15 replies to this topic

[Sacred Heart]

Hello everyone,

 

I seem to have a habit of asking these types of questions. Partly because I'm not sure how to word them precisely.

 

Imaging processing programs, coming from Sharpcap live stack, the person likes the live stacking feature then goes to Photoshop to finish, what program do you recommend for processing after NINA does the capturing??   Don't really want or need complicated just simple processing, if there is such a thing.

 

The Photoshop program used is an old one, only use a few tools in it, so while it is nice to have a garage full of tools, only really use a few of them.

 

For deep space imaging, emailing to friends and family, people are not too picky.

 

Anyone here familiar with Sharpcap Live Stack kind of knows what king of processing it can do while stacking.  Basically histogram stretch, some sort of deconvolution filter and save as seen or 16 & 32 bit.

 

Looking for simple here.  Imaging all kinds of DSO with OSC camera, sometimes using a dual band filter, 533C camera and a refractor, 80mm or 151mm.

 

Expecting a wide range of answers, simple is subjective,  sorry for the loaded question.

 

Joe

[DeepSky Di]

I stack in APP and then post process in PI. Recently I had some "final" images in Apple Photos and couldn't help tweaking them a bit. It's a decent raw editor with similar features to Lightroom.

[dswtan]

PixInsight (PI), Siril, AstroPixelProcessor (APP) | Affinity, PhotoShop, Lightroom, GIMP. Choose your poison!

 

The first three are astro-specific. Some of us think that is better. There is a learning curve. Sometimes steep (PI!).

 

The latter set are general image/photo processors. Some of us have existing experience with them, so find them easier.

 

I use multiple for DSO, personally. Like I have a toolbox with more tools than a hammer. Typically I use PixInsight and Lightroom. I add in APP for mosaics. PI is my main tool, but not exclusive. I also use a lot of plugins, some commercial some not.

PS. Based on OP's requirements ("simplicity"), it sounds like Siril (which is not JUST "simple") is what you want.

Edited by dswtan, 11 January 2025 - 03:33 PM.

[rj144]

I mean, if you want simple, just stick with what you have.

 

Any other software that folks mention here will probably be meant for actual processing that takes time because any other software will most likely perform similarly if you're not going to spend much time on it.

[BlueMoon]

Siril and the GIMP. I do it all in those two programs and doesn't get much simpler for me. If you start with good image data, if doesn't take a lot of post processing with additional software to obtain good images. Cheers.

[joydeepb]

+1 to BlueMoon's suggestion. If you already have a Photoshop license, then I'd recommend Photoshop instead of gimp.

 

In Siril, if you want really simple, you can use autostretch, and once you're ready to wade deeper, GHS is there for you.

I found the GHS tutorial helpful when I was starting out: https://siril.org/tutorials/ghs/

[BrentKnight]

GraXpert gets rid of the vast majority of background gradients.  This is usually the worst artifact left over from a Sharpcap session.  The noise reduction in GraXpert also does a good job.

 

Star extraction and recombination in Siril is fairly easy to master and it's another biggie when working from EAA captures.  The photometric color calibration is also nice to get the color balance better.

 

Then use curves, contrast and exposure edits in your photo editor of choice (GIMP, Photoshop, etc).

 

Those couple steps (and maybe a few more when you get the hang of it) will get you most of the way to a much nicer EAA capture than the Saved as Seen.  Probably in less than an hour...

[rj144]

I'm trying to understand what TS is after though.  These suggestions are great, but they're not super quick.

 

If he just wants to autostretch and post, what he's using is fine.

[PIEJr]

Hi Joe,

We are akin in our needs and wants.

 

I use an ASI2600MC Pro camera these days. But still do things as simply as I can.

Because my camera is an ASI, I use ASI Studio they provide for free.

It allows me to view those damnable fits files and allows me to stack a run of images.

When the images are stacked, there is a small icon where if I click it, the stacked file gets saved as a jpg.

The jpg I can process in Photoshop Elements 12. Which I like because I own it. (2012 version)

I use a few of the automatic features to see what they do and rarely will play with the sliders.

Then I use the Save for the Web saving choice and that converts the image to something light enough to work with the web.

 

It does my images just fine for me because I don't worry about fancy smancy or paying for web storage sites.

Instead, I use a couple of Solid-State Drives (SSD) that are tiny but might at 2 Terra Byte size. The jury is still out but I have a years' worth of collection on the storage one.

