My recent image of M31 was a real processing chore. I'm still getting a lot of color muddle (you can see it clearly in the M32 companion in my M31 image), and I feel like I'm losing a lot of detail in my low signal areas. In this M31 image, I should be presenting more detail at the outer edge of the galaxy, like this amazing image by Redditor /u/Le_Baron. He's done an amazing job capturing detail, and has a great rig. The detail he can acquire through all of that milky light pollution is incredible.
In my image, I tried to follow the steps outlined by /u/PixInsightFTW in the YouTube video below. Thanks for PixInsightFTW for publishing such a helpful tutorial! And thanks to the community at /r/astrophotography!
Processing screencast of a raw master stack of M31 into something much more recognizable. The key trick: make a Luminance frame and re-combine it with the RGB using LRGBCombination. By adjusting the Saturation slider, the colors come out!
“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”