Astrophotography Processing In Photoshop

Download the Source Files here:
(edit 20.08.22: Due to limited cloud space, the files are now already stacked, and ready to be edited)
drive.google.com/drive/folder...
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Links
Deep Sky Stacker:
deepskystacker.free.fr/english...
Starnet++:
sourceforge.net/projects/star...
Astronomy Tools Action Set:
www.prodigitalsoftware.com/As...
Exploring the universe one image at a time! Come follow me on this journey, be an AstroAddict :)
Are you interested in supporting the channel?
Do you want to practice Deep Sky editing, but you lack the actual imaging data? I am sharing my imaging data over on my Patreon page.
If you wish to support me, head over to the Patreon page:
/ astroaddict
Thanks for your time!
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Music from Epidemic Sound:
'Twelve Wise Men', Adriel Fair
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AstroAddict is using the following equipment:
Big Scope: Omegon 102/714 APO
Small Scope: Technosky 70AG Quadruplet
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ-5 Pro (Beltmodded)
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI 294 MC PRO
Guidescope: Omegon Microspeed 60mm
Guide Camera: Altair GPCAM2/ZWO 120MM
Filters: Astronomik CLS CCD / IDAS NB1 / Optolong L-Pro / Optolong L-Extreme
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This video is NOT sponsored by any mentioned and/or displayed brands
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All content in this video was either filmed by myself, spoken by myself, taken by myself. Every music clip/song is commercially licenced by Epidemic Sound. Exceptions:
None
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#Astrophotography #DeepSkyStacker #Photoshop
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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:58 Stacking with DSS
05:26 Initial Editing in Photoshop
20:18 Starnet++
22:36 Final Editing in Photoshop
40:35 Outro
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Original uploads to AstroBin:
www.astrobin.com/users/AstroA...
Thank you so much for stopping by, i wish you a wonderful day/night wherever you are, clear skies, and
May the night be with us!

[@BorealisLite]

Great video, 1 comment. Calibration math is (light - dark ) / (flat - bias ) Bias can be replaced by dark flats, but using both would subtract bias twice from the bottom of this ratio. DSS is not transparent, so not certain if this would happen. Just trying to add to the general knowlege. My regards. Edit: looking at a couple of your close zooms I see sensor pattern noise. Pretty confident the bias was subtracted twice.

[@AstroAddict]

I'll look into that matter more closely, thanks!

[@BorealisLite]

@@AstroAddict Thanks, it's not a criticism, just that we only learn by sharing in the community. Your method of color balancing is unique and is brilliant, along with many of your insights. My thanks for your many contributions, I have learned much from your great work over time.

[@BorealisLite]

Hi Tim, I did some deeper research into DSS, they use sophisticated dark and dark flat optimization with a proper recombination. This is outlined with graphics near the bottom of this page: deepskystacker.free.fr/english/theory.htm It seems proper to include bias with dark flats unless there is something about your camera that causes the manufacturer to recommend against. My apologies, should have done this before commenting...

[@nevadaxtube]

Thank you Tim. I understood about 50% of the video. I now know how much I don't know.

[@danielgollner1390]

Impressive how much work there is in post processing. Thank you for this tutorial.

[@jbreezy3146]

Dude this is by far the best walkthrough on andromeda out here, I followed along and I can't believe the end result I got truly insane.

[@AstroAddict]

Wow, thanks!

[@Killbayne]

Thanks for linking everything as well as the Astronomy Tools for Photoshop in the description, I forgot to add the tool myself earlier.

[@AstroAddict]

Glad I could help!

[@johnnye26]

This is a great video! I started with astrophotography early this year and struggle with working with Photoshop. Your video is the best tutorial I've seen so far. I applied just the first 20 minutes of your video and my picture already looks better than ever. 😄

[@AstroAddict]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@ericbayne3503]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! I learned techniques that really helped my processing!

[@StevenBarnes-MrRat]

Excellent video. Learned some great new techniques. Thank you.

[@AstroAddict]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Codebyakshay]

am glad that i come across this channel and this video specially

[@mattiasea]

Very cool video! thanks for sharing :D

[@marygarcia4544]

Awesome tutorial, very informative! as a beginner I always had trouble with that color cast removal from L Pro and other filter(s) using the Threshold very useful..THANKS enjoy your tutorials!! Clear skies from Bortle 8 skies Dallas Tx

[@mikebenengtouncry3613]

yayy nice video. thanks tim

[@AstroAddict]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@theartist124]

Amazing image, your Tuts are so helpful thanks! Los Angeles

[@AstroAddict]

Glad you like them!

