My DeepSkyStacker Settings

With the following settings I get the best stacking results with DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 in combination with my Astronomik CLS CCD Clip Filter. With this filter the images have a strong cyan-blue tint.

I use Canon RAW files for stacking.

1. Options – Raw/FITS DDP Settings
   1. Uncheck White Balance
   2. Select “Bilinear Interpolation” or in some cases “Adaptive Homogenety-Directed Interpolation (AHD)”
      See DSS “Recommended Settings”!
   3. Uncheck “Set the black point to 0”

      

2. Stacking Parameters
   1. Tab “Result”
      1. Check “Align RGB Channels in final image”
   2. Tab “Light”
      1. Stacking mode – Kappa-Sigma clipping
      2. Select “RGB Channels Background Calibration”
   3. Tab “Dark”
      1. Stacking mode – Median Kappa-Sigma clipping or Median
         See DSS “Recommended Settings”!

         

      2. Check “Hot Pixels detection and removal“
      3. Check “Dark Optimization”
   4. Tab “Bias/Offset”
      1. Stacking mode – Median Kappa-Sigma clipping or Median
         See DSS “Recommended Settings”!
   5. Tab “Alignment”
      1. If your images shows at least 40 stars, select “Bicubic“
   6. Tab “Cosmetic”
      1. Don’t select anything

         

After the stacking process DSS generates a TIF file which I process with Lightroom and Photoshop.
I do not process the image with DeepSkyStacker.

With the above settings I created this image. Not perfect, but far better than the previous image 😀

Edit Aug 2016: I no longer use DSS for stacking. With PixInsight the stacking result is far more sharper and the overall quality is better.

See here how to remove tint in PixInsight.