If you're at this stage of astro... you should be sure to save this vid to a play list so that you can come back easily. I have had to come back several times because I did not remember the steps. I just used this vid for the 3rd time and my results keep getting better and better. Thanks again! This is indeed valuable info and it's presented very well.
Thank youso much for this video , this is by far the best method of putting stars back as up till now ive been using colour range set to highlights and must admit my stars looked awfal /// you sir are a total legend 🙏🙏🙏 clear skies
Sometimes we search for weeks for a source that will answer a specific question or set of questions. When we FINALLY find the answer it's like a light from heaven. I followed your steps and successfully made my 1st starless image. You nailed what I was seeking to learn and did so at a pace that made it easy to learn from. Thanks for the vid! You just leveled up my processing game.
At last, a superbly constructed video.. informative, interesting and not left me thinking hes just making this up.. well done and hopefully looking forward to more in the future
Thanks Derek, I just released a follow up to this video if you’re interested. It is my latest released video. Please consider subscribing for future content as well. Thanks!
I was waited for videos like this for so long time! The workflow from stack file, through starnet++ and final contract adjustments is just so easy. The way you talk through step-by-step is definitely the best I see so far! Amazing work and hope to see more and more! Well done 👏 👏👏👏
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 no probs 😊 I just wondered if you ever done HaRGB image and know some tricks how to edit this in PS? I love to see your easy workflow on this subject 😊 Regards and clear sky’s 👋
Thanks Ed! Though this comment is much after this tutorial's release, combined with your arcsinh video and contrast video, I have the tools to vastly improve my processing in Photoshop. You are to be commended for your patient delivery with enough detail that one can create a full workflow which outline the steps for each valuable technique. UA-cam has many tutorials on the subject and I have learned from many of them, giving me some basic skills and understanding. That said, your help has pushed me to another level. Big Kudos!
Thank you so much, Paul! Glad it was of use. Next tutorial coming soon, but my next video is a cinematic style adventure imaging an awesome interesting part of a nebula. Then after that will be the follow on tutorial 😀! Thanks for watching!
This is a really good idea. I used this one in combination with lots of other methods and I felt it really added another layer (pardon the pun) to my processing. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your video on starnet++ Thomas! Another easy to follow tutorial,great tips in Photoshop. Looking forward to part two. I will definitely be trying this process on my next image, weather permitting.👍
Great processing video Mr Ed, loving your style and content and the fact you’ve imaged NGC7822, I imaged it last month in HaRGB. Now if only there was a programme called Cloudnet- -, my life would be complete.
Really nice technique Ed. I usually select color as the highlight and copy that as a layer but I think your way is much more exact mathematically to starnet. That’s for sharing
Thanks Johnny! I like it better than select color as well. I actually think select color isn’t very accurate and more of a guess work. I have an even better technique that is 100% accurate, but have not done a tutorial on it. Perhaps in the future... and that technique is more so for narrowband processing.
Unfortunately, everyone uses that link to download starnet++. I just checked out several other ways to download a d they all seem to point to source-forge which no longer has it available. If I find a way I will update the link here.
Nice! I also thought it was just me using the “difference” to create a stars only image, and then “Linear Dodge Add”. Glad to know I’m doing things decently! I actually found your video half-way through creating my own tutorial - but mines on Mac so luckily I’m not just copy and pasting your content 😉. Love your channel so far, and your ig account!
It actually turns out that this process of the difference and linear dodge add is incorrect and damages the star data. I plan to release an update in the future. I no longer recommend it. I discovered on my own another method that works seamlessly.
AstroEd's Astrophotography Channel Definitely noticed the slight ‘damage’ to stars...have been trying to find an alternative that works well; will be interested to hear what you’ve discovered... Star preservation is always my number one priority!
Thank you! I love using PhotoShop. I’ve been using PIX Insight solely for the Starnet feature. I didn’t realize that it could be downloaded as a standalone application. I just tried it and it works well!
