StarTools

Hi all,
I've been out of the game for quite a while now and wonder what people use these day to align, stack and register their data before bringing it into Startools? I've used Maxim and Nebulosity in the past. I liked Maxims ease of use when handling calibration files but I don't want to buy the full package just for that. Any other recommendations? Astro Pixel Processor looks interesting. Do I jump on the PI bandwagon?
Cheers!

I still use DSS (recent update to it), but there are other free ones available siril and astap for example

DSS is easier to use , Siril looks good but a bigger learning curve (currently looking at that myself) startools is free to try as long as you like though you can’t save final image until you purchase licence , pi you can stack and process but comes at a premium price.

There are some links in the Links & Tutorial section to programs that pre-process.
https://www.startools.org/links--tutori ... -solutions

In all honesty, you don't need anything fancy, because as far as StarTools goes, the simpler the better. Any more, however well intended, tends to interfere with StarTools' Tracking function's ability to achieve better results (simple reason being that Tracking can't track what other applications may have done to the signal).

You'll want to have the stacker do as little to your image as possible; no stretching, no gradient removal, no decon, no noise reduction. If you are using a DSLR/OSC, then an option to keep the stacker from white balancing would be a plus.

Following your advice this is the method I use in my short exposure photographs (EAA)

Capture software: Risingcam
Camera: IMX294 of Risingcam
Parameters: all by default except a initial white balance.
Gain: always maximum

The initial raw and final result after treating the image with Startools is huge

In these link of you can see some results:

https://telescopius.com/profile/elpajare

All capture softwares have the possibility to modify the images but none do so with the precision of Startools so it is best to let him do the work.

Thanks for the responses. I think I've settled on Maxim. Its what I know so there's no learning curve, and they now offer basic packages so you don't have to fork out a bucket load. Loving the latest release btw Ivo, especially the Compose module. Keep it up!
Chris