Astrophotography: BEST Narrowband Image Processing in Photoshop, Channel Combine - Secret Technique!

[@tomberry2913]

Thanks for another amazing and truly innovative tutorial! I will be purchasing the Triad Ultra filter from OPT when they are back in stock, so this is perfect. I will use your sponsor link when I do (which you should probably promote more) :) One thought as a shortcut for separating channels instead of creating new documents and copy/pasting into each one... Image>Duplicate to copy image into new tab Flatten image Save flattened image for Starnet++. In the channels panel flyout menu, select "Split Channels." Each channel is now a 16 bit grayscale image in its own tab that can be saved for Starnet++. Thanks again for all of the time and effort you put into these great videos!

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Awesome, thanks for using my promotion link and great tip about splitting channels!!! I will use that! Thanks for watching!

[@Mr6sess]

So glad I found AstroEd. I'm no "expert" but I'm not a beginner so I kind of get sick of having to sift through hundreds of vid to MAYBE find an answer. I like these vids because they are to the point and precise. Thanks Ed!

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, Kyle!

[@kevinwenrick7657]

Thank you for the obvious effort you have put into making this comprehensive series on narrowband processing. Like others here, I'm not an expert nor a beginner, but you've definitely helped me over a hump that moves my needle in the right direction. Very creative/unique approach that has the side benefit of understanding more advanced use of Photoshop's capabilities.

[@michaelschwerdt1147]

I’ve been searching for a tutorial just like this for forever. Thanks!

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Absolutely! Thanks for watching!

[@cevoner]

Excellent tutorial that I applied to one of my images. A natural Non-Pixel Math way that is much more simple. I will definitely notate you when I post the image.

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Great to hear!

[@davidcohn4755]

Good work. Thanks for expanding PS techniques. Great way to do a two-layer HOO and for adding multiple colors when running out of the 3 channels.

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, and yes, this opens up many color opportunities.

[@jason-brown]

This is an incredible workflow. You should be monetising this. I’d pay for the guide and videos. It’s transformed my data. Even the old stuff. 🤯

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, if you watch the ads, KZbin pays me (~2cents per view). I thought about selling this for awhile, but in the end I just wanted it to be my contribution to those trying to see what is truly something no one should have to buy. Thanks for this comment :) and clear skies!

[@larrydrum1842]

You're amazing. The knowledge you are sharing is priceless. I'm so new to this hobby I rate myself at day 3 noob still but watching your tutorials is helping me immensely. Thank you so much. This old man truly appreciates it.

[@gianmariaraboini7952]

I’m a beginner, these tutorials are incredibly useful for me. Thank you for sharing.

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

You’re very welcome!

[@tonyclark1504]

Fantastic video - Thanks for taking the time to produce. Cheers

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Much appreciated, thanks Tony!

[@timyancey6231]

Thanks so much AstroEd - very well done tutorial. Your approach is more complex but your explanation is very clear and easy to follow. I learned so much.

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, Tim!

[@AVAstronomy]

Awesome Tutorial Ed! I just got my feet wet in monochrome imaging and I will definitely be trying out this technique when processing my data. Thank you for sharing this! Clear skies bud!

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, Aaron! Shout me out when you post an image so I can see it 😀! Thomas

[@AVAstronomy]

@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 You know I will 😁👍.

[@stevemeier7876]

Awesome video and great use of PS tools

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, Steve.

[@dreamsandmonsters]

I just got my first monochrome camera and this makes me feel like I'm gonna start off on the right foot . This processing is super logical and more natural compared to trying to manually split the data. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Absolutely, Laure! Clear skies and I’m sure your images will be fantastic!

[@dreamsandmonsters]

​@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 Just tested something and figured it might be of interest. Around 23:00, after adjusting the level of the mask, I exited the mask view mode, toggled back the next colored filter and then edited the curve of the mask. This way I could see in real time what the result/mix was and gave it an even smoother feel.

[@derekregan6926]

Just awesome, Thanks for sharing your thoughts, very creative

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, Derek! Much appreciated! Clear skies.

[@charlespacer7421]

Great video. Lots of good info and technique. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your processing videos.

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks!

[@T-Bear]

Wow. I had high hopes for this tutorial, but man.. You totally blew my mind with your technique. So elegant and intelligent. Absolutely brilliant 😳 This is going to be my bible from now on. Deep gratitude from Norway

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Wow, flattering compliment! Thanks so much!

