Process Astrophotography Images In 10 Minutes

[@Abaunzamarco]

This is great, much needed help, I just bought some gear to start this exciting journey of astrophotography and did my first attempt just a couple of days ago. Your video is clear and easy to follow if you are not very familiar with PS. And the fact that you did it in 10 minutes is awesome so we can quickly jump and start our own editing. Congratulations and many thanks!!!!

[@AVAstronomy]

Rosy y Marco Hi Rosy, thanks for watching. Glad you found the video helpful

[@jamescrawford1534]

Me too, I've been slowly building up my tools, I've taken some really bad pics but recently I've got my new goto mount and a SV305pro

[@henri-julienchartrand3387]

Again, WOW. Please publish the ''recipe'' of your work flow of this video. Newbies like myself could follow each and every step more easily. Thanks again Aaron. Clear skies.

[@kromegal]

Thats the best quick astro-workflow I've seen so far

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you! Glad you found it helpful.

[@hawk120]

SO much great information here!!! I can't wait to apply some of these great tactics to my own data! Well done video!

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you! Glad you found it helpful.

[@BrentMantooth]

I learned several new things in just a few minutes - The arcsin transform is amazing, I have fought with curves and never brought out nebulosity like a few quick clicks there. This video earned a subscribe

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you and glad you found the video helpful! God bless and clear skies!

[@_traubenkuchen_]

I couldn’t find it in my photoshop 2021

[@BrentMantooth]

@@_traubenkuchen_ look up arcsin transform on cloudy nights and read the post, he provides a link for how to create the defaults

[@_traubenkuchen_]

@@BrentMantooth thx

[@astroimager3010]

Great example of developing and using a process that works.

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you Phil. That's my goal. I think all of us astrophotographers can appreciate a speedy work flow that gets it done.

[@matteodonega618]

Really nice one Aron! I love your editing videos and I totally agree with you, I don’t like spending too much editing. I love the capturing and the night outside, don’t want to go crazy spending hours and hours on softwares. Thanks for posting these videos!

[@matteodonega618]

Also, can I ask what set up did you use to take this image and how many and what type of exposures they were? Thanks

[@AVAstronomy]

Hi Matteo, thank you amd glad you find the videos helpful. I used my 6” maksutov Newtonian scope and Ha modded canon 77d camera. These were a total of 57 x 4 minute sub frames at ISO1600.

[@brandonfeils6883]

That's fantastic! I need to take another look at my galaxy data and try some of your workflow.

[@AVAstronomy]

brandon feils thank you!

[@stevenrobinsonpictures]

Love the music and the intro showcasing your different pictures on this one. Rewound it a few times! You should use it as your intro.

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you!

[@SonakshiMittal]

thank you so much I can't even express it

[@Photographersforyou]

Great video, Ive done stretching in soo many different ways but this is so much easier especially when preserving the highlights. Can you tell me if the astronomy tools plugins you have there (what they are and where to get them) and if any good in making the process easier/ or give better results?? I normally stack my images in sky stacker (for mac) would you recommend or have you used Astro pixel processor or pix insight at all and any advice on whether getting plugins for photoshop instead would suffice ? Would much appreciate any advice.

[@AVAstronomy]

Thanks! Wow, that’s a lot of questions. I have most experience with deep sky stacker and photoshop. I’ve used APP some and found it very good. I’ve not use PI yet. Astronomy tools is a good plugin but I just did a new video on Photokemi’s star tools and its also a plug-in with some excellent actions for processing images.

[@michaellewis4732]

Thank you for putting this together, outstanding results and great tips.

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you Michael! Glad you found it helpful

[@kieranshilston8466]

I have honestly learnt so much within 5 minutes of your video! But can you please share where you got the Arcsinh pre-sets from?! I am meticulously copying the arc, like for like, as good as I can. It would be SO much easier if I could utilise the pre-set!

[@AVAstronomy]

Glad to hear you find the videos helpful. The plug-in you were looking for can be found on the cloudy nights forum. The easiest thing is to pull up your Google browser and type in cloudy Knights arc sin. Clear skies.

[@noahm44]

This is awesome man

[@ManoloFloyd]

Wow! I came looking for silver and I found gold! Thanks a lot! Unfortunately my jpg is very basic, a single exposure with non astro moded camera. So I guess I have other things to do before reaching this post processing

[@DoktrDub]

I want to be this effective and efficient in my processing workflow. Good job!

