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Packen, I've typically used Ha as a substitute for L. Others blend it with the R channel, but it tends to affect colour in unrealistic ways.

See here for an example of a HaRGB I did recently: http://forum.startools.org/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=737

You can always drizzle-stack your APO images to improve their pixel resolution. I managed to image a fairly small planetary nebula at 480mm focal length, thanks to drizzling! http://www.astrobin.com/125368/

You could also try opening the TIF in Fitsworks and then re-saving as a .FIT

Then StarTools will definitely be able to open it.

I've done both (applied dcraw manually to the RAW files and then used the TIFFs in DSS, or let DSS do the debayering). I get more consistent and controlled results with the former. Search around on this forum for dcraw and you'll find recommendations from Ivo on what settings to use to get the 'clea...

Did you get the debayering correct in DSS? My Sony NEX uses a RGGB pattern. You could also try applying dcraw directly - it should allocate the correct debayering. If you're happy that you've done this, and you can see the colour in DSS, then your image is probably desaturated, and the colours can b...

Best best is to use the "Synth" module - this allows you to modify the stars in various ways, including removing or modifying diffraction spikes, and even completely replacing your originals. YMMV.

Thanks Andy! It's actually a challenging target, because the Ha emission nebula is difficult to draw out without overstretching the background Milky Way stars (too much and the background degrades into a graininess). It can look like quite a different object if one just concentrates on the cluster s...

Thanks Ivo, I appreciate that - I put a fair bit of thought into the framing, and followed your SynthLum tutorial closely with the processing - it was really helpful. It was also a bit 'zen' like - I mucked about with the data for quite a while, then threw out my efforts and went with a fairly strai...

Take your pick! Also known as the 'Black Arrow', this spectacular open cluster in Carina covers an area of about 60' x 30', and sparkles with over 100 blue and yellow stars of even brightness. They look somewhat like a collection of coins shimmering at the bottom of a wishing well. This cluster is c...

In a way, the lack of pre-processing in ST turned out to be an intellectual bonus to me. It really forced me to understand exactly what I was doing with calibration and stacking, because I had to juggle a number of different free or low-cost programs to get the full results I was after. I now have s...