The active one connects to my laptop and stores files of the night.

If I want to show any, I put them in my Cloudy Nights Gallery and just use the My Media link in the posting.

 

I see no need to get too complicated. Nor to spend days on processing.

So, I just do some down and dirty quick licks and there it is.

I ain't after any Pulitzer Prize here.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited by PIEJr, 11 January 2025 - 04:02 PM.

[matt_astro_tx]

I use Siril to process.  (I use Starnet++ and GraXpert as well, which are tools for specific tasks.)  Then I'll tweak curves and saturation in PhotoShop as needed.

 

A simple rush job I can process in 5-ish minutes, but for really discerning work I've spent days on a project.  These tools are very powerful but also pretty straightforward in my experience.

 

Good luck!

[Sacred Heart]

A huge thanks to everyone. 

 

The reason I ask, my neighbor,  the person I'm asking for, uses Sharpcap and recently upgraded to using an autofocuser.  Tonight, weather permitting we will try using the autofocuser, first time.  To my knowledge Sharpcap has focusing capabilities but not true autofocus, where you see it run and give you that curve as in NINA.

 

I came from Sharpcap live stack, doing what my neighbor does, 2 - 3 minute exposures and stacks them, but I moved to PI. Still working on that.  So I appreciate all the answers,  and that is why I was looking for quick / simple, similar to Sharpcap..   

 

My neighbor did mention something about ASIStudio, so we will probably check that out too.  I have heard of all the programs mentioned except Affinity.

 

If Sharpcap cannot do autofocus similar to how NINA does it, we will have to learn something.

 

 

Thanks again,   Joe

[StargazerLuigi]

A huge thanks to everyone. 

 

The reason I ask, my neighbor,  the person I'm asking for, uses Sharpcap and recently upgraded to using an autofocuser.  Tonight, weather permitting we will try using the autofocuser, first time.  To my knowledge Sharpcap has focusing capabilities but not true autofocus, where you see it run and give you that curve as in NINA.

 

I came from Sharpcap live stack, doing what my neighbor does, 2 - 3 minute exposures and stacks them, but I moved to PI. Still working on that.  So I appreciate all the answers,  and that is why I was looking for quick / simple, similar to Sharpcap..   

 

My neighbor did mention something about ASIStudio, so we will probably check that out too.  I have heard of all the programs mentioned except Affinity.

 

If Sharpcap cannot do autofocus similar to how NINA does it, we will have to learn something.

 

 

Thanks again,   Joe

I'm pretty sure NINA can focus for you (Hocus Focus). Let NINA autofocus, then let SharpCap do its stuff.

Edited by StargazerLuigi, 11 January 2025 - 06:44 PM.

[Cryhavoc38]

If you want real simple stretch after stacking then this is a suggested method.

Stack in whatever tool you prefer, then load the stacked fits into graxpert and play around with its auto stretch and saturation slider.

Many times the graxpert auto stretch and saturation produces a passable image.

[Sacred Heart]

Good morning to everyone,

 

We tried Sharpcap then moved on to ASI Studio. Step sizes were probably too big, autofocus got us close then we did some refining.  Still not truly an automated autofocus like in NINA.  Worked a little with M42.  After that it was on to planetary and Mars.

 

Still smoothing out some bumps but making progress.

 

Again, Thank you for all your help.

 

Joe

[dcbrown73]

For anyone considering Photoshop.   Adobe is changing the pricing model of their "Photography" bundle that includes Photoshop and Lightroom.  You can get it for $9.99 a month until January 15th (20GB of cloud storage), then  that goes away and your only option will be the $19.99 a month that includes 1TB of cloud storage.

 

Anyhow, if you have the $10/month subscription you will be grandfathered in to keep it.  If you don't have it before January 15th, it will no longer be an option and only the $20 subscription will be available.  

 

Anyhow, I was on the fence for a long time, but went ahead and pulled the trigger given the changes.  Photoshop is quite polished for many things.   The only downside is it doesn't support fits files.

[dswtan]

Adobe is changing the pricing model of their "Photography" bundle that includes Photoshop and Lightroom.

Wow! Thanks, hadn't heard this. Must live under a rock here. But not to go off topic, I see it's not *quite* as bad, with the annual cost remaining the same, if one can stomach that.

Ref: https://blog.adobe.c...pricing-updates