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 I used your layer star reduction/control method on this picture: instagram.com/p/CH1FKa3HIVE Worked like a charm. I'm using Affinty Photo and used the "in-painting brush" to fix/heal the halos around the biger stars and their spikes from the newton. Than I used the "add" layer mode. Just like you described. I also uses the starnet image to fine tune the nebula and push the nebula while trying to control the noise and surroundings. Other method where curve stretching, channel stretching to boost the red part of the nebula, nik collecton to denoise. I have to check all the layers I still have in the original file to make a note of all the stuff I did. Otherwise I will forget it until I get a new image to process. ;) Clear skies and stay safe.
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 Thanks. It's my first real self made DSO using my new telescope and equipment. It's about 3 hours of integration. Still had troubles focusing and sometimes with the auto guiding. I'm still at the start of the journey.
Another great video. In the next follow-up it would be great if you could clarify what imperfections in the starless image you're looking for that need application of the healing tool. Honestly, on my iPad, the image looked great in the spots you healed :). I am going to use your process on 7 hours of data I have on the Western Veil and follow along as you add more videos. Going to give you a great shout out on Cloudy Nights as you deserve more subscribers.
Thanks, Don. In the spots I healed there were left over artifacts from starnet not fully removing star halos. If I were to continue to process without healing those artifacts will show up even more in the final image. If I heal them early on I don’t have that issue! Thanks for spreading the word about my channel! Good luck on your western veil data!
Haha. This is so strange. I've been struggeling to create good star masks and just yesterday I got this exact idea for how to "extract" the stars. And today I get your tutorial recommended in my UA-cam feed. Strange world 🙂 Tnx for the video. Excellent stuff 👍
Great vidoeo BUT can you describe how to do it with narrowband images where you have three different "stars only" layers? I guess this star layers need to be somehow combined together before bringing it back into the (also combined) starless picture(?) How to do that? Thanks!
Hi Kowalski, yes I can explain it, but it merits more than an over simplified explanation I could give you in this reply. I have been considering releasing my narrowband technique for awhile. Just haven’t had the time. Perhaps in the not so distant future, subscribe so you don’t miss that release. Thanks, AstroEd.
Hi and thank you for this and your other great videos that I've recently discovered. You probably answer my question in part 2, but I cannot find that if it exists. Most folks seem to use Starnet prior to their primary stretch. They recommend giving a 25% stretch to allow Starnet to work and then do their primary stretching on the object to protect the stars. Using Shelly's arc hyperbolic sin stretch eliminates this need, I suppose, but I am left wondering what the need is for removing stars now? In my current workflow, it seems I can do the later half of my processing without the need of removing the stars. I guess I may be missing something but I was hoping you or another commenter can fill me in. Thanks
Ultimately whatever works is fine if it is fine for you. I like to do any stretching without any stars present, thus, the only stretch the stars undergo at all throughout the entire process is just the arc hyperbolic stretch. All background data (nebulae or galactic nebulosity) i like to stretch with no stars present. Personally I’ve achieved my best looking images this way. If you goto my channel, i have a tutorial section that has all parts including how I process narrow band data.
Today, June 22, 2021, I tried the apply image process you used at 11 minutes. However, PS only allows the source to be same image, not another open image. Has something changed in the recent updates to PS? What can I do to resolve this? I had actually accomplished this a week or two ago, but today I can't. Thanks for such a great series.
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 I contacted Adobe and discovered that the two images must be the exact same size. My problem was that one image was a few pixels smaller than the other. Apparently I cropped out of sequence. Just so you know.
So, only stretch your data then do this and then further process the starless image ie, camera raw, dust, and other tweaks? Then after satisfied with starless add the stars back in? Sorry, but I'm not clear on that part. EDIT>>>>I figured it out, I finally found part2 but had a hell of a time finding it lol! Great info, I like your technique.
Once you remove the stars from the picture using Starnet, it looks like the nebulosity layer has lost some detail. Any chance you can confirm if that's true or not?
