Star tools - opinions?

[niko]

I read with interest the article in Sky at Night on Star Tools Image processing software.

I wondered what people's opinions of it were.

It seems great but I thought the manuals on how to use it seemed a bit light on and therefore had just as steep a learning curve as photoshop.

What do others think?

thanks

niko

[pluto]

I really like it. I don't think the learning curve is too steep, you just have to get your head around how it uses masks but that's not too hard. I read a tutorial once when I first got it and have been fine with it ever since.
In particular I really like it's deconvolution and it's ability to fix non-round stars, though I try to avoid needing the latter!

[alistairsam]

I like it as well. you do need a machine with sufficient memory though.
you can download the trial version and try it out as long as you like, save is disabled.
Ivo's also very helpful and provides prompt support.
the auto stretch doesn't always work for me, but there is the manual stretch.
and yes, fixing the star shapes is pretty cool.
also does a great job with vignetting, gradients, colour gradients, noise.
there are a few videos on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuiK7bgeQ7A&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqYim2phWLo&feature=youtu.be

Cheers
Alistair