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Astro software


Nelson

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hell all, I am just starting with the astrophotography having purchased a Canon 600d and an Equatorial mount. My question is; there is so much in Photoshop that will not be used in my pursuance of astrophotography and to purchase PS is no small matter. Is there a specific processing software? If so what, how much and from where can I purchase it? Please get back to me.

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Guest Tweedledum

Hi Melvin,


 


There is so much more to consider rather than photoshop!... There are a plethora of image manipulation packages out there, photoshop however is probably the package that has after market add ons specifically for imagers, if you have not used a package like this before start simple. I would point you in the direction of firstly buying a copy of 'making every photon count' this will save you hard earned cash.


 


You mention that you have bought a camera and mount, you have not mentioned if you have bought a scope to attach it to, guide scope, removed the fiter..........


 


My best advice is to come along to a meet where some of the hard core imagers may be there and pick their brains and have a look to see what kit they use.


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Hello a stereo thanks for your reply. I have a making 127 telescope and a few eps 10 15 20 and 30mm, I have ordered the book you suggest and have been looking at Nebulocity software. Photoshop has so much that would not be used by the average astronomer it seems a waste of both money and software.

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Guest Tweedledum

There is a caveat here, its not freeware. The downloads are provided to those who still use the products as they are no longer supported. You should have an original version of the product.


 


From adobe ;;---


 


Adobe strongly advises against running unsupported and outdated software. The serial numbers provided as a part of the download may only be used by customers who legitimately purchased CS2 or Acrobat 7 and need to maintain their current use of these products.


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I would disagree regarding the amount of features not used in Astro, granted not all are needed but a great many of them are incredibly useful once you really get bitten by the bug. Layering different exposure lengths in for instance, sharpening and blurring, altering hue and saturation as well as the obvious necessity for altering curves and levels. Most of the tools on Photoshop I have used at some point or other.


 


As mentioned above, there are a number of plugins for PS that are a real boon for Astro, such as Noels or Annies actions and Gradient Xterminator to name but three.


 


Gimp is a freeware version of Photoshop (or near enough) but as far as I know, those plugins are not available for Gimp, although all could be replicated if you had a grasp of how the actions work.


 


Even the clone tool can be very useful for manufacturing a layer for calibration of the background.


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Guest Tweedledum

There is also a true 'free download' from Zoner, fully featured and has a great histogram stretcher to be found here :-- http://www.zoner.com/


 


It is also wort looking for a copy of ps lite / elements that used to be distributed with some better scanners / printers. If you wish to borrow a copy I have one spare.


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