Hey Ed I have a issue with processing I’m using a triad tri band and ASI533pro after stacking I get the crazy blue image and can’t get rid of it I have adjusting the curve to line up RGB do you have any pointers doesn’t matter if I use the tri band which give me a blue or a LDAS filter which give me green I’m just kinda lost
If you check out my first tutorial on stretching, I cover how to use the channel mixer to correct for this. In my case it is a green color cast, in your case it is blue. So you would do the operation on the red and green channel in the channel mixer by increasing the red and green blue parts only and watching the histogram until they’re aligned. Hope this helps.
Im watching the video and I know its been a while since it was posted but you keep mentioning "non-destructive workflow" which i completely agree with but you may want to uncheck the "delete cropped pixels" box on the crop tool, as the crop tool affects all layers so there is no going back once you close the document or run out of history actions
Nice tip. However, I’ve never ran into the issue you describe with the way my workflow “flows”. So maybe I don’t have a 100% non destructive workflow but wrt to AP it is as non destructive as I need.
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 yes youre right, since you are basically cropping the stacking artifacts. i guess its the general photographer in me that spotted it :D great video regardless though! subbed
Quick note i sadly found out the hard way....windows will deny permission to save the new starless image, if you save the starnet folder under the windows programme directory.
Yeah, I have multiple copies of the starnet program for each channel I process when I do narrowband imaging. I always keep these copies in my additional solid state drive.
I get the same warning message "RICHTIFFIPTC" message when running starnet and the image I get is all garbled. Photoshop can't generate a tiff file that runs well in Starnet.
![Astrophotography: The ABSOLUTE BEST way to STRETCH your Astro Image data in Photoshop [PS]!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CGac5XvSsJs/mqdefault.jpg)
![Astrophotography: The ABSOLUTE BEST way to STRETCH your Astro Image data in Photoshop [PS]!](/img/tr.png)
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Well presented, Thomas! Starnet++ is a game-changer. Clear skies
Thanks, Trevor!! Thanks for watching!
If you're at this stage of astro... you should be sure to save this vid to a play list so that you can come back easily. I have had to come back several times because I did not remember the steps. I just used this vid for the 3rd time and my results keep getting better and better. Thanks again! This is indeed valuable info and it's presented very well.
Beast of a vid. I walked step by step through this as I was processing, and my results are the best I have ever done. Thank you!
Thank youso much for this video , this is by far the best method of putting stars back as up till now ive been using colour range set to highlights and must admit my stars looked awfal /// you sir are a total legend 🙏🙏🙏 clear skies
This is what i was looking for. A great idea for those of us who don't have pixinsight. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching, Jason!
Sometimes we search for weeks for a source that will answer a specific question or set of questions. When we FINALLY find the answer it's like a light from heaven. I followed your steps and successfully made my 1st starless image. You nailed what I was seeking to learn and did so at a pace that made it easy to learn from. Thanks for the vid! You just leveled up my processing game.
Great to here! Awesome 👏
Outstanding video, and the technique to make a completely separate star layer is priceless. Thanks much for making this video.
Dang, your video is so helpful! Thanks for your efforts!
Excellent tutorial! Thank you AstroEd.
You’re welcome!
At last, a superbly constructed video.. informative, interesting and not left me thinking hes just making this up.. well done and hopefully looking forward to more in the future
Thanks Derek, I just released a follow up to this video if you’re interested. It is my latest released video. Please consider subscribing for future content as well. Thanks!
Already subscribed... thanks for the update
@@derekregan6926 awesome! Thanks 🙏
Thanks, I only found it because or the arcsin curves ... strangely Mark lives about 10 mins away from me
So nicely explained, I'm going to try and use this with wide milkyway shots 🤩
Thanks and good luck 👍
These PS tutorials are great
Thanks, Michael!
I was waited for videos like this for so long time! The workflow from stack file, through starnet++ and final contract adjustments is just so easy. The way you talk through step-by-step is definitely the best I see so far!
Amazing work and hope to see more and more!
Well done 👏 👏👏👏
Thanks for your kind words Astromiasto! Much appreciated!
