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.
Is there any way that RAW support can be added for the Pentax K1? I am using this camera for astrophotography since its sensor is excellent (very close to the D850).  I do have a D600 but would prefer to use the Pentax K-1.
I think I am losing a lot by converting to TIFF before stacking.
Thank you.
One thing I don't understand is why support all these different camera raw types when you can just support DNG and kill all the birds with one stone. Most cameras will output in DNG.
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Probably because DNG might also have a disadvantage to the data somehow? I have no experience with that format so that's just a guess, but it would make sense. Bula tries to get the full raw data of the entire sensor to save into a fits file which is then completely lossless. For instance, other programs tend to use dcraw for the conversion which isn't getting the entire sensor per-se.
It depends on the capture method but the data is the same raw data as the native formats like CR2, NEF or PEF. There's always the issue that the different capture methods like tethered or direct to SD card have different frame sizes. If I capture to SD card, then I have to capture my calibration frames the same way. If I tether, I get the full frame. Its not the RAW format that decides what's in the file. DNG info is simply governed by Adobe's open source spec. One needs to adhere to the metadata definitions when processing and there should be no issues.
For example, here is the sizes for a Pentax K-5II:
4950 x 3284 = (from SD card, reported by Nebulosity)
4950 x 3344 = (from tether by Kstars (GPhoto2), reported by Nebulosity) - this is the full frame
4928 x 3264 = (defined by metadata for output)
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I can definitely supply as many .dng files from a Pentax K1, K3, K5, and K-01 as needed, and I have a bunch from a 645z that I was messing with for quite some time before. You have no idea how badly I want .dng support. DSS sometimes does good, but other times can't get the flats to subtract properly and on comets just plain doesn't work well, and PI takes forever to do stuff with seemingly more steps than should be needed, plus multiplies your files at each step.
