My Photoshop Workflow in UNDER 15 Minutes

[@MikeTaylor-tw5wb]

what an underrated channel this is - Really helpful thank you Helena!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Aw thank you so much, Mike! Glad you found it useful.

[@DavidShaneTrueCosmology]

Seriously!

[@aw7425]

Very very helpful. Thank you and clear skies

[@DavidShaneTrueCosmology]

I gotta say this is one of the best workflow videos I’ve seen! The way you are able to easily articulate your points and thoughts in a way that everyone can understand is amazing! Please do more of these! Id like to see a tutorial on deep sky stacker & also one on registax! Please 🙏 Thank you!

[@okeania]

Im 53 and I wish I had learned all that at your age. But now Im learning from you, better than nothing :)

[@GusMcCrae01]

Wow Helena! Excellent work!

[@pattimaclaughlin8059]

I have searched and searched for someone to actually SHOW me how to process. You made it so much easier to understand. Thank you**

[@TiDriE]

Thank you for this tuto ! I am now searching for the equivalents in GIMP. I'd love to see another video on stacking and calibration ! Very good job Helena.

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Glad you enjoyed it!! I would highly recommend Ruzeen’s fantastic tutorial over at @astrofarsography on KZbin for GIMP. Really informative. Take care!!

[@TiDriE]

@@HelenasAstrophotographyThanks !! I will watch it :) :)

[@Kevinr14]

Very good explanation of not only what you're doing but why you're doing it. I've seen lots of other videos that tell you what to do without explaining why you're doing it. Yours has been most helpful. Thank you!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Really pleased to hear this Kevin!

[@XShadowAngel]

Very helpful, Helena. It's good to see this sort of thing, I think processing is one of the major hurdles that can be just as tough as the actual photography.

[@olivierwhitecar6274]

The KZbin algorithm brought me here... I'm just sad I didn't discover you before. Nicely done! Keep up the good work Helena! :)

[@PopeAstro]

The best edit tutorial I've seen!! Awesome! I finally got my plate solving to work for the first time last night and I got m51. Now on to processing my stacked image in Photoshop. Thank you!

[@davidleejenkins]

Thank you Helena! I didn’t know about the Camera Raw Filter. It has made a huge improvement to my images!

[@dg2604]

Thankyou Helena. Very good, useful video especially as I was having issue's with star reduction. Lets hope for more clear skies and less hoolie's

[@chazzey7]

Very much the newbie to all this. All my previous results were more of a result of luck rather than an ordered flow. This works nicely and will more than likely be adopted as my future workflow so thank you for your time and enthusiasm.

[@duaneholloway573]

Just found you for the first time Helena. I recently imaged M51, and I am still on the learning curve with PS. So I really like your workflow, and will be using some of it on my next editing try. I am not pleased with the first one I did yesterday. I like your style and tutoring! thanks

[@mikemcwhorter5298]

Thank you so much, I have been fighting with photoshop for three days now and you just explained it very well!

[@togray619]

Wow, very good lesson Helena. Please keep them coming.

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Thank you! I plan to do more tutorials in the future ;)

[@indymustang1969]

You are awesome, so glad I came across you. I'm your newest subscriber!

[@iancraig2507]

You are such a good instructor. Thank you for your time.

[@williamcecil9945]

Just happened to run across your KZbin and glad I did. A really good explanation of the workflow for the rest of us. Thanks.

[@larryc1968]

Thanks! Great info! I'd totally love a Deep Sky Stacker workflow video!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Good to know Larry! I'll put it on the list :)

[@ashimayed8013]

Thank you for the video, I was actually searching for a general editing process that I can use in most of the astrophotos that I take. thank you again!

[@francescomaurodeledda3642]

Sei bravissima, complimenti per come coltivi la tua passione, con tanto entusiasmo. Saluti dalla Sardegna

[@AmyAstro]

You are doing an amazing job!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Aw thanks so much Amy!! Loving your recent videos...that new scope looks snazzy! ;)

[@dwbattag5847]

Great job! You made it very simple to follow and I really liked your final image!

[@sciencoking]

Just got all the hardware for astrophotography. Thanks for the editing overview!