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you!

[@tamrich7762]

Well done Aaron ! Under ten minutes You made it look so easy , I have not got a clue how to use photoshop 👍

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you Tam! It's like anything else, once you get a feel for the program it's really nice. Thanks for watching!

[@RaysAstrophotography]

Excellent Aaron!

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you Ray!

[@Nottsboy24]

Fantastic results 👌🔭

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you!

[@AstroPixUK]

Aaron, this is great. Thanks. Please please please could you do this as a walk through tutorial where you share a stack for us newbies to follow along. All us newbies struggle with editing and the techniques in this video are excellent! It’s all the click alt do this etc etc would be really handy to know. 😉🤞🏻

[@AVAstronomy]

James O that’s a great idea James. I’ll set that up sometime soon.

[@astrofpv118]

@@AVAstronomy Hey there.... did you ever do the stack section on this?

[@AVAstronomy]

@@astrofpv118 working on a video tutorial now that will include a stacked image you can download, and a more detailed explanation of workflow.

[@BrofNeeko]

I have no idea how to use photoshop. I had it more than 10 years ago and never could figure it out. I feel I shouldn’t even bother getting into this

[@AVAstronomy]

You may feel more comfortable with a program like Astro pixel processor. It’s a great program and I highly recommend it. Has a simple to use interface.

[@AstroRef68]

Wow very helpful video I’m new and I need this video real bad I’m sorry to ask if I missed What program is this?

[@gomanastro]

ok, already been said, but this is very useful, a great outline on how to work on the image, and I can always pause to see a step better, and copy it. AND it is not a long-winded video....thanks!

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you Greg!

[@mehmetalierkan1102]

you are really artist bro good work !

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you sir!

[@thepedalsadvocate7389]

Fantastic video.

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you!

[@AstroFarsography]

That's pretty mad for 10 minutes work mate. Nice image as well. A 10 minute processing thing hey, I might need to do one as well and challenge myself also 😁

[@AVAstronomy]

AstroFarsography thanks Ruz! That’s a good idea. Do you think it’s possible in GIMP?

[@AstroFarsography]

@@AVAstronomy I think it's possible in all 3. It's down to familiarity with the software I reckon

[@cult4037]

Hey great video, keep up the work🙌🏼🙌🏼. How do we get those custom mods and levels adjustments like the pre built arcsin 10,30 etc?

[@AVAstronomy]

www.cloudynights.com/topic/595610-photoshop-color-preserving-arcsinh-stretch/

[@cult4037]

@@AVAstronomy thank you soo much, I can finally use these to better stretch my images, amazing stuff! Thank you once again and Clear skies !🙏🏼

[@AVAstronomy]

@@cult4037 you’re welcome! Clear skies and God bless!

[@figzastro-photography]

Woooow. Good job. You make it look so easy. I got lost at hello..lol.

[@AVAstronomy]

Figz Photography thank you. I was moving a little faster than normal but I have some Other videos that go a little slower and are bit more in depth.

[@figzastro-photography]

A.V.Astronomy I was only joking. Good video in under 10 minutes. Thanks.

[@AVAstronomy]

Figz Photography 😆

[@TM-zy6un]

Grrat tutorial. I really look forward trying this, once I got my images good enough.. One question: Is the picture after processing big enough to be printed and get framed? Just curious about the quality..

[@gunnarjensen5910]

Nice gear. What imaging program are you using ? I got my first ZWO533 images and like to start to optimize my imagie - precessing skills.. My images are still unprocessed in Deep Sky Stacker.

[@AVAstronomy]

I was using APT to capture the data.

[@tommybutler7629]

What's that astro Photoshop plugin you used?

[@AVAstronomy]

Are you referring to gradient exterminator?

[@llamarvasquez1803]

Wow awesome video and image! Thanks again... I have a question? Do you have any videos on Processing narrow band images in Photoshop like HOO and SHO thank you keep up the great work 🔭

[@AVAstronomy]

Llamar Vasquez Thank you Llamar! I haven’t dipped my feet into true narrowband yet. Not sure mono imaging is for me. I love the images you can get from mono imaging but the time requirement is much higher than OSC or dslr.

