Just a thought based on my own experience ...
I used Photoshop for many years - I still have the box for version 4, which was released in 1996, and has spent almost 20 years on my bookshelf.
When I started doing Astrophotography, I used SiriL for stacking - I found that very capable, particularly for free software.
After stacking, I wanted to use Photoshop for post-editing, but I became frustrated by Photoshop's inability to read FITS files.
I tried FITSLiberator, and all the other plugins I could find.
They sort-of worked - but I found them clunky and unreliable - and they didn't keep pace with PS updates.
I researched every alternative solution I could find, and eventually stumbled across Affinity Photo.
I downloaded the trial, and after an hour or so converted that to a
perpetual license.
Affinity cost me $80 - which was a
tenth what I was paying for an
annual PS licence.
Not only does Affinity read FITS files, it has all the features of PS that I used in my daily workflow - not just for astrophotography.
Affinity stacks FITS, with full support for calibration frames, then lets you edit the image afterwards, all in a single workflow. It also supports PSD files - so you can open all your old Photoshop files, and even save edited images as PSD. Affinity also supports various stacking methods, and a great set of *free* macros designed specifically for astrophotography, so you can implement functions such as noise reduction very effectively.
It's cross-platform, so you can use it on Mac or PC - and even on iPad.
I've since progressed to PixInsight for stacking and noise/gradient correction, but I still use Affinity for final editing.
Switching to Affinity made a **huge** difference in helping me climb up the AP learning curve.
IMHO - the best thing you can do is give
Affinity a try - you will not be sorry.