[@thepedalsadvocate7389]

2:00 in.... BEST! Simple and easily explained. Cery helpful.

[@paulabrierley7979]

This is superb. Dead simple and above all easy to understand. Thank you so much.

[@MrGp3po]

Nicely laid out your process. Very helpful. I am also using an 80mm doublet and DSLR. I'm very weak on processing and currently using DSS or Siril, then GIMP. Just starting using guiding this summer (hot, dry, smokey from forest fires with a few clear nights). Thanks for the video!

[@brentgilcher6895]

Thankyou for your video tutorials. Many don't use purely P.S. I find it very helpful for learning P.S. as it pertains to astrophotography. Terrestrial photography can all be done in Lightroom as far as I'm concerned. Your a little quick through the channels shortcuts but I pause and make notes anyway. Thanks again.

[@samofsiam]

Thanks for this Helena! You explained all your steps during your workflow. This has helped me out tremendously! Keep up the awesome work!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

So glad it helped Sam!!

[@AstroForumSpace]

Nice job Helena! I got a solid 1 minute on the moon before the cumulus clouds rolled in and it all "went to pot" :-). I'm praying to the weather gods for some clear skies tomorrow night. Keep up the good work!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Thanks AstroForum!! Sorry that it went to pot for you - lol! Hope you get clear skies this week. I'm clouded out here :)

[@PatJones82]

Great Video! YES PLEASE! Deep Sky Stacker tutorial please? :)

[@ukastrophoto9927]

Excellent video, I like the simplicity of the workflow. 👍🏻

[@olliecrabtree]

Thanks! I was completely lost before but this has made it a lot clearer. I’m currently shooting andromeda untracked so this video is really going to help me!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

So glad it helped Ollie! I'll definitely be doing more in the future. Good luck with your shot! All the best.

[@CaughtShorts]

Excellent tutorial. Many thanks!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Glad it was helpful!

[@manmits]

You make it all look simpler for beginners. Thanks, you r the best

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

I try my best! Thanks for the kind words. Clear skies :)

[@stevenrobinsonpictures]

Good video. Btw its CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E. I heard trevor saying N too but you dont need the N as far as i am aware

[@Bills_APCh]

Very useful video Helena, thank you. I was wondering in your layers section, when you made the layer copy, after eg levels adjustment or star mask, which layer did you copy? I am going to make meticulous notes and get organised. If you have not seen it, Doug German has KZbin series on astro process with photoshop, including gradient removal without GXT!

[@jimboandthejetset1]

Wow! Thank you so much for this! This was so easy to follow and I actually ended up with an image I don’t mind sharing with people (Cygnus region). Tried other methods, but when I followed your instructions I couldn’t believe it when I started to see the North America nebula appear!!! Blew my tiny mind! Can I ask, what size of lens did you use toy take this image? Again, thanks so much for this!

[@sagnikbasu2693]

good tutorial overall but while doing the star removal using minimum change the mode to roundness from squareness which is located below the slider inside the filter. Hope that hepls

[@Mrgladeines]

That were some nice tips i learned from you now. Especially the star reduction.

[@MarvelousLXVII]

Love the video but I think I love the sweatshirt just a bit more lol. I took my first image of Andromeda Galaxy and have failed at processing.

[@petequintanilla4237]

I just Googled “blowin a hoolie ” and learned something new

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Haha thanks Pete! Scottish language is a fun one :)

[@johnray854]

Blowing or blowin?

[@steveplenty8365]

Great Video Helena ! ! !

[@ashandsnow1873]

Love the channel! Thank you for this. Quick question? I am having some trouble with the star reduction method, as my galaxy cores are also being selected. Do you know a way I can de-select the cores, or another way around this? Just trying to preserve the galaxies. Thank you!

[@caste2510]

Thanks for your tutorial! Learned something new again :)

[@lachlanwilson8096]

Great Video! Awesome to have someone my age explain it in a bit more simple terms. Do you have a preference between making adjustments and then creating new layers or new adjustment layers?

