NightScape Lab vs GradientXTerminator
GradientXTerminator, from RC Astro, has been a favorite Photoshop plugin for removing light-pollution gradients for a long time: fast, simple, effective. Straight up: NightScape Lab does not do gradient removal, so this isn't a head-to-head. It's the whole nightscape-astrophotography workflow (stacking, stars, the Foreground Sky Merge, star trails) that a plugin like GradientXTerminator can slot right into.
Fast, reliable gradient removal in Photoshop
GradientXTerminator earned its long-standing popularity: it's quick, it's simple, and it pulls uneven sky gradients out of an image with very little fuss. At $49.95 with a perpetual license (August 2026 price) it's a proven, well-supported Photoshop plugin, and plenty of astrophotographers reach for it by habit. It does its one job well.
Capability comparison
| Capability | NightScape Lab | GradientXTerminator |
|---|---|---|
| Gradient removal | ✗ not a Lab tool | ✓ |
| Runs inside Photoshop | ✓ panel | ✓ plugin |
| Platform | macOS & Windows | macOS + Windows |
| Calibrated RAW stacking (sky + ground) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Lightroom Classic round-trip | ✓ | ✗ |
| White Balance / Defringe | ✓ | ✗ |
| Star removal / Declutter reduction | ✓ | ✗ |
| Foreground Sky Merge + Star Trails | ✓ | ✗ |
| Delivers a signed linear base image | ✓ 16-bit ProPhoto | n/a |
| Price | $129 once · whole workflow | $49.95 perpetual · gradient removal |
Everything around the gradient step
- ✓A different job. NightScape Lab covers calibrated RAW stacking, White Balance, Defringe, Recipes, Star Removal with a Star Map layer, Declutter with Constellation Guard, the Foreground Sky Merge, and Star Trails. Gradient removal isn't on that list, and we won't pretend it is.
- ✓A clean base image to work on. Stacks land as scene-linear ProPhoto base images with correct color, exactly the kind of predictable data a gradient plugin appreciates.
- ✓White Balance handles casts, not gradients. Our White Balance neutralizes the overall color cast light pollution leaves behind; it doesn't flatten a spatial gradient across the sky. When a frame needs that, a gradient tool is the right instrument.
- ✓Stacking and the Lightroom round-trip too. One $129 purchase covers the whole landscape-astrophotography flow, on macOS and Windows.
Honest questions
I already own GradientXTerminator. Do I need NightScape Lab?
They don't overlap, so it's not either/or. Keep GradientXTerminator for gradients; it's good at them. NightScape Lab adds what no gradient plugin does: calibrated stacking with an editable sky mask, the Lightroom round-trip, the star tools, the Foreground Sky Merge, and star trails, all in one tool inside Photoshop, working on a linear base image. Both run on macOS and Windows.
Does NightScape Lab remove gradients?
No. Its White Balance tool neutralizes the overall color cast that light pollution leaves in a sky, but a spatial gradient (bright on one horizon, dark on the other) is a different problem, and we don't ship a tool for it. If your skies carry strong gradients, a dedicated tool like GradientXTerminator or the free GraXpert complements NightScape Lab well.
The workflow your gradient plugin plugs into.
The whole nightscape workflow in one tool inside Photoshop, $129 once.
30-day money-back guarantee. If it's not for you, email for a full refund, no questions asked.