Enterprise Astronomy
~Deep Space Images by Annie Morris~
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Annie's Astro Actions (for Photoshop)
Version 7.0
Release Notes and Instructions
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Version 7.0
Released 25 March 2015
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New Actions since last release
Updates since last release
Actions Included in this Version
Instructions for Annie’s Astro Actions
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New Actions since last release:
• Ha-OIII BiColor Process
• HaRGB
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Updates since last release:
• Two new actions have been added
• “Create Mosaic” action has been removed from this action set. I was not getting
feedback that these particular actions were getting much use as there are much
more efficient and better mosaic programs for astrophotos.
• A few minor tweaks to make the actions run a little smoother have been made,
nothing that changes the outcome of the actions, though.
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Actions Included in this Version (Version 7.0):
• Channel Process
• LRGB Combine
• RGB Combine
• Hubble Palette Creation
• Ha-OIII BiColor Process
• HaRGB
• Simple Stretching
• Enhance Dust Lanes
• Dynamic Enhance
• Reduce Star Bloating
• Reduce Star Size - full photo
• Brighten Color & Sharpen
• Smooth Out Image
• Noise Reduction
• Boost Star Colors
• Create Watermark
• Remove "panda eyes"
• Remove Stars (Large Image)
• Remove Stars (Small Image)
• Create Mosaic (6 Panels)
• Create Mosaic (4 Panels)
• New Star Layer Separate (automatic)
• New Star Layer Separate (user assist)
• Reduce Vignetting 1
• Reduce Vignetting 2
• Gradient Reduction
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Instructions for Annie’s Astro Actions:
Channel Process: This action will process individual channels for you (to be combined later)
Within the action you will be able to stretch via curves and levels at the prompts:
- Open single channel file (ie Red)
- Play Action
- Curves Popup #1 is preset for DSO images that were taken in a light polluted area, to
customize this, drag off the 3 preselected points and create points at the following spots on your
image file: Bright point (ie a bright star), Dark point (empty background space), Dust of your
DSO (ie in your nebula or galaxy dust somewhere), Adjust curve upward until object brightens
and generally is recognizable, Click OK
- Levels Popup #1 is preset for a fairly wide histogram. To adjust for your object drag the
black point just to the left of the main left tower of the histogram, then drag the gamma adjust
(center arrow) to the right of the slope of the histogram, if it looks too bright slowly move the
gamma slider towards the center til it is the desired brightness, Click OK
- Curves Popup #2, same as #1, repeat those steps
- The action will then play for a while, be patient and let it run: it is sharpening and
increasing contrast to bring out the DSO
- Levels Popup #2: same as #1, repeat those steps, Click OK
- Curves Popup #3 is not the same as the other curves. This one is to increase contrast in
the center portion of your DSO (ie core of your galaxy or increase contrast in a nebula), the
default for this should suffice, however if you do want to change it I have given you that option.
Only move the curve downwards if you do adjust, Click OK
- The Action will finish running and you will have your processed channel file. Save the
result. Repeat these steps for all 4 channels (LRGB).
Create LRGB: This action will create a complete LRGB image for you from your individual
channel files.
Notes: This action is for already aligned channel files, it will not align for you! Also, I suggest
you balance the backgrounds of each channel file with the levels color sampler before you
activate this action)
- Ensure you have all images closed in Photoshop
- Play Action
- First Open: Select your Red File, Click OPEN
- If you wish to change the name of the final color image – do so in the next popup, Click
OK
- Next Open: Select your Green File, Click OPEN
- Next Open: Select your Blue File, Click OPEN
- Next Open: Select your Luminance File, Click OPEN
- Action will finish and your LRGB image will be displayed, Save or continuing
Processing
Create RGB: This action will create a complete RGB image for you from your individual
channel files.
Notes: Same as above - this will not align. Also, you may use this to create your Hubble Palette
image, though make sure you select the colors you wish to put in the R,G,B channels in that
order!
- Ensure you have all images closed in Photoshop
- Play Action
- First Open: Select your Red File, Click OPEN
- Next Open: Select your Green File, Click OPEN
- Next Open: Select your Blue File, Click OPEN
- Action will finish and your LRGB image will be displayed, Save or continuing
Processing
Hubble Palette Creation: This action will create the popular "Hubble Palette" (SHO) from your
processed Ha, SII, and OIII image files.
- Process and balance your SII, Ha, and OIII files first and save them as three separate files
- Ensure you have all images closed in Photoshop
- Play Action
- Select the appropriate files when prompted
- Balance your RGB histograms as best you can on the levels pop-up (generally your
image will still be greenish at this step due to the overwhelming nature of Ha in most nebulas.
