Lesson Description
This button allows you to reduce stars visually, with a slider window.
It is especially recommended when working with Tracker (normal photo, mosaic or panorama), because you usually process the sky separately.
You will learn how to duplicate the correct layer (without cloning the ground), adjust the number of stars and recover background stars if you have gone too far.
You will also see how to remove a layer Starless + Stars to have separate stars ready for an advanced flow.
What you will learn
- Apply the adjustment by duplicating the sky layer (without using New in that case).
- Use the sliders to reduce stars or recover faint stellar background.
- Create output Starless and starry cape separate.
- Choose blending mode (Dodge Colour vs Screen) according to your optics.
Advice
If your lens is rectilinear, try Screen in the star layer: tends to integrate better than Color Dodge in certain star profiles.
Practical Checklist
- Duplicate sky layer and reduce stars with the first slider.
- Recover weak stars with the background slider if the result is “empty”.
- Generate Starless + Stars and test Color Dodge vs Screen.
Technical Glossary
Dodge colour: bright and contrasting fusion mode, frequent in recombination of stars in a landscape.
Starless: version of the photo without stars (perfect base to work on nebulosity and background).