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.
Can you advise what the standard option I should select when loading images taken on my DLSR with an HA filter. DO I choose the RGB option when I load my lights or the HA option. TIA
@gilgm Hi Mark. You need to choose RGB because the images taken with your DSLR are color images. APP will then debayer the images for you. If you are interested in a mono Ha image only then you can extract the R channel from the resulting RGB integration result. You can do this in APP of using other software.
Thanks Wouter. So for my HA filter I have taken Darks , Flats , Bias . Once I’ve integrated the lights I want to add the final HA shot to my RGb shots - same camera focal length etc . So is it just a question of loading the 2 final calibrated shots and integrating these . Thanks .
So is it just a question of loading the 2 final calibrated shots and integrating these .
Be aware that, if you want to do this in APP, you will need to split the two RGB results into their color channels.
To do so you can load the two integration results as lights into APP and then go to tab 2, select "split channels" and then click "save (calibrated) light frames". This will give you 6 files (one R, one G and one B image for each integration result) and you can delete the G and B files of the Ha image. Then you can go to tab 9 (Tools) and select "combine RGB". There you can select the "HaRGB 1" or "HaRGB 2" formula and then load the four frames. Just make sure that, when you load the R frame of the Ha image, you mark it as Ha. If you switch from either "HaRGB 1" or "HaRGB 2" to the other then don't forget to click the "new formula" button otherwise you won't see a difference.
Such a quick reply - many thanks for the advice. Great forum. Thanks again.
Hi this is frustrating . I took a 4 pane mosaic with my clip Ha filter on my canon 600 Dlsr . 20 lights per pane, plus flats , flat darks and bias. I calibrated ok. Set parameters to create a mosaic. All steps ‘seem’ to work but the final integrated frame is just black even at maximum stretch. Individual light frames can be viewed ok as can master calibration frames. I must be doing something wrong. On integration it’s using 85gb HD for processing- which I have 120gb free.
Any ideas ?
Set parameters to create a mosaic.
What parameters did you set exactly?
Calibration -
AUTO
Register -
Quadtilateral
Scale Start 1
Scale Stop 8
Dynamic Distribution ticked
Same Camera and Optics ticked
Reg Mode - Mosaic
Normalisation
Default settings
Integrate
LNC - 1
Iterations 3
Enable MBB
Kappa Low - 6
Kappa High -3
@gilgm For mosaics setting the mode to advanced in tab 5 is essential. Also first try without changing the defaults in tab 6. If that goes well, we can start working with those settings.
meant to say that halfway through there was a meridian flip so nearly half of each pane will be flipped .
@gilgm That doesn’t matter since the whole image train flips so the images will be oriented the same.
Hi AM still having problems registering a 4 panel mosaic. 2 will register , 2 will not. Have integrated and stretched and processed with LP correction and saved as TIFFs.
Co-ordintaes used via Telescpious and copied into plan Mode on Asiairpro. All 4 panes executed and Integrated ok with Flats, Darks , Bias and Master Dark Flat.
Using as Modded Canon 600D
Tab 3 increased Analyse Star Count
Tab 4. Start - 7 , Scale stop 12. Flip descriptors - yes. Dynamic distortion Yes. Same Camera Optics - No
Tab 5 Set to Advanced
Tab 6 - 1st Degree LNC . Iterations -3. Enable MBB - 25% (Overlap on panes is 20%). Set scale to 0.3 - just to test.
It eventually finished with no output file - just a black screen.
Very frustrating as with the FL scope of 780mm - I need to use Mosaics, but just can't get it to work. Checked the final Panes against Telscopious and look the same ?
Are you using the files from stretched TIFF's? I'd advice to start with the raw data, make that into the panels, save them as fits (unstretched) and then make the mosaic. When the mosaic is created, only then I'd save it as TIFF and do other processing if needed.
I’ve used:
1. Non stretched Fits for each panel.
2. Stretched Fits for each panel.
As above but saved as Tiffs . Tried to mosaic for all 4 with no success.
I can have a closer look if you want? You can upload like 10 lights per panel and the calibration files to our server:
Go to https://upload.astropixelprocessor.com and for the username and password, use: upload
Create a directory named “gilgm-mosaicIssue” and upload in there. Thank you!