[@llamarvasquez1803]

A.V.Astronomy cool man! Keep up the great tutorials🔭📸

[@madexoticsreptilecare495]

Can someone please explain how the heck you find the "arc sign stretch? Using PS 2024 and I've looked for days and days. I don't have that.

[@XShadowAngel]

Great video, thank you.

[@AVAstronomy]

Shadow you’re welcome. Glad you found it helpful

[@TaCtiCaL323]

Wow, really glad I came across this video. I've been trying to to teach myself PS for the past 2 months. Incredibly daunting lol. Going to try and follow along with what you've done here. I have soooooo much decent data on multiple DSO's. Post processing is a mother. Thanks for this though. Cant wait to give it a run-through tonight.

[@AVAstronomy]

TaCtiCaL323 thanks for watching. You may find I move a little quickly in this particular video. I have some links to other editing videos in my description that take a slower pace. I would suggest looking over those as well. Good luck to you on your Astro photography journey.

[@TaCtiCaL323]

@@AVAstronomy I did notice, but I'm just going to follow step by step, pause when needed. And I'll most definitely check out your other stuff. Thanks again! Subbed

[@cbellasbusta4643]

hi, i'm trying to follow your video to process the same target. At around 2.15 I flatten the image as you do then duplicate the layer but when I try to select colour range on layer1 it is greyed out on my version of PS v2020. is there some keyboard shortcut I should be doing *edit* sorted now, my image was 32bit. After converting to 16bit at beginning of process the colour range option is now available

[@AVAstronomy]

sometimes after flattening the image photoshop will stamp forward the mask when you press CTRL J. Not sure why it does this but if you delete that layer and press CTRL J again it will do it properly.

[@MegaBrebis]

Great! Could you do that with free software only?

[@AVAstronomy]

MegaBrebis great question. I haven’t used GIMP yet but my buddy Ruz @astrofarsography has some tutorials on GIMP and it may be possible. Clear skies!

[@emilian1005]

What was the method used to convert this image into 16 bits? Is there any 16 bit methods that are better than others when it comes to astro? Thank you so much!

[@AVAstronomy]

It should be 16 but in photoshop but if not you can convert it to 16 bit within Adobe photoshop .

[@enriqueboeneker]

Aaron! Hahaha! And I’m teaching Pixinsight with videos over 45 min! Great video!

[@AVAstronomy]

Thank you Enrique!

[@gamgeeslass82]

What editing software are you using?

[@AVAstronomy]

Deep sky stacker and adobe photoshop.

[@adamc5428]

What software did you use to edit this image?

[@AVAstronomy]

deep sky stacker and photoshop

[@budgetastrophotography1506]

nice, where did you get the presets in the curves adjustment?

[@AVAstronomy]

ATC Hobbies here you go www.cloudynights.com/topic/595610-photoshop-color-preserving-arcsinh-stretch/

[@budgetastrophotography1506]

@@AVAstronomy thanks, clear night are hard to get over in Alabama, maybe better a state over :)

[@AVAstronomy]

ATC Hobbies been tuff here too lately. And with the moon waxing it will be 2 at least weeks before I can image again.

[@sewen9210]

I'm a total beginner to astro (but not PS). I don't understand where the arcsinh setting comes from in your curves - is it a preset that you've bought? Thanks.

[@AVAstronomy]

Sally Ewen Hi Sally, the arcsin stretches can be downloaded for free here. www.cloudynights.com/topic/595610-photoshop-color-preserving-arcsinh-stretch/

[@sewen9210]

Excellent! Thanks for the speedy reply.

[@AVAstronomy]

Sally Ewen you’re welcome. God bless and Clear skies!

[@sewen9210]

@@AVAstronomy I have one more question please :) This video is excellent. Really helpful, and really good to see what can be done, astro-wise, in Photoshop. I'm currently trying to process my first ever DSO image, using a combination of APP and PS. At the moment my idea is that I should tweak the RAW files in PS Camera Raw (bring down exposure etc), then convert to TIFFs, then stack the TIFFs in APP and finally bring the stacked image into PS for further processing. Is this the right thing to do, in terms of workflow? Thanks in advance.

