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.
If I only am using light frames, do I skip calibration or is there a way I should still use it?
@msamazing You can always skip Calibration and all other steps. Simply load your data in tab 1, go straight to step 6 and click the integrate button. APP will do all intermediate steps by itself.
@wvreeven Thank you very much! One other question. I ended up with the frames being uneven. Do you know what I did wrong to cause this? Please see Attached photo.
@msamazing APP performs a registration of the lights based on the stars it detects in those lights. If necessary APP rotates and scales the lights so they match. It looks like you had at least two imaging sessions and the camera has rotated in between those sessions. If you remove the camera from the scope and put it back on to continue imaging on the same object, you need to make sure that the orientation of the camera matches what it was before.
@wvreeven Thank you very much! One other question. I ended up with the frames being uneven. Do you know what I did wrong to cause this? Please see Attached photo.
That’s a tracking issue. The camera didn’t move to keep the frame the same. How did you have the camera mounted?
@wvreeven Thank you very much! One other question. I ended up with the frames being uneven. Do you know what I did wrong to cause this? Please see Attached photo.
That’s a tracking issue. The camera didn’t move to keep the frame the same. How did you have the camera mounted?
I'm going to disagree there given the stars look round and also my assumption on length of exposure. I'm agreeing with Wouter, looks like framing etc.
@scotty38 Well, to be fair. @turtlecat1000 wrote tracking issue, not poor guiding. With a sub-optimal polar alignment the frame will rotate over the course of a night and stars can still look round and sharp in the individual frames. Though I would expect not a big jump like in the picture uploaded by @msamazing but rather a smooth distribution of angles. That is why I suspected two separate sessions. But only @msamazing can tell us what happened.
@scotty38 Well, to be fair. @turtlecat1000 wrote tracking issue, not poor guiding. With a sub-optimal polar alignment the frame will rotate over the course of a night and stars can still look round and sharp in the individual frames. Though I would expect not a big jump like in the picture uploaded by @msamazing but rather a smooth distribution of angles. That is why I suspected two separate sessions. But only @msamazing can tell us what happened.
Well yes good points 🙂
