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.
This is a widefield image of Bode's Galaxy. I waned o fcocus n the csic dust in this area. Therefor took the image primarily in L cannel. For Stars and some colors in the galaxies I used a ew frames in RGB. It's a 4-panel mosaic with about 50% overlap. Maybe a bit excessive but since I habe to go deep in the background, thin bands in the overlapping area can be avoided, what makes LPC a bit simpler.
each panel:
L 110 x 3 min
R 18 x 2 min
G 18 x 2 min
B 18 x 2 min
Touptek 2600m, Askar 69PHQ*0,75red (312mm, f/4.8)
mosaic stacking, LPC, RGB combine in APP
BXT and SXT in PI
Graxpert Denoise
Finishing in RawTherapee
I got some color cast in RGB background, as you can see in the upper corner, mostly on the left side (red dust). Maybe this could have been avoided by doing a masked overlay or using HSL tool in APP to eliminate colors in background (but this is on the same level as dust an noise...).
Stars are somewhat looked like diamonds after RGB combine. Someone got an idea on how to avoid that?
Hi Sebastian @xyfus,
Awesome result, that is a great composition, I like it !
Those diamonds can be caused by Lanczos interpolation when downscaling the result I think. So in 6) check the data itnerpolation filter and use another algorithm instead of Lanczos.
Let me know if that helps.
Mabula
Thanks! 🙂
Those diamonds can be caused by Lanczos interpolation when downscaling the result I think. So in 6) check the data itnerpolation filter and use another algorithm instead of Lanczos.
Oh? I thought interpolation settings only effected scaling, so I never touched that before... 😉
I did give it a try and yes, I got "better" / rounder stars (as is mentioned the other settings will get somewhat less sharp results than lanczos) but for rgb blending and stars this will be ok. I don't have a finished result yet, but it did help! Thank you!
Hi Sebastian @xyfus,
Great, yes, Lanczos is best for most accurate reconstruction. But the other filters will have a bit of a denoise effect as well, especially Cubic B-Spline is very nice for reducing noise if accuracy is not the greatest concern.
You are most welcome,
Mabula