[@AVAstronomy]

Sally Ewen that’s a great question Sally. Generally you don’t want to edit individual files. This adds a hefty amount of time to your processing workflow and I don’t believe that it adds any additional benefit to do so. Generally what you want to do is stack your best images. I go through each shot a take and check out a magnified view of each image to make sure stars are sharp and the raw image looks good. Then I go ahead and stack those files in DSS. From there you can follow my workflow in that video and you should be in pretty good shape.

[@zanekite9729]

did you use an LP filter on this, either way, it looks insane!

[@AVAstronomy]

No light pollution filter. Bortle 5 skies. And thank you!

[@zanekite9729]

@@AVAstronomy that’s crazy good work man

[@AVAstronomy]

@@zanekite9729 thank you Zane! Clear skies and God bless you sir!

[@HashiraHQ]

which softwar u use

[@AVAstronomy]

If you’re referring just a image processing are use deep sky stacker to stack my images and photo shop to process them.

[@figzastro-photography]

How does someone get the extra curves settings like arcsine 10 - 100, or any other PS settings for astrophotography processing?

[@AVAstronomy]

Figz Photography here you go www.cloudynights.com/topic/595610-photoshop-color-preserving-arcsinh-stretch/

[@mwales2112]

How do you get the Arcsinh selections?

[@AVAstronomy]

Here ya go. www.cloudynights.com/topic/595610-photoshop-color-preserving-arcsinh-stretch/

[@mwales2112]

@@AVAstronomy Found them. Thank for this video...

[@AVAstronomy]

@@mwales2112 you’re welcome. 👍

[@mwales2112]

@@AVAstronomy I have no photoshop skill's what so ever and that's something you need in this new hobby. Your video was a huge help in understanding a work flow.. Thank you

[@metemisho9577]

How do i download Archsinh?

[@barrysaayman]

Amazing.

[@AVAstronomy]

Barry Saayman thank you Barry!

[@mlethbridge76]

This is fantastic!! I always struggle with my post processing and this helps SO much. Thank you!!!!

[@AVAstronomy]

You are welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@justinhendrickson3133]

Nice! I hadn't seen that preserve star color routine before. Thanks!

[@AVAstronomy]

Justin Hendrickson you’re welcome, glad you found it helpful. I’m sure there’s other ways to do it but it seems to work pretty well. Clear skies!

[@benplus2053]

half of those options are not available on my FS

[@videomaker8532]

Is this possible in Lightroom?

[@AVAstronomy]

Unfortunately, no. But there are some minor edits you can do in Lightroom but the stretch function which is vital is not available in Lightroom as far as I know.

[@earth_4.5bil]

Where did you get arcsinh100?

[@josephnaja]

What are you using? GIMP

[@AVAstronomy]

Adobe photoshop

[@josephnaja]

@@AVAstronomy thanks. Is it the free Microsoft version?

[@josephnaja]

I've been using GIMP

[@AVAstronomy]

@@josephnaja nah it’s the $10/month version.

[@josephnaja]

@@AVAstronomy thanks

[@_traubenkuchen_]

What exposure time did you use?

[@astroedsastrophotographych4562]

This is a really awkward comment, because I just literally released a video that is how to process astro images in only 9 minutes.... lol. J/k. It is interesting to see others AP processing steps, I do thing in PS much differently. Cool video! Nice M33.

[@AVAstronomy]

AstroEd's Astrophotography Channel Hi Ed! You crack me up man. You had me 😂. I was like “you gotta be kidding me lol”. Thanks for the support. Would love to see more of your work flow as well.

[@johnray854]

Now I know how to use photoshop a little bit better it will just take time to get good maybe some day I will pass you up

[@thepedalsadvocate7389]

This is Photoshop?

[@AVAstronomy]

yep

[@AVAstronomy]

If you have any questions regarding my work flow feel free to post your question below and I'll do my best to answer them. Clear Skies!

[@StarTracker0]

Sad but in new delhi I'm not able to get some nice dark sky pics due to light pollution 😔

[@josephnaja]

Photoshop

[@alvinbergman302]

Great video! but to long intro

[@AVAstronomy]

Thanks! Yeah, funny you say that. I’ve been thinking about redoing the intro and make a much shorter one. Clear skies!

[@More.internet]

Sad, Cause I do astrophotography on mobile.

[@AVAstronomy]

I plan on doing a video on mobile astrophotography here soon. Stay tuned!

[@More.internet]

@@AVAstronomy Aright, Sweet!