This is a very-late-in-process question. Is there any software that can do a good job with on-image annotation with astro-images? See my hopes described below:
I have need to annotate some of my images and thought the task would be simply achievable by something within the free software suite bundled with Windows, or that comes with MS office, such as powerpoint, etc. However, this is not the case. The freely available software either rescales the image or the annotation options are so limited that the result is rather course and cludgy looking. Problem is that the size of my images are quite large and I do not want to dumb down the resolution or the color/signal depth of the image to achieve this. The reason is that some of the features I want to annotate are quite small and I would like the viewer to be able to zoom in to a significant degree, providing a bit more information as to the features and yet also allowing one to get the overall impression of location within a rather large field. I am an exclusive PI processor and do not use or have Photoshop. I expect that Photoshop is well capable of doing this, but I would rather not pay for a package that will be used for so limited a task. Basically, I want the annotation to be fine, bright and distinguishable at full-screen, but not destroy the look of the field when zoomed a decent amount. I know, that may be asking a lot of such a resulting image. In that, maybe I have stumbled on a novel feature, such that an image could be annotated optimally at low resolution, but then as the image is zoomed using the scroll feature, the annotation actually changes size so as to not become visually imposing. Not sure that could be supported in the typical image viewer but would be cool. The stand alone Aladin viewer kinda can do this, sort of. Still, it is pretty nice, with bright, very fine lines used for the geometric objects used. In fact the text actually adjusts in size as zooming occurs, with the geometric marker changing size.
I hope that I conveyed my needs above. Though I am not expecting to be able to implement the zooming feature. If I can find a free software all the better, but I certainly would pay for a package that was good at what it does, as long as I am not paying a fortune for something that is designed to do the whole universe of tasks one might do with a digital photo.
Thanks!
Alan
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Have you tried the script “What’s in my Image” from SetiAstro? It runs in PI.
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I assume the annotation feature of PI won't suffice, or does it? What you are asking can be done in either GIMP or PI although vectorial graphics are mostly/totally incompatible with raster graphics so no scalable text I am afraid. One could conceivably create an html page with those features (though not sure how) but then it would need a html reader (e.g. a web browser) which I'm not sure really fits your bill.
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Adding the quote I was responding too so my answer makes sense: "Have you tried the script “What’s in my Image” from SetiAstro? It runs in PI."
Yes I have. It's nice for exploring, but unless he has updated things since my last use, it is limited for making a presentation image.
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I'll pick up what @andrea tasselli said, and suggested you play around with the AnnotateImage Script in PixInsight. You have a lot of options for customization.
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andrea tasselli:
I assume the annotation feature of PI won't suffice, or does it? What you are asking can be done in either GIMP or PI although vectorial graphics are mostly/totally incompatible with raster graphics so no scalable text I am afraid. One could conceivably create an html page with those features (though not sure how) but then it would need a html reader (e.g. a web browser) which I'm not sure really fits your bill. Thanks Andrea. I will try the PI feature. I admit that I didn't realize it existed! You do not mean the signature script? I use that, but find that it is really limiting. I will look for annotation. I will report back when I get some time to try it and see if I can be proficient with it. The scalable feature is something I was not expecting to be possible, and it only occurred to me while I was writing my query. But, yes, I am sure the implementation and then having it in a form that is widely usable to anyone is hard to imagine. I will also look into GIMP. I am such a novice when it comes to something like that, so now on to learning a new thing! I will report back with success or failure!
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Have you tried the script “What’s in my Image” from SetiAstro? It runs in PI. Thanks Niels. I forgot to quote you in my original answer, so repeat here. Basically I do use WIMI from Seti, but the annotation is not nearly flexible enough to get what I desire. But is is a phenomenally useful script that really does a nice job of bridging the positional information I need and the final product and is even more useful than Aladin in that regard. I have been able to insert my images into the Aladin app and then do plate solving, but it is a real RAM hog and with my current images, I am sure they will crash my computer on a frustratingly frequent basis.
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andrea tasselli:
I assume the annotation feature of PI won't suffice, or does it? What you are asking can be done in either GIMP or PI although vectorial graphics are mostly/totally incompatible with raster graphics so no scalable text I am afraid. One could conceivably create an html page with those features (though not sure how) but then it would need a html reader (e.g. a web browser) which I'm not sure really fits your bill. OK, I just looked at my open job on PI and realized that the annotation feature you were referring too in PI was AnnotateImage under the Render script directory. That I am familiar with and it is pretty good. Maybe not the most intuitive regarding letter and object drawing, sizes, etc. Mostly what frustrates me is the limitations in the databases that are displayable and my inability to understand how to successfully add new databases to the list. However, even if I could overcome my limitations with that, the objects I would like to display are obscure and not easy to point too in any sub list such as the Simbad sub databases or Gaia, Visier. So I was resigned to do this manually. And if I was not clear about that, then I should amend my request. But I did just look at the GIMP web page and in that you may have solved my problem. I will look more deeply into that.
