Home » Tutorial » Make Your Milky Way Details Pop in One-Click with ClariSKY in Photoshop
Milky Way Photoshop Actions Post processing Tutorial Wide Field

Make Your Milky Way Details Pop in One-Click with ClariSKY in Photoshop

Maximize your sky and Milky Way detail with incredible clarity, find details you’ve never seen in even your already-finished photos.

One of the major issues with most Milky Way photographs is the lack of clarity between the dim gasses and dust, and the surrounding sky. Applying advanced processing like local contrast and the lack of an easy-to-use clarity function in Photoshop has been holding us back. But even using clarity on it’s own in the camera raw filter can kill the stars. In steps ClariSKY!

Boost the detail, not the stars

Using special masking techniques to only affect the areas of the photograph that need it (like the Milky Way), ClariSKY makes dimmer sky structures like that of the Milky Way core pop out with more defined detail, all at the click of a button. ClariSKY can also help to reduce “sky muddiness” because of thin clouds or light pollution, which is a problem every night-sky photographer wrestles with.

ClariSKY before and after

This is what ClariSKY can do:

  • 5 levels of one-click ClariSKY masked local contrast improvements
  • The ability to use all ClariSKY levels at once to pick the best in one click
  • Star masking to only affect dimmer structures like that of the Milky Way
  • The ability to chain multiple levels of the same or other ClariSKY levels for subtle to extreme effects

How to use ClariSKY

This is the easy part! It’s super simple to use, and just to prove it, I made this short tutorial video.

  1. Step one: Get ClariSKY. (or the discounted bundle)
  2. Step two: watch the video below for installation and usage instructions. 
  3. Step three: Enjoy your Milky Way and astrophotography images with enhanced detail, sky clarity, and pop, all with one click.

Like this article enough to buy the author a drink? (a small donation of $1-$20)

About the author

Cory Schmitz

Co-founder of PhotographingSpace.com, co-owner of several telescopes and mounts, too many cameras, and not enough hard drives, Cory is an American expat living in South Africa with his wife, Tanja Schmitz.

An avid astrophotographer for timelapse, deep-space imaging, lunar, planetary, and star trail imagery, he is an all-around jack-of-most-trades for night-sky photography.

He is also an internationally published and commissioned astrophotographer, where his photos have been used in multiple online and print publications.

Add Comment

Click here to post a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

From PhotographingSpace.com:

Astrophotography Photoshop Actions!

Make your Milky Way POP and finish off your photos like a pro with our Photoshop Action Packs optimized specifically for astrophotography!