Astrophotography Edit Best Practices

Capture – Calibrate – Stack – Edit

Editing HyperStar Nebulae in Affinity Photo

1. In DSS, balance color, increase saturation and save with adjustments; open in Affinity Photo
2. Apply curves for each channel to balance colors.  Attenuate green and blue, and slightly boost red as needed.
3. Apply curves to increase contrast with “S” curve: decrease shadows and increase highlights.  Never push highlights too far.
4. Increase contrast, rebalance brightness.
5. Denoise and Unsharp Mask.
6. Tweak settings for best image.
7. Export JPEG and post!