Image processing help.

If you have the individual fits files or the stacked fits files, I can give it a go.

Id suggest saving all the subframes then using Siril which is free that can facilitate the pre/processing .  The creator of Siril even wrote a stacking script specifically for the seestar.  From there you can process the image with Siril alone or use other free software such as Graxpert or GIMP.  All the images on my page are using free software *using data from either seestar or dwarf2*.  Takes a little practice (and obviously im no expert) but for me, processing is half the fun.

*edit

Dear Ari,

there are no informations about your images. I think you have used the live stacking mode for some amount of time.

Honestly with this you won't get good results. You have to save the raw fits files and only do one object per night.
With this I have made the eagle under bad sky conditions. I got 806 subframes and stacked them manually with
pixinsight. I have spent one night but I should have spent one or two more. This is imho the only way to get something
nice out of this little piece of equipment. 
So you have to look some yt-videos on processing/stacking seestar images wit siril (no cost) or better pixinsight
(with add. costs). There are good videos to find.
Your images need much much more integration time. They are so much noisy and the signal is very weak. 

M16 under bortle 5 sky

Here is processing with Siril: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syCVl1fDLTk

And you should look for Cuiv the lazy geek, very smart guy and very good videos 
with seestar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMoSAHOgbD4&t=138s

CS and best for you
Thomas

Hi Ari,

welcome to the rest of your life! I too am relatively new to seestar and patience is the most important thing - for me the post-processing is a large part of the enjoyment...
At first I captured several targets each night as I learned how everything worked. The idea was to use Seestar as a robot expert to help me find good targets that were 'in view' for me, and that was excellent fun, as well has helping me find where objects actually reside above my balcony, instead of just on Stellarium. Once I got the hang of this I settled down and realised that with a small aperture I do need several hours of capture to really build up detail. This time is definately time well spent. My own, personal 'see'-3PO. I also use a 135mm Rokinon lens+ Sony a7Rii and an ED80 apo refractor. They are my buddies each evening.
For Seestar
- As I live on the edge of a populated area I learned that many, many 10" exposures are far better than a few 20" exposures so this is now my default.
- I always check that the individual exposures are saved.
- I started by using Siril and now I am on an extended trial of PixInsight which I use for stacking the frames captured overnight. I will be investing in PixInsight as it is pure magic once you climb the learning curve, but I do realise that it is an additional expense, so take your time and find what process suits you best.
- I have a decent PC setup with 12cores and a graphics card so the initial stacking of 100 frames takes less than 8mins of processing time for Seestar frames.
- After getting used to this process it becomes easier, my 'to do' list of imaging is now getting shorter and shorter as a result, and the more automatic my process steps the more images I tend to take
- In my folders I store by image name and exposure length, I seperate out the 10" exposures from very clear nigts when I do longer exposure times.
- Other plugins like noiseExterminator and blurExterminator are witchcraft to me - the results are fantastic and inspire me again and again to just pick up my SeeStar buddy whenever I go out, nothing to lose!

For me it is not a case of either/or - it is a case of AND. What I also do now is to access the Hubble and Nasa archives to get images from the observatory itself, which I also find to be like sorcery - it never fails to make me shake my head in wonder that we live in such amazing times. The process and techniques used to squeeze the best of of seeStar will go a long way to develop your skills with these images also.

This video by Cuiv convinced me to go the archive route when the clouds ruin my evening, I watch it often and find it really inspirational: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgklkUPwPNA&t=4s


Also, filter astrobin images on camera type and see what wonders this community delivers eachday, reach out and ask - it is such a joy to improve ones craft while also building connections with a great group of individuals.

Clear skies!!!

Cuiv (the lazy geeks) patreon has a really user/noob friendly PI video.  Walks you through installation including modules and provides some data to work along with him.

Hi Ari... All good suggestions above! I just took a screenshot of M17 and worked it in Photoshop for 10 mins. I have a couple of the astro plugins from RCAstro (Star Shrink and Noise Xterminator). 

I took your Dumbbell cropped and edited just to bring out more of the nebulosity.
Not great by any means but shows more of the structure and color.
Could use better noise reduction.
Processed with affinity Photo V2.