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.
Hello,
I have a problem with too bright image file after integration process in the newest version of APP. Please take a look at the attached pictures. This is the same material (L-eNhance pro + H-alpha data) integrated in the one of previous versions and in the 1.077. The first one is quite OK, M42 core not overexposed and ready for further stretching. The second one done in the newest version is brighter with the core and stars overexposed. I see that there are some automatic settings in the 1.077 comparing to previous versions, so maybe I've done something differently what caused this problem with the integrated image. Could you help me with this please?
Regards - Piotr
Â
So the first one is stretched less I assume, or it's related to the RGB-Combine issue we've had in the previous version. The new version does this correctly. To manipulate the overall stretch, you can play around with the tools on the right of your screen, where you can select various stretch parameters etc.
Your result does look a bit strange though, if the above doesn't work I might ask you to upload some data for us to have a closer look.
Thanks Vincent. Both are unstretched photos and saved in such way but the first is after integration in 1.075 and the second one (brighter) stacked in 1.077. I wonder why the same subs can differ after integration in both versions. I believe I used the same settings in those two but let me do this again and send you results if this happens again.
Regards - Piotr
Mmm, yes that would be interesting. If it remains I'll ask you for the files to have a look myself.
I have another example - the first image is completely unstretched, right after integration in 1.077. I use usual settings - mostly automatic from this version:
The second one (the same subs) integrated in 1.075. I stretched it a bit to show another issue as you can see the color balance is ok but what is this brownish color in the backround?
My master flats, darks, and bias look normal as well as my lights. Please see the original files here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1T4pJ5VdDhWoHLMiEkbnXm_duXpHMRDJ3
Â
Regards - Piotr
The plot thickens... 🤔Â
Thanks for uploading, downloading them now and will let you know if I can see what's going on.
Hi Piotr,
Checking your data now. Couple of things I notice;
- Your masterflat details show me you took them at 0,005 seconds each. Is that correct? They should be around a second and you need to get the brightness down to be able to do that while taking them.
- Related to this, I still see what looks like a dust patch on the lower right? This might indicate your flats are not working correctly. In such a case leaving them out will produce a better result, did you try that?
- The bright background looks like light pollution to me. It may be a good idea to check a single sub instead of the integrations, do you have a good single Hydrogen Alpha and LPS sub for me?
Below I used the LPC tool to try to get rid of some of the signal in the background and you can see multiple rings and such. Also the H-alpha doesn't seem to add to the result, I think something is going wrong in your processing or with the data itself.
