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 Folks,
Quick question that I can't seem find on my own ... how do I save a custom RGB combine formula for future use?
Thanks!
-Bret
@bstott_98 This is not possible yet in APP. Version 2.0.0 is in development to allow users to save presets. I'll ask Mabula if he plans to include this as well.
Having said that, APP comes with a very big list of presets. Is that not sufficient?
Hi Wouter,
Thanks the response … now I know why I couldn’t find it. :).
Anyway, each camera/filter set has different sensitivities and each user has different tastes for color mixing… especially for narrowband. Not a big deal by any means … it’s easy enough to just keep some notes and dial in a starting point.
-Bret
I would like to second the request to save RGB combine formulae. I do try to write them down, but sometimes I forget and then later wish to try a variant of what I used before… except I didn’t save it or can’t find it.
The exact formula used for SHO combine seems to vary depending on what proportions of signal strength each channel has in the object being imaged, the amount of subexposures taken (the proportions of which can vary from object to object), and quality of those subexposures. Maybe I am off base here, but while starting with SHO-1, I vary the formula with most SHO images, sometimes considerably, in trying to achieve the desired color rendition.
Thanks for being open to the idea!
David
Hi Bret @bstott_98 and David @drreagan,
Saving particular formula will only be very usefull for a single dataset, so it has not much use to save these formula. The reason is that the formula will be different depending on a lot of factors :
- the object itself
- the amount of data
- the quality of the data
- the filters used
- the sky conditions
- the camera used etc...
So even with the same setup, you could have a nice formula for a particular dataset of 1 object shot during 1 imaging session. Then if you would add more data from a 2nd session, the formula to get a similar result can change significantly because of difference in sky quality between the session for instance.
So I would suggest rather that we add more of these formula presets like SHO1, SHO2 and they will then provide nice entries for a customized formula, which you will always need to get the most pleasing result I think. Does this sound reasonable?
Mabula
