fundamentally different approach to processing. Which you prefer will depend on how your mind works. For me, working in PI feels like trying to mend a watch using chopsticks. You have to do everything through the mathematical interface. In Ps the mathematical interface is given analogue controls which allow you to use virtual tools resembling physical ones. You can see what you are doing as you do it. The key aspect of Ps for me is the Layers function. I can modify a layer and retain the modified layer only where I want to do so. A wide range of selection tools and the eraser make this easy. Photoshop is 'see and touch,' if you like. PI claims to be truer to the data. That's only valid if you use Ps in ways in which I don't use it. Ps is often layers and selection while PI is masking. In the end the objectives are the same, to modify different parts of the image in different ways.

Since 90°% of what I do in Ps is layers-based I cannot agree with Ken that AstroArt (which I use and love for pre-processing) offers 90% of Ps. It might for some but it doesn't for me. It depends on your workflow.

There are other programs which offer layers but I haven't tried them. However, there are many plug-ins for Photoshop and lots of astro-specific tutorials as well.

Astro Pixel Processor is also winning many friends.

For me the processing is the fun part and in Ps I've found an environment which suits my mindset. Others will say exactly the same thing about other programs and quite rightly so. We are not all the same.

Olly

Edited March 1, 2020 by ollypenrice
Typo

[carastro]

I'm with Olly on this, as he says it does depend on how your mind works, I don't like mathematical functions I prefer to see and control what I am doing, though I do have some plugins such as gradient exterminator and HLVG.  

I bought an old version 2nd hand of PS off Ebay.  anything from CS2 onwards will be sufficient for postprocessing, I use CS3 and does everything I need.

Carole    

Edited March 1, 2020 by carastro

[vlaiv]

+1 Gimp

[david_taurus83]

I've mainly used Pixinsight. It's very good but has a lot of tools so unless you follow tutorials you'll be lost. Ive just started playing with Photoshop and I'm liking it so far. Again, watch a few tutorials but my initial impression is it's far easier to produce a decent picture. I've only used levels and curves so far. I like how everything is adjusted with sliders and as Olly says, you can see what your doing. Turning the layers on and off and you can easily see the before and after effects.

[Davey-T]

I use Photoshop but only because I've had it for years it's certainly not worth signing up for the monthly prescription version unless you have money to spare, plenty of alternatives out there with one off payments.

Dave

Edited March 1, 2020 by Davey-T

[ollypenrice]

56 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

I use Photoshop but only because I've had it for years it's certainly not worth signing up for the monthly prescription version unless you have money to spare, plenty of alternatives out there with one off payments.

Dave

Yes, I think the monthly rental idea stinks, quite honestly. I hope it fails and they drop it.

Olly

[Frank the Troll]

6 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Yes, I think the monthly rental idea stinks, quite honestly. I hope it fails and they drop it.

Olly

Ditto on that, everyone seems to want a monthly slice of your pocket these days, so if its eg. £10 a month, thats £120 a year, and you may have the software for how many years? work out the cost of that compared too how software use to be brought outright

[ollypenrice]

1 minute ago, Frank the Troll said:

Ditto on that, everyone seems to want a monthly slice of your pocket these days, so if its eg. £10 a month, thats £120 a year, and you may have the software for how many years? work out the cost of that compared too how software use to be brought outright

Yup. In my case, over the last 12 years, that would have been a cool £1,440.00.  Bonkers.

Olly

[TerryMcK]

It is possible to stop paying for the rental when the "next" big astrophotography processing software comes along. That may be just around the corner or in the dim and distant future - who knows. As I use Photoshop for my day job too I'm happy to pay.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I generally use Astro Pixel Processor, and final tweaks in GIMP. I don't like rental software either

[Adreneline]

The situation with PS is now worse for Mac users.

I purchased an education licence of PS CS6 Extended for Mac some eight years ago (~£180 instead ~£950); it has been used extensively for regular and astro photography over the years and I've certainly had my monies worth. However, with the introduction of Catalina things have gone pear-shaped. If you upgrade a Mac to Catalina in will advise you that certain pieces of software on your computer will no longer run and will be removed as part of the upgrade process. One of those piece of software is Adobe Photoshop CS6!

I contacted Adobe and asked if I could exchange my Mac only licence for a Windows PC licence - response "No".

When my 10 year old iMac and 7 year old MBP fail that will be the end of my Photoshop. I absolutely refuse to pay more to Adobe.

Adrian

[Frank the Troll]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

 cool £1,440.00.  Bonkers.

Olly

I could've brought a nice 125mm TS ED APO photoline for that price

[vlaiv]

In my view, software is worth paying for in two cases:

1. It earns you money

2. It saves you time in which you earn money

In other cases it is really ok to use free software (it is also ok to use free software in first two points as well).

For most of us, AP is hobby and as such does not qualify for point 1.

Sometimes it qualifies for number two - if you end up frustrated by your hobby rather than happy it will impact your work ability the next day therefore sometimes it is ok to spend money on piece of software if alternative is not available or it would take too much time to learn it or whatever.

[8472]

4 hours ago, Xplode said:

I would recommend Pixinsight, it's a little expensive, but remember it's a one time fee.
It has some features that it does a lot better than other options like DynamicBackgroundExtraction which can save an image with really bad gradients.
The basic functions you need are actually pretty simple to use even if it seems hard to learn with so many options available.
Calibration and stacking gets a better result than the free alternatives.
There's tons of videos and tutorials available from many people which is always a good help-
If you're getting just 1 pay-software i'd say go with PI since it does calibration, stacking, processing, finishing all in the same software.

GIMP: Free, but only works in 8bit,  use it only for finishing touches as an alternative to PS.
Astroart: Old software and really outdated, it has a very small userbase and most people seem to switch to PI after using it for a while.

GIMP has implemented 32-bit support for a while now.

[Alien 13]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

Yup. In my case, over the last 12 years, that would have been a cool £1,440.00.  Bonkers.

Olly

If I remember correctly the last non subscription version of PS was CS6 which would have cost around £650 back in 2012 so it could be assumed that the latest version if sold as a one time buy might be anything from £1000-£1500 so the subscription is a bargain  if you had to buy today.

I however bought Affinity Photo instead as to me its a much better all round package.

Alan

Edited March 1, 2020 by Alien 13

[carastro]

Ebay:

for macs:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Adobe-Photoshop-CS3-for-Mac/274289701394?hash=item3fdcf0b212:g:qNUAAOSwsKddX6GC

For Windows:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Adobe-Photoshop-CS3-Full-Version-Windows-English-English-Vat-Box-Retail/174205534380?hash=item288f7580ac:g:7~sAAOSwK89cVaG2

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Adobe-Photoshop-CS3-Vollversion-Windows-englisch-english-Mwst-BOX-RETAIL/153848421448?hash=item23d2149c48:g:7~sAAOSwK89cVaG2

Edited March 1, 2020 by carastro

[JamesF]

That Mac one looks like it might only be an upgrade for an existing version.

James

[carastro]

Yes you are right, I didn't read all the blurb at the bottom.  Very misleading.  I'll strike it out.

Carole