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 no probs 😊
I just wondered if you ever done HaRGB image and know some tricks how to edit this in PS?
I love to see your easy workflow on this subject 😊
Regards and clear sky’s 👋
Thanks Ed! Though this comment is much after this tutorial's release, combined with your arcsinh video and contrast video, I have the tools to vastly improve my processing in Photoshop. You are to be commended for your patient delivery with enough detail that one can create a full workflow which outline the steps for each valuable technique. UA-cam has many tutorials on the subject and I have learned from many of them, giving me some basic skills and understanding. That said, your help has pushed me to another level. Big Kudos!
Glad to hear it! Thanks for dropping the comment!
Brilliant video. So clearly and concisely presented. Can’t wait for your next follow on tutorial.
Thank you so much, Paul! Glad it was of use. Next tutorial coming soon, but my next video is a cinematic style adventure imaging an awesome interesting part of a nebula. Then after that will be the follow on tutorial 😀! Thanks for watching!
Love this Ed! Will definitely add this to my work flow. Great work and great tutorial!
Thanks, Aaron!
Great Thank you, Learning all the time and waiting for the next video .
Thanks! The next tutorial is coming, just slower than anticipated. 😊
Well done! For an astrophotography family just starting out this was extremely easy to follow along.
Awesome! Good luck and clear skies on your journey!
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 thank you! If you are over on Instagram, we are as well “3SistersAstronomy”. Clear skies to you!
Thank you for this video! Looking forward to the next one!
Thanks! Coming soon, within a couple weeks!
This is a really good idea. I used this one in combination with lots of other methods and I felt it really added another layer (pardon the pun) to my processing. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your video on starnet++ Thomas! Another easy to follow tutorial,great tips in Photoshop.
Looking forward to part two.
I will definitely be trying this process on my next image, weather permitting.👍
Thanks so much, Tam! I’m excited to see someone use these techniques and see their images! Part 2 to come, stay tuned.
Great processing video Mr Ed, loving your style and content and the fact you’ve imaged NGC7822, I imaged it last month in HaRGB. Now if only there was a programme called Cloudnet- -, my life would be complete.
Hahaha. Thanks for watching, Mr. G. Chuff!
Really nice technique Ed. I usually select color as the highlight and copy that as a layer but I think your way is much more exact mathematically to starnet. That’s for sharing
Thanks Johnny! I like it better than select color as well. I actually think select color isn’t very accurate and more of a guess work. I have an even better technique that is 100% accurate, but have not done a tutorial on it. Perhaps in the future... and that technique is more so for narrowband processing.
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 looking forwards
Brilliant tutorial thanks Ed, so useful and very well presented
Thanks, Sean! Glad it could be of help. 😊
Cool! Wating for the next tutorials
Awesome! Next one should be out within the next week. Thanks for watching!
Starnet++ does exist anymore. The link is not functionnal... help !
Unfortunately, everyone uses that link to download starnet++. I just checked out several other ways to download a d they all seem to point to source-forge which no longer has it available. If I find a way I will update the link here.
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 would be great. Thanks
That is really good. I have used Starnet for a while but I had no idea how to make a stars only image, thanks
Awesome! Good to hear! Thanks for watching, Clive.
Great tutorial Ed, I finally managed to import starnet in Pixinsight - it does wonders.
Thanks, Wido! It is a very useful tool!
This helped me so much!! Thank you!
Awesome! Glad to hear it 👍
Awsome tutorial. That took my image processing to a new level. Thank you a lot for this. :-)
Awesome! So happy it helped!!
Nice! I also thought it was just me using the “difference” to create a stars only image, and then “Linear Dodge Add”. Glad to know I’m doing things decently!
I actually found your video half-way through creating my own tutorial - but mines on Mac so luckily I’m not just copy and pasting your content 😉. Love your channel so far, and your ig account!
It actually turns out that this process of the difference and linear dodge add is incorrect and damages the star data. I plan to release an update in the future. I no longer recommend it. I discovered on my own another method that works seamlessly.