[@pixelvin2272]

Great explanation of an easy photoshop workflow for beginners like me :D. A video on stacking in Deepskystacker or SiriL would be great because I'm really having issues with my stacking at the moment. Clear Skies!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

No probs!! I'll put it on my list. Stacking and processing is another learning curve to overcome and I appreciate the position you are in at the moment (been there)! Clear skies :)

[@Mr09260]

Great Video !! I have just started Astro/Milky Way

[@astroEnthusiast1]

Enjoyed your KZbin video! Keep up the great work!

[@willdobson79]

Thanks Helena nice work! ❤

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Glad you found it useful Will!

[@sarahzaffino5747]

Thank you for the tips!

[@Wheeljack678]

Great video. Now you made me go and try the trial for Gradient Xterminator. Only got to try it very briefly on a couple of images of mine, but I think you just made Russell Crowman another few dollars, lol. Deep SkyStacker is great, especially since it's free. I can also recommend Astro Pixel Processor for stacking. That program was a game-changer for me.

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Haha! It is well worth the purchase and as I said, I use it for everything. You won't regret it! Thanks for that suggestion, I'll check it out :)

[@bushcraftandastronomer.3775]

I've found this to be very educational and useful. The night sky is dark again where I live in Scotland so I hope I get clear skies soon as lately it's not been not that good and I've missed comet neowise due to the good Scottish weather being the usual. I hope now this autumn and winter I get those clear skies because I've got a list of deep sky objects I'm going to target like the horsehead nebula and Orion nebula plus the seven sisters. I dinny Ken if I'll get M33 because autumn showpiece is The Andromeda Galaxy as I'll be taking alot of shots of it. I'd like a complete guide to deep sky stacker please. Ta very much! I'm glad I've bought the skywatcher star adventurer and the skywatcher evostar 72ed ds pro refractor because I wanted everything to be portable as I plan to do alot of astrophotography with it in the highlands of Scotland as I've got a great place in Glencoe and few miles out side of fort William and a nice spot out side Aviemore. Just can't wait till this virus is gone. Maybe winter I'll get chance near Aviemore. Take care!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Thank you so much! Ah too bad for the comet, I was lucky to get my shot due to the weather. All the best for this Winter and the longer nights! Deep-Sky-Stacker is going on my list ;). Clear skies!

[@sternenstorch4556]

Hi Helena. Great job! Very good tutorial! I would really appreciate if you could one about calibration (dark, bias and the mysterious flat frames). Best wishes from Germany!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Hi Thomas! No problem, I'll stick it on my list. Clear skies :)

[@robsbackyardastrophotograp8885]

Good work, Helena! Thanks for sharing!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

My pleasure Rob!! Clear skies :)

[@cronufc]

Thank you! Great video

[@gunnarjensen5910]

I have only got two nights of clear skies, since new year, here in Iceland. Got two sets of images (ZWO533) stored on Deep Sky Stacker and like to start processing them. Wonder which imaging software is the most user friendly ?

[@IGATECK]

I just subscribed, great video with very useful information thank you, it's also a pleasure to listen to you, you're super smart and very nice accent 🙂, I just took my first DSO image of M101 last week, this hobby it's addictive haha

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Hi there! So glad the tutorial helped. I’ll make sure to do more of these. Thank you for the kind words :). I remember when I was out shooting M101 for the first time a few months ago! A night I’ll never forget. Good luck with future imaging sessions!

[@IGATECK]

@@HelenasAstrophotography The toturial was great and very well explained, that would be great, you're welcome, smart women are just as interesting as the cosmos it self 😊, I know what you mean this hobby it's very gratifying, may I ask why? was it your first object as well?. Thank you very much, now I just have to master polar aligning, plate solving and eventually auto guiding, as soon as time and weather permits, I have more hobbies than my brain can handle 😅. I hope you having a good day

[@A_RosnerNZ]

Nice work Helena :) watching from Wellington NZ. One question though - do you actually get to full dark sky at all in the Scottish summer? I'd wanna guess you don't ever get out of astro twilight in summer. You're only about 10° off the arctic cicle (assuming you're near Glasgow). Also. Are you on Astrobin?

[@timolangemeyer5591]

Hi .. looks good. But in Photoshop 2023, my new Layers ( CMD + J or SHIFT + OPT + CMD + N) are empty at every time (on macOS) - so I have to stop very early and cant do all steps from this tutorial. Any idea??

