Levels \ Curves and Noels Actions

[johnb]

Hi

Just a quick question ( you can tell I finally have some images to process) I use CS4 and have the basics covered for Levels and Curves - I do also have Noles actions which seem great, whilst i understand there is probably no right or wrong pointers would be appreciated - do we use the levles and curves first and then Noels actions assuming im right are there some what we might call standard actions and if so how much does order matter ?

Regards

John B

[kookoo_gr]

i also use noels actions and after i adjust levels and curves i use hard or soft gradient removal and deep or space noise reduction. in my opinion there are no standard steps but after u adjust levels and curves to your liking create a copy of the image and use noels actions.

[RobH]

Do you need to use Noels actions?

There is some good stuff in there, but I wouldn't say that they are a required processing step.

In your M45 image, as far as I can see, careful use of levels and curves, plus some Hue/saturation adjustments after stretching in order to keep the colour vibrant is all that you require.

Just because you have a processing tool, it doesn't mean that you need to use it....every image is different.

Less is often more

Cheers

Rob

[johnh]

Noel's Actions are great for beginners or a quick process for the internet but PS will do much more with more exactness. I like select brighter stars and increase star colour with Actions.

John.

[MartinB]

I think it is normally best to do the majority of your histogram stretch before fine tuning the image. Best not to do a complete stretch though. I often leave a bit of final brightening until near the end of the process.

[ollypenrice]

I agree with Martin and confess to liking some of Noel's tools. I almost always use them selectively (note 'as layer on top') so that you can back them down and/or erase them from some areas.

I like Enhance Local Contrast and Increase Star Colour. I can select brighter stars myself but Noel is quicker so I use that, too.

I always now leave a bit of noise on the left of the histogram to the last minute. Increasing contrast risks clipping the black point.

It is PixInsight that makes a big thing of performing some processing on the linear image, though it offers you a visualization of the stretched result so you can see what you are doing. Not daft!

Olly