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 oh, super interested in that!
AstroEd's Astrophotography Channel Definitely noticed the slight ‘damage’ to stars...have been trying to find an alternative that works well; will be interested to hear what you’ve discovered... Star preservation is always my number one priority!
Thank you! I love using PhotoShop. I’ve been using PIX Insight solely for the Starnet feature. I didn’t realize that it could be downloaded as a standalone application. I just tried it and it works well!
Awesome! Thanks for watching!
That was a great tutorial. Thanks! I'm just trying it on a picture of mine.
Awesome, let me know how it goes!
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 I used your layer star reduction/control method on this picture: instagram.com/p/CH1FKa3HIVE
Worked like a charm. I'm using Affinty Photo and used the "in-painting brush" to fix/heal the halos around the biger stars and their spikes from the newton. Than I used the "add" layer mode. Just like you described. I also uses the starnet image to fine tune the nebula and push the nebula while trying to control the noise and surroundings. Other method where curve stretching, channel stretching to boost the red part of the nebula, nik collecton to denoise. I have to check all the layers I still have in the original file to make a note of all the stuff I did. Otherwise I will forget it until I get a new image to process. ;) Clear skies and stay safe.
@@gnashermedia looks great! Nice! Thanks for sharing!
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 Thanks. It's my first real self made DSO using my new telescope and equipment. It's about 3 hours of integration. Still had troubles focusing and sometimes with the auto guiding. I'm still at the start of the journey.
Ed, we need part 2 of this series. I reference this video for friends and myself.
I hear you all 😊 it is in the works, need to finish it up. It will be 2 releases from now-ish. Thanks for the support!
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 We're still waiting 😊
@@Ken_James_SV I released part 2 months ago. It is under my playlist on image processing. 😊
Very good tutorial. I do not see any rgb starnet++ exe file in my download! Just a rgb starnet weights.pb file!
Another great video. In the next follow-up it would be great if you could clarify what imperfections in the starless image you're looking for that need application of the healing tool. Honestly, on my iPad, the image looked great in the spots you healed :). I am going to use your process on 7 hours of data I have on the Western Veil and follow along as you add more videos. Going to give you a great shout out on Cloudy Nights as you deserve more subscribers.
Thanks, Don. In the spots I healed there were left over artifacts from starnet not fully removing star halos. If I were to continue to process without healing those artifacts will show up even more in the final image. If I heal them early on I don’t have that issue! Thanks for spreading the word about my channel! Good luck on your western veil data!
Thanks for the reply. Will look for those artifacts when I try it out
Great video Thomas !
Thanks, Joao!
Haha. This is so strange. I've been struggeling to create good star masks and just yesterday I got this exact idea for how to "extract" the stars. And today I get your tutorial recommended in my UA-cam feed. Strange world 🙂
Tnx for the video. Excellent stuff 👍
Haha. Glad you figured it out. 😊
Great help Ed
Glad it helped! 😊
Great vidoeo BUT can you describe how to do it with narrowband images where you have three different "stars only" layers? I guess this star layers need to be somehow combined together before bringing it back into the (also combined) starless picture(?) How to do that? Thanks!
Hi Kowalski, yes I can explain it, but it merits more than an over simplified explanation I could give you in this reply. I have been considering releasing my narrowband technique for awhile. Just haven’t had the time. Perhaps in the not so distant future, subscribe so you don’t miss that release. Thanks, AstroEd.
Hi and thank you for this and your other great videos that I've recently discovered. You probably answer my question in part 2, but I cannot find that if it exists.
Most folks seem to use Starnet prior to their primary stretch. They recommend giving a 25% stretch to allow Starnet to work and then do their primary stretching on the object to protect the stars. Using Shelly's arc hyperbolic sin stretch eliminates this need, I suppose, but I am left wondering what the need is for removing stars now? In my current workflow, it seems I can do the later half of my processing without the need of removing the stars. I guess I may be missing something but I was hoping you or another commenter can fill me in. Thanks
Ultimately whatever works is fine if it is fine for you. I like to do any stretching without any stars present, thus, the only stretch the stars undergo at all throughout the entire process is just the arc hyperbolic stretch. All background data (nebulae or galactic nebulosity) i like to stretch with no stars present. Personally I’ve achieved my best looking images this way. If you goto my channel, i have a tutorial section that has all parts including how I process narrow band data.
