Solar Imaging Workflow Guide

1. Pre-processing with PIPP

PIPP (Planetary Imaging PreProcessor) is used to trim your .AVI file and prepare it for stacking.

Step One: Load Your AVI or SER File

Open PIPP and load your raw .AVI or .SER file.

Steps:

1. Load your Seestar .AVI file
2. Select Solar/Lunar Full Disk
3. Output: TIFF sequence (16-bit)
4. Trim frames (optional)
5. Click Start Processing

Output: TIFF image sequence

2. Stacking with AutoStakkert!

Step Two: Enable Solar Mode

Tick Solar/Lunar Close Up Processing Mode

Steps:

1. Load file into AutoStakkert
2. Enable RGB Align
3. Click Analyse
4. Set AP grid
5. Choose stack %
6. Click Stack

Output: Stacked TIFF/FITS

3. Post-processing with ImPPG

Step Three: Add Your File

Steps:

1. Open stacked image
2. Adjust deconvolution
3. Apply sharpening
4. Adjust tone curve
5. Export TIFF

Tip: Remove edge artifacts later

4. Optional Editing with GIMP

1. Open TIFF
2. Use Colorize
3. Crop solar disk
4. Adjust curves and contrast
5. Export final image

5. Advanced Processing (PixInsight)

SolarToolbox by Mike Cranfield & Bill Blanchan

SolarToolbox Repository

Watch Tutorial

Steps:

1. Install module
2. Open SolarToolbox
3. Load TIFF
4. Adjust colour & contrast
5. Export image

6. Photoshop Finishing

1. Adjust Levels & Curves
2. Feather disk edge
3. Colour adjustments
4. Cleanup tools

Final Notes

• All tools are free or widely available
• Works with any solar telescope
• Share your results with the community