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 Mabula, was reading one of your FAQs where you said a true mosaic is where some of the frames have no overlap. So my 2-panel mosaic with 15% overlap really should be registered in normal mode correct? Â Also what about a 2x2 mosaic where all panels overlap but the opposite corners would have a only a 2.25% overlap?Â
Thanks, and love the program!
Wayne
Not sure what he meant by that, when I create a mosaic I set my capture program to use about 10-15% overlap. This is also recommended as far as I know by Mabula. In principle any overlap should work, but lower % might cause some problems in some cases.
Thanks Vincent, it was Mabula in this post
He makes the point that mosaic registration mode need only be used when there are frames involved with NO overlap. So say a 3x3 mosaic, there would be frames that have no overlap. In a 2x2 that's not true, but as you point out, there is only very little overlap in a couple cases. I just wanted to make sure I was understanding what he said
Thanks again for your help. Rare clear skies here in Seattle the next few nights, going to revisit my Heart mosaic and change to a 4x4 I think. Sure wish we could figure out those stretch marks though!
Wayne
Ah I see. Well he says "technically" as in to describe exactly what a mosaic would mean. This he does as the word is used in a less correct way by some other programs, other programs call something a mosaic even if all frames overlap in a way and that's not what should be called a mosaic. So a true mosaic has frames in it that have no overlap whatsoever with some other ones, like in a 5x5 mosaic, the most right frame has 0% overlap with the most left, that's a true mosaic. In practice, for APP to be able to actually stitch it in a very complicated manner back together, you do need overlap between the various frames in the grid ofcourse. And in the last post there you can see him mentioning 10-15%.
Yes, the stretch marks is something Mabula (@mabula-admin) should answer. He's very busy at the moment, so I hope he comes back to you soon.
