Orion STARSHOOT 52085 User Manual download pdf (Page 16)

Recommended Processing Sequence

What is the best order to apply the processing functions in? Here is a recom-

mended sequence:

1. Calibrate (Dark Subtract and Flat Field calibrate)

2. Convert Raw to Color

3. Combine

4. Filter

5. Color Balance

6. Stretch

Once you have the combined image, you are free to continue processing the

image as desired, or export it to a program like Photo shop. Be sure to Save

a copy of the combined image; otherwise you might have to go back to the

beginning and stack individual images again!

Note on File Format

When saving images (using Save or Save As in the File menu), you have a

choice of ﬁle formats. The default produces .ﬁt ﬁles, but .tif, .jpg, .png, and

.bmp ﬁle formats can also be selected. Having a choice of output ﬁle formats

is useful, especially if images will be exported to other software programs for

additional image processing (like Adobe Photoshop, for instance).

If you save to a ﬁle format other than .ﬁt, you will need to check the Auto

Stretch box, or otherwise Stretch the image to change the Output Range

(in the Stretch command window) to match the Size Format (in the Save As

window). Otherwise, the Output Range will likely exceed the Size Format,

and the saved image will be ruined (will turn all white).

For example, say the Output Range is set to create image brightness values in

16-bit format, while the Size Format of a speciﬁc ﬁle format (.jpg, for example)

may only support 8-bits. Since the 16-bit format sees 65535 brightness levels,

and the 8-bit format can only support 255 levels, all of the levels above 255

in the 16-bit image (i.e. the vast majority of the 16-bit brightness levels) will

be saved at the maximum 8-bit value of 255. So the saved .jpg will have very

little brightness information from levels 1 to 254 and almost all the brightness

information at level 255. Thus a white image results.

If you plan to do all image processing within MaxIm DL Essentials Edition

(or the optional full version of MaxIm DL), saving images in the FITS (.ﬁt) File

Format using the IEEE Float Size Format is recommended. This ensures that

all saved data will be kept intact. If another Size Format is utilized, there may

be some loss of data, especially when saving combined images.

Batch Process

Batch Process can be used to

process multiple images simul-

taneously using the various com-

mands available in MaxIm DL

Essentials Edition. It is especially

useful when calibrating and con-

verting each raw image to color.

Select Batch Process from the

Process menu (Figure 22).

Procedure for basic batch pro-

cessing:

1. Select the image ﬁle you

want to process from your

computer using the Select

Files button. Use CTRL-click

to select individual ﬁles, and

SHIFT-click to select a range

of ﬁles. You can see the path

for the selected ﬁles by turning on the Show Path check box. Or you can

select images already open in MaxIm DL Essentials Edition by clicking

the Select Images button. The window that pops-up will indicate all the

images currently open.

2. Select the processing task you want done in the Processing Commands

box. Choose up to 6 processing commands which will be executed in

sequence.

3. Use the same recommended processing order for batch processing as you

would normally do manually. You should 1. Calibrate, 2. Convert Raw To

Color, etc.

You can remove selected images and ﬁles from the Batch Process list by

selecting them with the mouse and clicking the Remove button.

4. Select the location for the saved ﬁles using the Path button, or click Write

Output to Source Folder to cause the ﬁles to be saved back into the

folder from which they were loaded. (This option cannot be used when an

image has never been saved, for example, one freshly acquired from the

camera.) In the event that saving a ﬁle will cause it to overwrite an existing

ﬁle, you can select skip save, overwrite it, or move to subfolder. You

can specify the subfolder name in the adjacent ﬁeld. Use Size Format

to select between 16-Bit Integer and 32-Bit IEEE Float formats for the

processed images. To keep all processed image data intact (especially for

stacked images), we recommend using the 32-Bit IEEE Float format. If

you need to open the resultant ﬁles in another program, however, you may

need to use the 16-Bit Integer format.

Figure 22.

The Batch Process window

allows you to select all the images you wish

to process without actually opening each

ﬁle and consuming system memory. This

feature is especially helpful when processing

numerous planetary or deep space images.

Choose up to 6 processing commands.

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Orion STARSHOOT 52085 User Manual Page 16

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