Removing star halos in Photoshop

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I recently watched a video by AstroQuest1 for removing halos around stars and found it to be surprisingly simple and effective – but I’ve changed it slightly by adjusting the Lightness in the Hue/Saturation:

  1. Zoom in on star
  2. Lasso tool around outer edge of halo
  3. Open new background layer (lets you compare before and after)
  4. Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation
  5. Make adjustments by reducing the Lightness
  6. Go to Select > Deselect
  7. Eraser tool – adjust to size and feathering to match star > click over centre to replace star

Link to my video:

Before
After

Link to original AstroQuest video – Simple Method for Removing Star Halos in PS