Informative video; appreciate your work. Will there be a followup anytime soon to show how you finish up the workflow?
Thanks Daniel. Perhaps in the not too distant future a follow up will be coming out.
Thanks for the great video! Any updates on the timeline for the next part?
Probably within the next two weeks! Thanks for watching!
Today, June 22, 2021, I tried the apply image process you used at 11 minutes. However, PS only allows the source to be same image, not another open image. Has something changed in the recent updates to PS? What can I do to resolve this? I had actually accomplished this a week or two ago, but today I can't. Thanks for such a great series.
Strange, I have not encountered this, perhaps it is a simple setting you have missed? Mine works in Photoshop CC 2020
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 I contacted Adobe and discovered that the two images must be the exact same size. My problem was that one image was a few pixels smaller than the other. Apparently I cropped out of sequence. Just so you know.
@@andynowlen oh yeah, that will do it!!
So, only stretch your data then do this and then further process the starless image ie, camera raw, dust, and other tweaks? Then after satisfied with starless add the stars back in? Sorry, but I'm not clear on that part. EDIT>>>>I figured it out, I finally found part2 but had a hell of a time finding it lol! Great info, I like your technique.
Honest question is this viable with an iphone 8 camera?
Probably not. But maybe?
Once you remove the stars from the picture using Starnet, it looks like the nebulosity layer has lost some detail. Any chance you can confirm if that's true or not?
Minimal loss if will result. But if you changed you starnet setting, it could be worse. I have no way how to confirm.
Hey Ed I have a issue with processing I’m using a triad tri band and ASI533pro after stacking I get the crazy blue image and can’t get rid of it I have adjusting the curve to line up RGB do you have any pointers doesn’t matter if I use the tri band which give me a blue or a LDAS filter which give me green I’m just kinda lost
If you check out my first tutorial on stretching, I cover how to use the channel mixer to correct for this. In my case it is a green color cast, in your case it is blue. So you would do the operation on the red and green channel in the channel mixer by increasing the red and green blue parts only and watching the histogram until they’re aligned. Hope this helps.
Awesome I will look for the video thank you for the fast response I was thinking maybe a week or two will pass before I get some feed back lol 🤘
👍 let me know how it goes!
OK, so where is Part 2 of this process?
In my imaging tutorial playlist.
Im watching the video and I know its been a while since it was posted but you keep mentioning "non-destructive workflow" which i completely agree with but you may want to uncheck the "delete cropped pixels" box on the crop tool, as the crop tool affects all layers so there is no going back once you close the document or run out of history actions
Nice tip. However, I’ve never ran into the issue you describe with the way my workflow “flows”. So maybe I don’t have a 100% non destructive workflow but wrt to AP it is as non destructive as I need.
@@astroedsastrophotographych4562 yes youre right, since you are basically cropping the stacking artifacts. i guess its the general photographer in me that spotted it :D great video regardless though! subbed
Thanks! I could see it being used in other photography as you state, thanks again for the tip. Thanks for subbing! Clear skies 🌌
Quick note i sadly found out the hard way....windows will deny permission to save the new starless image, if you save the starnet folder under the windows programme directory.
Yeah, I have multiple copies of the starnet program for each channel I process when I do narrowband imaging. I always keep these copies in my additional solid state drive.
I get the same warning message "RICHTIFFIPTC" message when running starnet and the image I get is all garbled. Photoshop can't generate a tiff file that runs well in Starnet.
I don’t have that issue at all with Photoshop CC latest version. Perhaps you’re running an old version of PS?
the starnet download is gone, can you reupload that version of starnet somewhere else so we can download it?
www.starnetastro.com/download/
Version 2 is now out