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andrea tasselli:
I assume the annotation feature of PI won't suffice, or does it? What you are asking can be done in either GIMP or PI although vectorial graphics are mostly/totally incompatible with raster graphics so no scalable text I am afraid. One could conceivably create an html page with those features (though not sure how) but then it would need a html reader (e.g. a web browser) which I'm not sure really fits your bill. Andrea, Just following up on your suggestions. It took me a while to get GIMP installed and a bit more time to do a few tutorials to get past the initial learning barrier. Once I was able to learn the simplest skills sufficiently, I have taken a week or so to actually put them to practice to convince myself that it is GIMP that will work for me. See a simple example of what I was talking about:  Yes basically the same functions that are provided by Annotate Image or WhatsInMyImage, but with the control and the quality of the end result that will satisfy me. The other two were far too prone to causing artifacts of the graphics and the image and work best for quick results that end up being super useful for other reasons. My ability here with GIMP will by no means will result in a product that could not be much better if done by an experienced graphic artist. And likely done far more quickly and efficientlyby the experienced artist, but this retired old fart has plenty of time on his hands...! So thank again for you suggestions. Best, Alan
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My pleasure, Alan. Happy it proved useful.
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I know that there are free solutions to this need out there like Gimp, but I'm gonna go ahead and throw out my favorite non-free tool–Affinity Photo. It's pretty-much as capable as Photoshop but without the monthly subscription–just a one-time purchase. There are companion tools–Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher–that can do pretty-much anything you want graphic-wise. I'm a PI user but I often use Affinity at the tail end of my image processing workflow for adding annotations, watermarks, and occasionally tweaking colors and cropping. You can even use Affinity Photo for end-to-end astro image processing if you'd like. Last time I looked it cost $70 US and right now there's a 6-month free trial.
No affiliation with Affinity other than as a satisfied customer.
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Dave Ek:
I know that there are free solutions to this need out there like Gimp, but I'm gonna go ahead and throw out my favorite non-free tool--Affinity Photo. It's pretty-much as capable as Photoshop but without the monthly subscription--just a one-time purchase. There are companion tools--Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher--that can do pretty-much anything you want graphic-wise. I'm a PI user but I often use Affinity at the tail end of my image processing workflow for adding annotations, watermarks, and occasionally tweaking colors and cropping. You can even use Affinity Photo for end-to-end astro image processing if you'd like. Last time I looked it cost $70 US and right now there's a 6-month free trial.
No affiliation with Affinity other than as a satisfied customer. Thanks Dave, Given I am so early in the learning curve with GIMP, your suggestion is timely. I will give Affinity a look/try. Free trial periods are a great way to get to know these complex tools. The Designer and Publisher tools are intriguing, since with this project I am really only wanting to annotate the image with freedom of choice in design. If Affinity allows me to do so with a full res and depth image then it becomes a viable option.
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Hi Alan If you want a free-form annotation script in PI you could try my free DrawAnnotation script available from this repository: https://www.cosmicphotons.com/pi-scripts/drawannotation/. After installation you will find it in the Script>Render menu. CS, Mike
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Alan Brunelle:
Dave Ek:
I know that there are free solutions to this need out there like Gimp, but I'm gonna go ahead and throw out my favorite non-free tool--Affinity Photo. It's pretty-much as capable as Photoshop but without the monthly subscription--just a one-time purchase. There are companion tools--Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher--that can do pretty-much anything you want graphic-wise. I'm a PI user but I often use Affinity at the tail end of my image processing workflow for adding annotations, watermarks, and occasionally tweaking colors and cropping. You can even use Affinity Photo for end-to-end astro image processing if you'd like. Last time I looked it cost $70 US and right now there's a 6-month free trial.
No affiliation with Affinity other than as a satisfied customer.
Thanks Dave,
Given I am so early in the learning curve with GIMP, your suggestion is timely. I will give Affinity a look/try. Free trial periods are a great way to get to know these complex tools. The Designer and Publisher tools are intriguing, since with this project I am really only wanting to annotate the image with freedom of choice in design. If Affinity allows me to do so with a full res and depth image then it becomes a viable option. Look for tutorial videos by James Ritson--he develops content for Affinity and is also an astrophotographer. https://www.youtube.com/@JamesRitson |
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Hi Andrea, It sounds like you've used the Image Annotation Script in PI and I understand that you're looking for a zooming feature that might allow you to zoom in and get more granular info on objects without destroying the field of view of your image at 1:1... agreed, that would be cool. Unfortunately I can't help you with that exactly but I did recently discover that the annotation feature in PI is a bit better than I previously knew and as a half solution you might be happy to know the following if you don't already: There is a way to increase the depth of annotated items by including more catalogues and there is also a way to control the line thickness, point size and color of the overlay, which will help towards maintaining a relatively uncluttered view even when you've added more annotation. All of these settings begin with a small green "+" mark, where you can add catalogues that are not immediately available out of the box. Then, with each catalogue or feature selected in the main view, you can control the color and appearance of those annotations underneath. I'll include a screenshot with both windows up; the main window to the left and the catalogue "layers" window to the right. Hope that helps.  |
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