[@roknovak4155]

Happy to see this channel growing! I think I subscribed when you were under 1K :-)). One note: you mention at the beginning that you didn't drizzle "because most of the time PS can't handle the big files". There are 3 settings in PS that are worth changing for intense workloads like this: 1. change your cache levels to maximum (8), 2. change your cache tile size to maximum (1024K), 3. use a large SSD as a scratch disk. That should allow PS to handle just about any size file (I've had it gobble up as much as 1,1TB on the scratch disk and still churn out the file). It'll take a while, but it won't freeze/crash like it does if you don't have these settings to max and/or you run out of RAM+scratch disk.

[@AstroAddict]

Thanks!

[@Kyle_Hubbard]

Get in there son. I took my first lot of data last night but been struggling to find some videos that can walk me through some of the stuff. Cheers.

[@indymustang1969]

Thanks for a great video!

[@MyNikonian]

Great Video Tim 👍

[@AstroAddict]

Glad you think so!

[@chrispoupart7231]

Great video!

[@AstroAddict]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@FrancescoSpace]

I loved this video, thank you so much! Pro tip: use the starless picture to remove the gradient, it works much, much better!

[@AstroAddict]

I'm working on that method👍

[@lichasvocke8642]

Wow thats exactly that what i looked for. Thanks for The Vidio Tim

[@lichasvocke8642]

What are good alternatives for Photoshop if you dont wanna spent Money for editing

[@jasonnikolic]

@@lichasvocke8642 I haven't used it but I heard light room for android/ios is free. But you have to edit on your phone.

[@lichasvocke8642]

@@jasonnikolic I think editing on PC would be better, is GIMP an good option for DeepSkyEditing?

[@LightYagami-rz7vu]

Hi Tim, I was wondering if your Omegon APO is the one with FCD-1. If so would you recommend it over a FPL-53 doublet? I've heard they are similar. Thanks and clear skies!

[@jasonnikolic]

Thanks, I will follow this closely now I have a chance. It's raining for a week so I have a chance to get into some previous photos and bring them to life properly. I will have to retroactively create some darks and flats though.

[@AstroAddict]

Good luck!

[@capt.tommarks686]

Very good... I will get there one day,,, Not Andromeda but to Photoshop.

[@o0L4nc3r0o]

I'm definitely trying this on my data :)

[@AstroAddict]

Did it work? :D

[@o0L4nc3r0o]

@@AstroAddict Haven't tried it yet. :p

[@chrzanik666]

I am getting good tracked data with over an hour of good stacked images but post processing in photoshop for me is a slow learning curve and my results are laughable in comparison to yours 😆 but I am determined to make it work one day. Thanks for the video and making it look so easy.. when it is not hehe

[@Bart_noplease]

Thank you!

[@AstroAddict]

You're welcome!

[@astrosathya1984]

Hi, i really liked the part where you make the synthetic flats. I shot M31 2 weeks ago from B1 skies, 2.5hrs and the data is good. Unfortunately the flats got screwed and I have 2 dust bunnies each on both ends of M31. What do you recommend I do to remove them? TIA

[@AstroAddict]

That's rough. Better consult a Photoshop professional

[@dcarey26]

I've been using Affinity photo 1.9 - does stacking, alignment, and gradient removal, and can edit in 32 bit linear space as well. One off payment of about £24 and, I believe, they're doing a 90 day trial right now. Edit: I tried stacking Tim's generously linked raw files with it, and it did a very good job, but I am still learning how to make the most of the stacked result. What I do like, is that i can use all the filters and adjustments in 32 bit.

[@tisDaveSmith]

Hi Dave, I am learning Affinity Photo, do you know of a good tutorial that covers layers, masking etc. and isn't 20 hours long! ? Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

[@dcarey26]

@@tisDaveSmith James Ritson on youtube (works for Affinity) has tutorials on astro processing, also his youtube homepage has links to the Affinity youtube channel, where you'll find six tutorials on using Affinity 1.9 for astro (all about 20mins long), as well as many more general ones. I'm trying to wean myself off Photoshop, but haven't yet found a suitable replacement for Lightroom.

[@tisDaveSmith]

@@dcarey26 Many thanks Dave! Will check all that out.

