2026-10-09 APP 2.0.0-beta48 has been released !
This is mainly a bug fix release for the reported bugs in beta47. In addition it has a significant User Interface performance improvement noticable when you need to process 1000s of images in APP.
2026-10-03 APP 2.0.0-beta47 has been released !
This is a very big release... many code optimizations/rewrites, many parts of APP are much faster and more precise, especially star analysis and registration are much faster ! Big mosaics will go much faster 🙂
And we introduce a new preview filter, which includes the new Adaptive Deep Sky Stretch and a General Levels Stretch, this has been long over due. The old preview filter (the panel on the right side to stretch and preview your data) has not been updated for a couple of years and it is a critical part of any APP session.
Adaptive Deep Sky Stretch or ADSS is a much more intuitive stretch algorithm. It is also color preserving (which is a great new addition in itself ! ) which means that the highlights are no longer bleached, color is maintained from the linear data while stretching. You can simply stretch your data using the sky background level and signal width sliders which work much easier and more intuitive. You no longer need to fiddle with the old complicated sliders with zoom buttons. All the zoom buttons for the sliders are made redundant. And you can enter slider values in the slider value fields yourself. I will make a youtube video in the coming days to explain and fully introduce ADSS. Once the video is ready, it will be highlighted on the forum.
RGB Combine upgrade !. The RGB Combine Tool has been rewritten mostly. The tool is faster and easier to use and most importantly, the Luminance slider to inject a luminance channel or channels into the RGB composite is now working correctly. It no longer bleaches the RGB colors. Combined with the new ADSS preview, you will get much better and easier great composites with great color! I will also explain this in a new youtube video.
Hello!
I just downloaded the trial of APP and I have no idea what I'm doing. I was pointed toward this program by a friend, but all I have is a set of nine 30 second exposures of the night sky. All I'm trying to do (for now, until I learn more) is align/warp/whatever the images to reduce noise.
This program seems so powerful, I feel like it should be fairly easy to do? But it's asking me to load lights and darks and flats and I have no idea what any of that means.
Please help
Thank you
Have a quick look at some of the videos, linked on the top bar above. Maybe the Sara Wager ones, there are a few "How to" videos.... That's possibly the easiest way.
I tried watching a few of them, but every video seems to assume I have any idea what a "calibration frame" is. I also don't understand what a light frame is vs a dark frame vs a flat frame?
Again, I just have a group of pictures of the general sky from my backyard that I'm trying to align properly.
I think it will be very good to have an understanding of those first, here's a random post I found with answers explaining it as well: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/252760-lights-darks-flats-bias/
APP itself is a rather advanced package to take this kind of data and correct for all the different issues there may be in the photo's you took and to carefully and correctly make them work together. You need proper workflows to create those calibration data properly.
