MAY 4 2026: APP 2.0.0-beta44 has been released !
New improved internal memory controls should now work on all computers
May 1 2026: APP 2.0.0-beta43 has been released !
Improved internal memory controls (much more stable and faster on big datasets), fixed CPU image viewer, fixed Narrowband extraction demosaic algortihms.
Apr 29 2026 APP 2.0.0-beta42 has been released !
New improved Normalization engine, Fixed random crashes in integration, fixed RGB Combine & Calibrate Star Colors, fixed Narrowband extraction algorithms, new development platform with performance gains, bug fixes in the tools, etc...
Apr 14 2026: Google Pay, Apple Pay & WeChat Pay added as payment options
Update on the 2.0.0 release & the full manual
We are getting close to the 2.0.0 stable release and the full manual. The manual will soon become available on the website and also in PDF format. Both versions will be identical and once released, will start to follow the APP release cycle and thus will stay up-to-date to the latest APP version.
Once 2.0.0 is released, the price for APP will increase. Owner's license holders will not need to pay an upgrade fee to use 2.0.0, neither do Renter's license holders.
Hi Mabula,
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I did something unusual again. If you load an image, calibrate background and save it as tiff and load that tiff to calibrate star colors a window pops up telling me to use calibrate background tool first.
Normally I use fits because APP seems to like fits better but when I saw this I tried it with a few different images and the outcome is the same for all cbg saved tiff (16 bit integers).
No problems with fits files.
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It also took me some time to figure out the rotating tool. When you rotate and click show the file isn't saved but shows rotated on screen, when I pressed ok it rotates again and does save.
So I have to set it back to angle 0 before you press ok or guess the angle I want to rotate it and press ok directly.
I find it a bit confusing, for me show is like a preview of what you want APP to do when you click ok.
I know now but maybe it's something to think about.
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Is it possible to set a different starting point for the work directory? I installed APP on drive D: and it still starts with c:\Users\username\Documents.
Not a big problem but I don't favor extra mouse clicking/scrolling if I don't have to.
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Just wanted to let you know my findings and do like APP, mostly it's very easy to use,
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Susan
Hi Susan,
Thank you for mentioning this.
Indeed, the calibrate star color tool needs information from the background calibration tool. This information is currently saved in the FITS header, but not yet in the TIFF header. I have added this to my TODO list.
Regarding the rotate/resize tool, indeed, the show is meant as a preview what will be saved when you click on ok. If this doesn't work then something is not right. When I click on ok it always comes out like the show shows. Not on your system? Any guessing or setting it back to zero degrees shouldn't be applicable at all.
Regarding the work directory. I intend to have the work directory saved in a configuration file, so you can set it once and the next time that you start APP, it will be set like in the previous APP session. Would that work for you?
Thank you Susan for your thoughts and compliments 😉
Mabula
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Hi Mabula,
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Fits header, yes that makes sense.
About the configuration file that would be very usefull not only for the work directory but for other settings as well.
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About the rotating let me try to show you how I did it.
This isn't my data, it was my first shot of processing narrowband data but the image shows the rotation very well that's why I'm using this for the screenshots.
As I figured it out the now original is allready the right angle but this is just for showing how it rotates.
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Number 1 shows the original
Number 2 shows the 90 degree when I clicked show, then I clicked ok
Number 3 is creating the image
Number 4 says 90degCW Â and as you can see it rotated again
Number 5 I loaded the first image again, set it to 90 degree and clicked show, before making the screenshot I set the angle back to 0 then clicked ok
Number 6 says 0degCW but has the right angle of 90 what I wanted in the first place
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I also tried on my laptap and it does the same thing there.
Please let me know if you need more/different screenshots or something else.
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Susan
Hi Susan,
Okay, I now understand. I'll test it myself just like you showed and will fix it.
Thank you for your clear explanation 😉
Mabula
Hi Susan,
The rotate bug is fixed 😉 in the upcoming version (probably 1.053). The bug mainfested itself when you choose to use the rotate/resize the image currently in the image viewer.
I'll now work on the header info from background calibration for TIFF images.
Kind regards,
Mabula
Great news Mabula,
Thanks for the heads up,
Susan
You're welcome Susan, new version will probably be released tomorrow 😉
Hi Susan,
Indeed, the calibrate star color tool needs information from the background calibration tool. This information is currently saved in the FITS header, but not yet in the TIFF header. I have added this to my TODO list.
The information is now added to the TIFF header as well, so this is also fixed in APP 1.054. You will find the background values in the Tags "CBG-1", the number represents the color channel RGB -> 123. If you save as a TIFF at the end of the background calibration tool, you are forced to save it in the same bitdepth, otherwise the calibrate background value doesn't match the data if you start the calibrate star colors tool.
Cheers,
Mabula