[@fireislandmavic5939]

ahh sehr gut

[@cdhouder]

If you look at this picture you may think: "How are we going to get something greater of this, it looks like a green jungle with barely anything in it". Dude, my picture after processing looks worse than your stacked picture without processing :P

[@jeroens9o]

Great video, really helpful! I got far better results then with my previous way of working :). But I've got just one question, which I hope you can help me with. I also use this tutorial for processing e.g. nebula and star clusters, but those subjects do not have a white point for the threshold layer. In such cases I only have a coloured nebula (e.g. M27) and stars, which are also not white. Do you have any tips perhaps? Thank you in advance!

[@AstroAddict]

That's a tough one. Sadly, my knowledge on Photoshop is limited to those basic operations, i usually o that work in APP and PixInsight nowadays. You should probalby ask that question in some forums, like cloudynights and astrobin

[@roccoincardona9836]

Thank you very much for this amazing tutorial! I learnt a lot trying to replicate your steps on my photos. The "artificial flat" was particularly useful for me. I keep getting a strange red halo at the centre of my pictures, despite the use of flat frames. What do you think might cause it? I suspect it's because there are some lightposts near my observation site that might pollute the picture/sky. Thanks again

[@AstroAddict]

My first guess would simply be the quality of your flat frames. What method are you using? Second: If you have a cooled camera, it could be dew

[@roccoincardona9836]

@@AstroAddict Thanks a lot for the quick reply! I am using a white paper + tablet (white screen) + Nina flat wizard. I am still using a dslr but I should get a cooled camera soon

[@anthonywallace7439]

When did they give you a window Tim?

[@Butzemann123]

great video! I tried to process your data (i would post link to the picture but my comment gets deleted) I also used Siril for DBE and stretching. The rest with Starnet and Photoshop. Looking again at your results i realize that i am a little to shy with the stretching of the outer regions :D Learned something new, thank you!

[@AstroAddict]

You can post the image on social media and tag me!

[@douglasestrada26]

Awesome! So, which one do you think is better photoshop or Pixinsight I bought Photoshop and I am using the free trial of Pixinsight, I find Pixinsight easier than Photoshop. What do you think?. Thanks bro. God bless.

[@AstroAddict]

PixInsight is way better. It's dedicated for astrophotography, and you can do many more things that are impossible in photoshop

[@douglasestrada26]

@@AstroAddict thank you Tim! Keep Up The Awsome Work.

[@KTMAstroAdventure]

What camera has been taken this shot with? Is it stock or modified?

[@AstroAddict]

A dedicated astronomy camera. So yes, modified

[@EminiMe7]

My APT is storing the files in some type of "Prism" format??? Has anyone seen this? how do you set the file type in advance?

[@AstroAddict]

You can go to the settings, and choose to convert RAW DSLR files into FITS. That could help

[@dmoug1]

How do i set up the info box to see these values for adjustment ?

[@AstroAddict]

Window -> Info

[@roundcube3058]

Wow stacking took you 4 minutes, one time it took me 6 days but it wasn’t because of the start detection

[@stef2499]

How many files did you stack?

[@roundcube3058]

@@stef2499 a little more than 6,000 😬 but that was because I was only using a tripod and was limited to about 1 second. I just recently got the sky guided pro and now only takes 20 min or so to stack because more exposure time can be done in less frames

[@stef2499]

@@roundcube3058 nice, i got the same guider, works brilliant. Maybe DSS really struggled with those unguided shots

[@Codebyakshay]

bro your source file link is dead please redo the links please do somethinggggg

[@AstroAddict]

I refreshed the link, please tell me if it works!

[@Codebyakshay]

@@AstroAddict good lord thanks dude

[@EminiMe7]

You do need to slow down... I have stopped this video 20 times and still do not understand portions of this.

[@AstroAddict]

I did the same when learning about this, and kept a notebook on my side. Keep going, and pause as much as you need to. That's the purpose of a video, rather than a livestream

[@geekdomo]

Trying to follow along is infuriating. The entire image is based off of the calibration you did in the beginning. You never explain how to select the calibration 1 and 2. I see crosshairs show up but you never say what you need to do to click it. Then you go on for the rest of the video expecting we did that 1 step you never explained.

[@AstroAddict]

It's at 7:38

[@destryl1076]

could not understand you at all what are you german?

[@AstroAddict]

Yes

[@SerielThriller]

Great video!