Rony,

I tried using the layering technique for that rendering of M101, but I couldn't get away from it having a "ring" around the outer edge. The only way I could get rid of it would have been to go with a pure black background, but I find your gray effect much more natural. Like you say, it all takes time.

Incidentally, I'm actually bouncing between a couple of programs to create the final sketch. After scanning in the original, I bring it into a program called Corel Presentations, which I have used for years to create all the line art in my books. After I correct the stars so that they are round, etc., I bring it into Photoshop to adjust brightness and contrast, and finally to invert it to white-on-gray.

You mentioned that you use Photopaint. I thought that was a Corel program, too, but I was confusing it with Paint Shop Pro. Who makes Photopaint, and do they have a trial version?

Thank you also for your kind words about Touring the Universe through Binoculars. I hope you enjoy it. I had wanted to include sketches in it, the printing process and the paper it's printed on just didn't do them justice. I do, however, have sketches in two later books, Star Watch and The Deep Sky: An Introduction. And I am currently working on a new book that will have sketches for just about all of the targeted objects, rather than photos.

Best regards,