Bob, I don't know of anything that is specifically targeted at astro-image processing in CS4, but there are several good resources for Photoshop in general. When I was learning Photoshop, I found a set of tutorials that were produced by a guy named Warren Keller to be very helpful. His website is called IP4AP (Image Processing for Astrophotography). He offers a basic set of Photoshop tutorials that can be purchased and viewed online for a very reasonable price (IMHO). They are a bit "cheesy" but provide a nice overview of Photoshop and how to use it for processing astro-images. He has a "basic" series, which is just that... basic. You may not need it if you are already familiar with the Photoshop interface and tools, however, I found it useful anyway. He also has a couple of intermediate series, which get into more details of actually processing images. I think there are some free tutorials that you can watch to get a feel for the product. Warren is legitimate, so you can forget about spam issues etc. He also sells DVD's of the tutorials through Adirondack, Oceanside (OPT), and High Point Scientific. I have found the online versions to work very well. He sends a link that allows you to go back and watch them as often as needed. Go to this link if you are interested: www.ip4ap.com I can suggest other more advanced tutorials if you are already pretty competent with Photoshop. Let me know. Thanks, Tyler -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Robert Taylor Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 10:53 AM To: 'Utah Astronomy' Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] M-82 Tyler: What's a good resource to learn how to process images and especially astro images in Photoshop? I recently picked up CS4. Thanks for the help. Bob -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Tyler Allred Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 10:47 AM To: 'Utah Astronomy' Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] M-82 Patrick, I agree that the focus looks good, and you picked up some nice detail in the arms. The core only looks blown out because you keep letting your software decide how to stretch the data. If you recall, I have chastised you several times for this offense :) For whatever reason, the default display options in MaxIm and CCDSoft try to stretch the data to let you see what is there in the raw fits file, but they do a terrible job for actual image processing. I can assure you that your 30 second fits files are nearly pure black and need to be stretched before you can really see anything. The software just decides how much to stretch based on some set formula. It usually chooses to clip on both ends, making things pure black and pure white that weren't that way in the original image. Check your software to see what stretch it is applying. I am sure that you have loads of detail in the core, but the software is driving instead of the software operator. :) Remember... Friends don't let friends clip their excellent data. And, software should never drive! Cheers, Tyler -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+tylerallred=earthlink.net@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+tylerallred=earthlink.net@mailman.xmission.co m] On Behalf Of Patrick Wiggins Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 4:03 AM To: utah astronomy utah astronomy listserve Subject: [Utah-astronomy] M-82 I was between data taking projects tonight so I refocused the scope for the warmer temps that may finally be arriving. Once finished I shot five 30" test images of M-82 and stacked them. http://users.wirelessbeehive.com/~paw/temp/M82.JPG I'm satisfied with the focus and I like the spiral arms and the detail near the core but wish I knew how to keep the core itself from burning out. patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com