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.
Hi,
I watched the mosaic videos but I don’t think what I’m trying to do matches that.
I have an Ha integrated panel of the butterfly nebula which I took with my mono ccd, and I have a color integrated panel of the same nebula which I took with a color ccd.
What are the steps for overlapping these 2 images and bringing them together into one?
Thank you,
Miquel
Hi Miquel,
Go to tab 9) Tools and select "combine RGB". Use a small amount for the ratio of H-Alpha, like 10% or 20%, to start with and see how the image changes. Too much might upset the colour balance.
HTH, Wouter
Hi,
Thanks for the tip. I know my color shot and my Ha shot are slightly different in size. If "combine RGB" can take care of that slight difference in size, it would be great. I will give it a try.
Best,
Miquel
Hi,
You may need to register the two images first to make sure they are aligned.
Wouter
Hi Wouter,
I used the RGB combine and I mapped my Ha fame to Hydrogen Alpha but I'm a bit confused about how I map my color image. I tried to select custom for my color image, but then it is asking me to map R, G, B and I don't have R,G and B frames. I just have a color image. So, how I do map my color image?
Best,
Miquel
Hi Miquel,
You need to create 3 monochrome R G &B files from a color image This will be done by loading the color image then go to 2 calibration tab, in the very end of sub menu check split channels for saving calibration frames. Then you can go on loading Ha and the mono RGB register and normalize them if they were not from the same optics. You then can combine these files in combine rgb tool.
Clear skies,
Kijja
Hi Kijja,
Thanks for the tip. In the end, I loaded the image as custom and click ok for the same image to be used with red, blue and green and it worked ok.
Best
Miquel
Hi again,
I have a question about ‘RGB Combine’ as it sounds like a pixel math operation but when I increase the Ha signal, it seems to be the same percentage for all the channels (R,G,B).
if I wanted to apply 80% of the Ha signal to the red channel, then 20% of the Ha signal to the blue channel and 20% of the Ha signal to the green channel, how would I do that?
Best,
Miquel
