From: gregharp_at_antispamdomain.not
Date: Wed Nov 26 2003 - 14:42:35 EST
Steve,
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm definitely happy with the improvements.
I'm not sure how much more time I'm going to spend on it, though, vs
concentrating on some others or re-shooting this (if I get the chance) in a
way to improve the original data a bit.
I did, by the way, finally break down and order Jerry Lodrigus' CD book.
This experience convinced me that applying Photoshop to astro images is
quite a bit different than what I am used to with terrestrial photography.
As for Photoshop CS, as far as I can tell all Layers functions are supported
in 16-bit. I just verified that Layers -> New Adjustment Layers ->
Selective Color is available. This is true for all types of Adjustment
Layers. Nothing is grayed out in that menu when using 16-bit mode.
The Filters menu is a bit of a different story, but that's to be expected.
Under filters, you get:
Blur (Average, Blur, Blur More, Gaussian Blur, and Motion Blur enabled --
Lens Blur, Radial Blur, and Smart Blur are not available)
Noise (Add Noise, Despeckle, Dust & Scratches, and Median are all enabled)
Sharpen (Sharpen, Sharpen Edges, Sharpen More, and Unsharp Mask are all
enabled)
Other (Custom, High Pass, Maximum, Minimum, and Offset are all enabled)
That's it.
Lens Blur is new, and sounds pretty interesting, but I haven't played with
it yet other than to look at the options. It has some interesting
parameters, like the number and shape of the blades in the aperture, etc.
It may just be a new toy, though. I don't typically use many of the effects
filters. On the other hand, I have used Gaussian blur in the past to
enhance a shallow depth of field effect (using layers and masks) so maybe
I'll try this filter next time.
Actually, I just read the help on Lens Blur and it has the ability to use an
Alpha channel (which is a channel that specifies distance based upon
luminosity) as the Depth Mask. You can also use a Layer Mask as the source
of the Depth Mask. That's pretty interesting...
There's also Image -> Adjustments -> Photo Filter which is available as
Layers -> New Adjustment Layer -> Photo Filter as well, and it works in 8-
and 16-bit modes. This thing basically simulates the use a color filter
effect of varying density in front of the camera lens. This can be done a
lot of other ways, of course, but it's an interesting addition.
But I digress on the subject of terrestrial photography... ;)
So far, the third party filters I've previously purchased and used seem to
work as they did before. Filters have to be written to handle 16-bit in
addition to 8-bit, so it's not like Photoshop CS is going to add 16-bit
capability to ones that didn't have it before.
In particular, I was interested in the nik Multimedia "Color Efex Pro"
filters (which are 8-bit only) worked, and they seem to. I can also report
that the Digital Light & Color "Color Mechanic Pro" filter seems to work in
both 8-bit and 16-bit modes, as it did previously. (The non "Pro" version
is 8-bit only.)
The Earth-shattering difference between Photoshop 7 and Photoshop CS is
16-bit layers. To me, that alone is enough of a reason to upgrade. I could
probably take or leave everything else, but my second choice for "important
new feature" is the real time histogram.
--Greg
> From: sc02492 [mailto:sc02492_.at._yahoo.com]
>
> Greg, definite improvement- keep up the good work. As for Photoshop
> CS, I'm seriously thinking about upgrading, if only for the 16 bit
> layers feature. I will continue to use ImagesPlus for raw
> conversion, calibration, alignment, and background compensation- the
> program is excellent and IMO a "must have" for anyone doing digital
> astrophotography. But I'm too fixed in my old habits and still use
> Photoshop for subsequent processing. I currently do my initial
> curves and levels adjustment in Photoshop 16 bit mode, but once I'm
> done with these rough adjustments, I move into layers mode, which
> unfortunately requires 8 bits. Are all layers functions in CS
> compatible with 16 bits(including selective color, etc.)?
>
> Could you provide an update regarding Photoshop CS once you've had a
> chance to use it for a while?
>
> Steve
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