Fits Liberator + PS + Win7 64bit

[mldee]

I would like to open my QHY8 OSC FITS files directly into CS5 64 with win7 64. I installed Fits 2.3 but no file recognition in CS5 64. Running CS5 32 works fine. Tried a manual install. Same result.

Googling shows this is a standard Fits Liberator 2.3 problem. Has anyone got a solution?

Tried Fits 3, but like many, I prefer the opening directly into PS mode.

[mithrandir]

It does not look like you have a choice (http://www.spacetelescope.org/projects/fits_liberator/knownissues_faq/):

[mldee]

Thanks for the reply Andrew, I've decided for the time being to revert to CS4 32 with FitsLib 2.3, which work well together.

Does anyone know if FITS2.3 can be made to work with CS4 64? So far mine just gives the wrong file error msg.

I'm also contemplating purchasing Fitsplug, although so far the older demo v020sb version doesn't seem to function at all in CS4 for me, maybe because I still have Fits Lib 2.3 installed. At $50, is not exactly cheap.

Yes, I'll admit that it's the thrill of the hunt that's got me now (and the eternal rainy nights)

And finally...The comments in Fits Lib v3 about pre-processing in 16bits before going into PS....Is this a worthwhile exercise or just "gilding the lily" for happy snappers like me?

[mithrandir]

For what I read elsewhere, the 64 bit versions of CS can't run 32 bit FitsLib. So your choices are CS4/5 32 bit + FitsLib 2.3 or CS4/5 64 bit + FitsLib 3.

[EddieT]

Hi Mike,
Unless I am mistaken, even if Liberator did work under 64-bit PS, it will not open QHY8 OSC FITS images. Not as colour anyway.

RAW QHY8 FITS images are not compliant FITS images. The colour is represented in a Bayer matrix and as there is no way to specify the bayer transformation in a FITS image, therefore they are not FITS compliant and not handled by any compliant FITS reader.

FITSPlug (http://fitsplug.com) will work with PS 64, but it will only open OSC images as monochrome, because of this inability to determine the difference between a non-OSC image and an OSC image requiring a bayer transformation, using information in the FITS header.

If I'm wrong about Liberator and bayer matrices, please let me know...it will be news to me!

[Bassnut]

So you can import with fits 3?. If so, the "save and edit" opens CS5 64 i7 with the image. Not the same as a PS plug in, but near as you will get and not too bad. Fits plug has some nifty features fits liberator doesnt BTW, but I find the 32 bit streching handy in liberator.

[mldee]

Eddie & Fred, thanks for the inputs. Yep, Fits Lib will not see the OSC colour, and everything is just gray scale. Bah humbug.

So it looks like saving as TIF in Neb is my optimal solution, then opening in PS. Works fine. BTW, according to Adobe, 64 bit is mainly good for the much larger addressable memory ability and is only about 8-12% faster than the 32 bit. See http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404901.html.

Considering my skill level, I can live with TIF.

[mldee]

Moving right along.....I've discoverd that Astra Image, http://www.astraimage.com/, has a version as a photoshop plug in that reads FITS. It's version 3.0PS. I've sent off an enquiry as to whether it does 64 bit and also QHY-style OSC FITS. Probably won't see a reply for a day or two (they're in Rosebud, Vic).

In the meantime, has anybody used this particular program in its PS version?

[EddieT]

I suspected as much, though I don't use Liberator so wasn't sure.


For single images and a small number of intermediate layers, 32-bit is generally fine. But once you start to do large mosaics, or single images with a large number of intermediate working layers, 64-bit PS becomes invaluable.

I have several mosaics (over 1GB) that are virtually impossible to process with 32-bit PS. They are simply too large to load and work on efficiently.