AP softwear advice

[blink138]

hello members
i am asking opinions on some AP softwear for processing images
i currently only have PS elements but whether it is myself or the system i do not seem to get much out of it
i am still inexperienced at AP and not very tech savy
i have 60da but will upgrade in a year to a decent OSC
any advice or free trials from anywhere that you know of would be appreciated
pat

[glend]

There are a number of articles available online that show how to use Photoshop for image processing. I believe that was a link posted in another tread just a few days ago to Astrobaby's tutorial - worth a search here for that link. I am relatively new to Photoshop processing as well, there is a lot to learn with AP.

Can I assume you have a stacker application and know the image capture process and production of darks, flats, offset/bias frames as well?

[Amaranthus]

Startools = awesomeness (and has a free trial)

[blink138]

thanks glen i do have the basics and i stack in dss already.............. its just the proper stuff that scares me!

[blink138]

ooh thanks barry i might check that out
pat

[DJT]

Pixinsight offers a free trial

http://pixinsight.com/

The community forum is very good in terms of info and tutorlals and within the software itself, there are hover overs everywhere which tell you what stuff actual does as well as some documentation and plenty of release information.

This gentleman here (link below) has done some excellent tutorials to get you through the basics

http://harrysastroshed.com/pixinsight/pixinsight%20video%20html/Pixinsighthome.html


other resources can be found here

http://pixinsight.com/videos/index.html

If you take the time to read the content and study the various video resources, you can get the hang of calibrating and processing reasonably quickly, certainly within the trial period.

[Shiraz]

Another vote for StarTools.

[pluto]

I have been using StarTools for a while and I really like it, and 2 weeks ago I would've been one of those saying "+1 for StarTools", but since starting with PixInsight I couldn't recommend StarTools over PixInsight.

If you're coming from a Photoshop only workflow then you're going to have to learn a new way of doing things in either ST or PI anyway so why not jump straight into PI. Of course PI is a bit more expensive than ST but it's not that much more expensive and IMO well worth it.

It's hard to explain briefly but the difference in the quality of images I'm getting out of PI after only one week of use really does put all my former efforts using ST+PS to shame.

My advice: get the PI trial, watch Harry's tutorial vids and have a go :D

[Bart]

PixInsight. Hands down, I have tried therm all.:eyepop:

[blink138]

thanks guys i will look into it
pat

[Paul Haese]

Nothing wrong with photoshop. I use it and find it easy to work with. I have not found a need to use any other programme at this stage. Ken Crawford has a number of tutorials on photoshop use. There are also a number of other sites that have tuts for processing of images.

[marc4darkskies]

Couldn't agree more. PS is much more straightforward to use than PI! I've tried PI twice and my brain started to melt both times :lol:

[blink138]

paul even just the PS ELEMENTS you think is ok?
pat

[Geoff45]

I guess it's horses for courses. I've always found PI to be much more intuitive and easier to use than Photoshop.
Geoff

[LewisM]

Agree 110%. Photoshop for me.

PI and me can't see eye to eye. Tried, a few times, jut can't.

One piece of software that I cannot live without is CCDStack. Cannot praise it highly enough! Simply no other program I have used comes close to it (DSS is not even remotely comparable, but the price is right I guess :) ) CCDStack not only stacks (obviously), it is a pre- and post processor, colour converter etc that lets me get started before chuffing the picture into PS and finishing it.

I have Startools, somewhere :shrugs: Haven't used it in over 2 years. Probably been 100 updates since I bought it.

Pat, IF you get a good OSC CCD AND get CCDStack, I will give you some VERY helpful ideas - if you follow a standard filtered mono stack and convert routine, the results will be TERRIBLE. There is a way around it, takes some fiddling, but the result is definitely worth it.

[deanm]

Does 'softwear' keep you warm & dry?!

Dean

[LewisM]

Nope, just soft and silky

[Paul Haese]

Pat I don't know the elements package. So I cannot advise about that.