[@MrAsdf1980]

Great video Helena. I hope to see a pixinsight video too ^^

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

It will be something I delve into in the future. With my current workflow, however, it doesn't fit in at the moment. One day though! Clear skies and glad you enjoyed it.

[@AstroHunter5280]

Hi Helena! Cheers from the states! Would love to see a tutorial on stacking and the whole process! My ZWO 290 is set to ship for my LX65 and can't wait to get started on some planetary astro...this is the start :). Please make a how to video!!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

I will add it to my list!! It’s for sure a daunting process at the beginning :)

[@AstroHunter5280]

Helena's Astrophotography sweet! I could use all the help I can get!

[@AstroHunter5280]

Helena's Astrophotography could you should the process starting from pic, stacking...

[@MMphotography1996]

Enjoyed and learned a lot ☺️

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Cheers Mohammed! Glad you got something out of it :)

[@wilcojuffer5940]

Nice video Helena, but can you tell us more about the background at 0:37 sec in your dome how did you make it

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Hi Wilco! I have an older video called My CBBC journey from around a year ago. That should explain the long story on how I got it made for me ;)

[@abood-2639]

I use GIMP for editing, but it's nice seeing what others can accomplish in different programs, great video as usual. 👍Keep it up! Thank you for sharing your workflow PS: I've tried pixinsight as well, and.... my laptop couldn't handle it 😅 But I honestly prefer GIMP/PS, clear skies :)

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Thank you! Yeah my laptop can hardly handle PS so Pixinsight is just a no go haha! Clear skies :)

[@erindobson1990]

This is amazing Helena! :)

[@geoffnash3098]

Like your website very informative your pictures are beautiful.

[@MoonbeamArcade]

Thanks for the simple and to the point tutorial! One question regarding Deep Sky Stacker, do you just use the autosave.tif file that it creates and open that in Photoshop, or do you save it out with specific parameters? Also do you you "Align RGB channels in final image" in Deep Sky Stacker or do you leave that off by default?

[@ferchechen]

i would like to see a workflow editing milkway, btw gorgeus final image

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Thanks Fernando!! I haven’t ventured into Milky Way photography yet, but when I do, I’ll be putting a tutorial up. :)

[@ferchechen]

@@HelenasAstrophotography thanks for reply :D

[@togray619]

Helena you may have mentioned this before and I overlooked it, but how do you power your equipment when out in the field? Do you use portable power packs? Thanks!

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Hello! I use a Celestron PowerTank Lithium Pro. That is specifically for the mount and laptop though. The guide scope etc runs through USB into my laptop :)

[@togray619]

@@HelenasAstrophotography Thanks!

[@ironhead8874]

I watch again and again, just to listen to the accent.

[@RigoFromSpain]

Again very nice Helena, took free 30 days RC Astro

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Thank you Rigobert! You won't regret the purchase :)

[@johnray854]

Good video you get better ever time

[@djraffness]

Can you help me out with flats ? Darks and bias ? I got a skywatcher evostar apo 80ed pro with a zwo asi533 mc pro...

[@adarshkumar7355]

Mam, splendid video, Please do make one for star stacking and trailing. Lots of love from India Mam!!!!!!

[@fishtankguy]

Great Job !!!

[@mubarakhayath]

Really loved it 🤩❤️

[@ap-xv5ib]

How long was this exposure?

[@joekid5809]

Nice work

[@davepastern]

well done!

[@ratultarafdar2442]

Awesome 😊

I have a question you may think is silly XD but how do you find objects with a dobsonian telescope? I had an ecuatorial mount and learned with tutorials, but now I was gifted a dobsonian telescope, a big one, and I don't know how to find a planet, nebulas or anything XD and I didn't find any tutorial.

[@HelenasAstrophotography]

Hey! So, does your dobsonian have a manual mount with it? if so, you will have to learn your way around the night sky yourself and point the Dob roughly in the direction of the object. I recommend using an app on your phone such as SkyView, where you can type in the object you are looking for. Hope this helps! :)

[@alexeimartinenko8169]

Всегда улыбается, молодец девочка. И увлечение не девчачье

[@kevinashley478]

Is that a TARDIS??