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Annie's Astro Actions (for Photoshop)

 

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A. Introduction/Instructions for Install

B. What's in Annie's Astro Actions?

C. Licensing & Contact Information

D. Updates and Guarantee

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A. Introduction/Instructions for Install

 

Thank you for buying Annie's Astro Actions!!! I hope you find these tools useful and a great asset to your astro-image processing arsenal. 

 

To Install Actions: 

- After Downloading and unzipping the Actions, save the "atn" file somewhere where you can find it (I recommend in the Photoshop folder under Plugins, but anywhere is fine).

 

- To Install the Actions, you will first need to activate the "Actions Palette" in Photoshop. To do this, Open Photoshop, Select Window on the tool bar and then click on Actions. You will see the Actions Palette now. 

 

-  Next you will need to load the actions. Click on the arrow (>) on the top right of the Action Palette, Select "Load Actions...". Find where you placed the file, select it and click "Load". You will now see the set of Actions displayed in the Actions Palette. 

 

To Play Actions: 

- Select the Action you wish to run and click the "Play" button on the bottom of the Actions Palette. Some actions will have pop-ups to do such things as open images, change levels, and change curves. Make sure you read the instructions for each action to know which have such popups and what to do for them. 

 

- Also, some actions take a while to process (especially with large image files), please be patient! Do not click anything while it is running, clicking on image files and other pages in Photoshop can very easily mess up the action and cause it to stop. So if it is taking a while, go take a walk, play with the dog, get a glass of water, just dont start clicking around!

 

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B. What's in Annie's Astro Actions v6.0?

 

• Channel Process: Used to do most of the initial processing for each channel file you have (or a combined RGB image)
• LRGB Combine: Takes 4 channel files to create a complete LRGB image. Reworked using Lab color to make the Luminance blend better with the image
• RGB Combine: Takes 3 channel files to create a complete RGB image (can be used for Ha, SII, and OIII as well)
• Hubble Palette Creation: Takes your processed Ha, SII, & OIII and combines them into the popular "Hubble Palette" (SHO) 
• Simple Stretching: Walks you through simple curves and levels stretching
• Enhance Galaxy Dust Lanes: Used to bring out and sharpen the dust lanes of a galaxy
• Dynamic Enhance: Used to quickly dynamically stretch and increase contrast in your image
• Reduce Star Bloating: Reduces star bloating that can occur when stretching your image (single or user selected stars only)
• Reduce Star Size - full photo: Reduces the size of your stars for your entire image rather than just selected large stars
• Brighten Color & Sharpen: Increases the saturation of colors in the image while also sharpening the image slightly
• Smooth Out Image: Gives the overall appearance a "softer" look
• Noise Reduction: Reduces the noise in your overall image
• Boost Star Colors: Helps to bring out the colors in your stars (mild effect, may need to play multiple times depending on the strength of your star colors)
• Create Watermark: Creates a watermark across your image to protect your images against copyright infringement
• Remove "Panda Eyes": Removes dark rings that can appear around stars when over-sharpened
• Remove Stars (Large Image): Removes the Stars from your image (for large chip cameras & DSLRs)
• Remove Stars (Small Image):  Removes the Stars from your image (for small chip cameras)
• Create Mosaic (6 panel): Takes 6 panels and does the initial processing for a mosaic
• Create Mosaic (4 panel): Takes 4 panels and does the initial processing for a mosaic
• Star Layer Separate (automatic): Separates the Stars from your DSO and places them in separate layers, no user prompts to assist. Effective in most cases. 
• Star Layer Separate (user assist): Separates the Stars from your DSO and places them in separate layers, has prompts and instructions for user assist to make star layer more accurate
• Reduce Vignetting 1: One of two methods I am providing that will help reduce vignetting in your image (needed if you dont take flats) ... try both methods to determine which will work best for your image
• Reduce Vignetting 2: Second method for reducing vignetting. This one requires less user interaction
• Gradient Reduction: Reduces color gradients in your image

 

 

• Note: Some of the actions' results are subtle, I did this purposely as to not "overdo" the processing in a single action. If you would like to have the effect enhanced, just run the action a second time. 

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C. Licensing, Contact Information & Privacy Policy

 

Licensing: 

- Each purchase entitles you to a license for one person. You may use the actions on any computers you use, however if multiple people will be using the actions, you need to purchase a license for each person. 

 

Contact information: 

- If you have any problems with the actions, install, questions, or want to share your results with the actions, please email me at: [email protected] 

 

-If you have ideas for actions for upcoming releases (ie things you would like in the set that are not currently there) let me know! I will consider all ideas given to me. 

 

Privacy Policy: 

The email you provided at purchase will only be used to inform you about any updates. I will not share these emails with anyone and you will only receive emails when updates are available. If you do not wish to be informed about updates, please let me know and I will take you off of the update list.

 

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D. Updates and Guarantee

 

Updates:

I may occasionally be adding more actions to the set or providing updates to the current actions. Your purchase entitles you to all updates. I will send out an email when updates are available, however I do know that some people change emails from time to time. To check on the latest version and see what updates are available, please check out my website at http://www.eprisephoto.com

 

Guarantee: 

If you are unsatisfied with my actions I will do everything I reasonably can to make you happy. If I am not able to, I will refund your purchase price.