processing data

Hi Dennis,

I used to use Deep Sky stacker and now PixInsight. If I remember correctly, both programs don't need files with a proper name. With DSS you can select all flats, then all darks, all biases and all light frames. It doesn't matter how they are named. In Pixinsight, you can select the single files as well. A more comfortable way is to have folders with the names dark, flat, bias or light somewhere in the file path. So naming the folder correctly is a plus. This way, you can give PixInsight the main folder and it detects every sub automatically which saves a bit of time. I guess, other stacking programs work the same way.

However, it may be a good idea to sort the files in a useful way. So some system is recommended. Personally, I use NINA to capture the images and let the program automatically rename the files with a given template. This way, I see some imaging details in the folders without the need to open the images in some program. There are some free tools like Kuknet file renamer out there, which can easily rename the images automatically to your taste afterwards.

I began to sort my own images with the following system (all folders):

Object type (Deep Sky, planetary, comets, etc.)
Object name (usually the NGC catalogue number if there exists any)
Telescope I used (with reducer/corrector)
Camera I used
RA_DEC
Camera angle
Date
Frame type

As you can see, I use a lot of folders. But this way, I am able to add more data to images later on and I can easily work on long time projects.

This is my own system. It works well for me. I use it for some time now. It may not fit to other persons interests. Before that I used some different method which always had its downsides.

Clear skies

Christian