[@T-Bear]

@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 By the way, you can turn off the shadow clipping warning i CR by pressing the triangle in the upper left in the histogram. The "frame" around the triangle shows if clipping warning is on or off.

[@peterhorstink7665]

Hi add, I was waiting for these videos. I am glad there are still some serious astrophotographers exploring the endless possibilities in Photoshop. Up to this last video, our workflows are a lot alike. From this last one I did get some new ideas based on your method. Very interesting. I will be experimenting with this. Thanks very much for sharing it with us, and another cool image as usual. Cheers.

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, Peter! Glad to hear you’ve got some ideas from it! 👍 Thanks for watching!

[@peterhorstink7665]

@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 Spelling correctors are a drag sometimes. I noticed it has changed your name. I meant "Ed" ofcourse.

[@tonygarrity3673]

Elegant and innovative, your channel is a must Go To for me, and a rich source of learning for any enquiring astrophotographer who wants to improve. Outstanding work!

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks so much Tony, for those kind words!! Much appreciated!

[@richardjakobson7094]

Wonderfully elegant. Looking forward to trying your techniques on both old and new data

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, Richard!

[@StonehengeDronescapes]

Great tut Ed, you should use the colour sampler tool in PS for balancing channels :)

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Don’t like doing that, find it too inaccurate.

[@BorealisLite]

This is an elegant concept, adds to other innovative ideas from your earlier vids. Just one idea for star minimization, I have had luck using curves on the star layer to effect star reduction. Another alternative is to save off the rgb image after the first stretch to harvest lesser stretched stars via starnet. Thanks for sharing this, I had no way to do a recombination in GIMP, this works perfectly!

[@PascalMourier]

Really nice way to do things with photoshop. This recombining data method using masks is great. Thanks for your hard work, time spent and generosity sharing your process with us.

[@markb086]

You are a genius, this is brilliant and I can’t wait to use it for myself. Thank you and please do post a video on your third method!

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, you’re too kind! I do still plan to post a third method video, so stay tuned!

[@GTheoMedia]

Bro you're an amazing artist. Excellent tips. I knew of the rgb method but the second one rocks! I will give a shootout to your channel once I complete my photos. I assume this works best only for nebulae not for galaxies star clusters etc. Cheers!

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks! You are correct, these techniques are only for narrowband targets like typical nebulae. Broadband targets like galaxies and reflection nebulae require broadband techniques and shorter exposure techniques or darker skies.

[@Second_secures_the_first-1776]

Very cool. Thank you!

[@davidaylsworth8964]

Great ideas to try new things. I’m using an L-Pro or L-eXtreme filter at various times. These approaches could lead to some very creative renderings. Thanks Ed!

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Great to hear, David! If you post your processed images somewhere, let me know I’d love to see!

[@MrSpike2450]

Perfect timing thank you very much :)

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Excellent! Thanks for watching!

[@magmus]

Fantastic tutorial. Any chance the slides are available for download?

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Thanks, No, unfortunately I don’t have them for download at the moment.

[@v.4.vanquishl177]

How amazing you get a full color photo out of mono photos using PS without using any colors adjustment or colors balance but only align colors levels. Does that go with most of nebula or the wizard nebula? Will try with rosette nebula and see how it will be. In any case thanks for this amazing awesome vid.

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

If you take narrowband images, this will work with any narrowband targets.

[@gnashermedia]

Wowo...ok, soooo much information. I'm just trying to do this in Affinity Photo. But at the moment I got problems with copying the OIII Data as Mask to the Halpha layer to then invert it. I got this. But the moment I want to adjust the level of the mask it adjusts the levels of the whole Halpha layer. So.... off to read some documentation. Thanks for this gem of a tutorial.

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

Hope you figure it out in affinity! Good luck!

[@svetcaol]

Hey Thanks for the awesome tutorials. I wanted to send you a shout out and a copy of my image utilizing your technique of narrow band processing but not sure exactly where to send the tiff file. I'll post my image on Astobin profile name of Judy, California Nebula Hubble Palette my version

[@tridimension]

😳😍

[@byrgeastrophotography]

Hey Ed. I requested the download link twice but never received it. Is the download still available?

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

New link is www.starnetastro.com