This is normal and expected at this step. Once histograms are mostly balanced click OK on the
Levels popup to continue the action
- Action will finish and you should have the typical blues and ambers of the Hubble Palette
Ha-OIII BiColor Process: This action will take your H-alpha and OIII images and create a
complete Bi-Color image
- Process and balance your Ha and OIII files first and save as two separate files
- Ensure you have all images closed in Photoshop
- Play Action
- Select the appropriate files when prompted
- Click Continue when prompted
- Click OK to create the new Levels layer
- Balance the Red, Green, and Blue channels to even out the background of your image,
then click OK
- Action will finish and you should have a complete Bi-Color image
HaRGB: This action will take the H-alpha and incorporate it with your RGB image
- Process your Ha as well as your complete RGB file. Once you have the two files, save
them and close all images in Photoshop.
- Play Action, once you read the instructions that pop up, click Continue
- Select the appropriate files when prompted
- Click Continue when prompted
- Action will finish and you should have your HaRGB image
Simple Stretching: Walks you through basic levels and curves stretching
- Open the file with which you want to work
- Play
- Adjust your levels so your black point is to the left of your main histogram spike and
your gamma (central triangle) is to the right of your histogram curve
- Adjust curves - default level will help bring out the DSO, but feel free to change it
- Adjust curves2 - make small adjustments to start to enhance DSO
- Adjust curves3 - make more small adjustments to bring out your DSO
- Adjust levels - final levels adjustment to set black point and gamma
Enhance Dust Lanes: This action increases the contrast of galaxy dust trails to make them
stand out
Note: I have kept the effect of this fairly mild as to not overdo it with just one run-through. You
may use this action multiple times to slowly bump up the galaxy dust in respect to the rest of the
image
- Open the file you wish to work on
- Play Action
Dynamic Enhance: Used to quickly dynamically stretch and increase contrast in your image
- Open the file you wish to work on
- Play Action
Reduce Star Bloating: This action will help reduce star bloating that can occur when stretching
your image
- Open the file with which you want to work
- Play
Reduce Star Size - full photo: This action will help reduce star sizes throughout the entire
image
- Open the file with which you want to work
- Play
Brighten Color & Sharpen: This action increases the saturation of colors throughout your
image as well as makes edges crisper
- Open the file you wish to work on
- Play Action
Smooth Out Image: This action will help reduce the sharp edges that can appear throughout
the image during processing. Creates a "softer" overall appearance
- Open the file you wish to work on
- Play Action
Noise Reduction: Reduces the noise in your overall image
- Open the file you wish to work on
- Play Action
Inverse Image: Creates an inverse of your image used sometimes to search for faint galaxies
or nebulosity
- Open the file you wish to work on
- Play Action
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)
- Open the file you wish to work on
- Play Action
- Repeat if necessary
Create Watermark: This action will create a watermark across your image to protect your
images against copyright infringement
- Open the file with which you want to work.
- Play Action
- Input the text you want and click the Checkmark in your top tool bar
- Click "OK" to the Rasterize message
Remove "Panda Eyes": Removes dark rings that appear around stars often when over
sharpened.
- Open the file with which you want to work
- Play the action
Remove Stars (Large Image): This action will remove the stars from the image, leaving you
with only your DSO
Note: (The Large Image one is tailored for large-chip ccd images or DSLRs. The files
will be bigger and the same #s wont work for both this size and small chip images (hence 2
separate actions). Test out both with your camera's images to see which works best for you. )
- Open the file you wish to work on
- Play Action
Remove Stars (Small Image): Same as above but for small chip CCD (smaller image size)
images.
- Open the file you wish to work on
- Play Action
Star Layer Separate (automatic): This action will create 3 separate layers, one with your star
field, one with your DSO, and one with your original image. This way you can stretch and
process your DSO separately from your Stars to prevent star bloating and other issues.
- Open the file with which you want to work.
- Play Action
- Once it is complete you will have 3 layers, ready to be processed.
Star Layer Separate (user assist): Same as above but includes a prompt in the middle for the
user to use the clone tool to assist the process in removing all the stars, this will make the final
layers more accurate.
- Open the file with which you want to work.
- Play Action
- Once it is complete you will have 3 layers, ready to be processed.
Reduce Vignetting 1: This action is 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
- Open the file with which you want to work
- Play Action
- Follow on-screen instructions
Reduce Vignetting 2: This is the second method for reducing vignetting. This one requires less
user interaction
- Open the file with which you want to work
- Play Action