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.
Astro Pixel Processor 2.0.0-beta33 release notes
Please check the release notes video on our official YouTube channel here:
- IMPROVED and FIXED, keep FITS HEADER TAGS from reference/source files including RA, DEC, FOCALLEN, XPIXSZ, YPIXSZ, DATE-OBS etc...
As mentioned in several topics like this one https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/community/rfcs-request-for-changes/include-more-fits-header-information-in-the-integration/#post-31871 , whenever APP would make a new FITS file, old FITS tags from the reference or source file would be lost like the RA and DEC coordinates of the object in the image. This is now fixed for the entire application. Calibration masters will still have all the information from the capture software like gain and sensor offset if present, integration files will have all the distinct FITS tags from the reference frame which should make sure that all information is correct like the RA and DEC coordinates. And saving FITS files in all tools will keep the original FITS header tags that APP will not add itself. The FTIS header will have a note that indicates when the transferred tags start from the source/reference file: HDU1 - NOTE-XX = 'Distinct header tags from the original/reference frame follow below'Â
See the below screenshots for the FITS headers that APP will now produce keeping the distinct FITS tags from the reference or source FITS files. Also note the addition of FILTER tag and FRAMETYP tags as described in the release notes below:
- IMPROVED APPLICATION STARTUP behaviour
2.0.0-beta32 had slower startup time compared to older APP 2.0.0-beta versions due to a changed development platform setting, we have adjusted this now to give the same and smoother startup behaviour as earlier.
- FIXED FITS HEADER FILTER tag
As pointed out here https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/community/main-forum/encountered-error-in-module-combinenewbufferedimage-with-16-panel-mosaic/#post-29125 APP would not save the FILTER tag in the FITS header of FITS files that are created by APP. This is now fixed, also for stacking multiple filters into 1 integration FITS file.
- ADDED FITS HEADER IMAGETYP tag
We have added the IMAGETYP tag to the FITS header of fits files produced by APP. This should help other applications understand the frame type, like MasterDark, MasterFlat etc...
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- IMPROVED LICENSE and SETTINGS
We have removed the top left LICENSE and CFG buttons and replaced it with a new single button LICENSE & SETTINGS. The reason for the change is that the CFG button was not very intuitive and thus not all APP users were aware that you can change/enable/disable several application wide settings like the popup menus with instructions or having the image viewer in it's own separate window. We have also added 3 separate buttons in the new menu to reset settings and all menus from 0) RAW/FITS to 6) INTEGRATE easily to it's defaults which can be usefull in some cases. Please note that all these settings and menus are now saved and thus remembered with an APP restart. Your License information and management can be accessed with the LICENSE management button inside this new menu. The below screenshot shows the new button and the new menu. We think that this new button and it's new menu will make things easier and more intuitive.
- FIXED/IMPROVED LICENSE ACTIVATION
We have improved the license activation experience and it's activation window and have also removed a bug relating to failed license activation. If a faulty license was added, in some cases, the user was not warned about the failed activation, this is now fixed. The below screenshot shows the new license activation window:
- IMPROVED DeepSky Object Name in 0) LOAD
If the reference frame is a FITS file and if it contains the FITS OBJECT tag, that OBJECT tag name is used automatically for the Deepsky Object name, but you can still overrule it when you start the integration in 6) Integrate.
- FIXED READ support for TIFF from Celestron Origin telescope
As mentioned here https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/community/camerasupport/has-anyone-successfully-stacked-files-from-celestron-origin/#post-32264 APP would throw a ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException while trying to read the FinalStackedMaster.tiff produced by the Celestron Origin telescope. This image is the automatically stacked image by the telescope. APP can now read these TIFFs without problems.
- FIXED Weird horizontal lines on macOS with big field of views
The fix in 2.0.0-beta32 for ArrayOutOfBoundsException in Integrator also has fixed the issue on macOS where weird horizontal lines would manifest in integrations of big Fields of View, like big mosaics. It was mentioned in 2 topics: https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/community/main-forum/strange-horizontal-lines-in-mosaic-integrations/#post-28274 and https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/community/appreleases/image-artefacts-on-multipanel-mosaic-2-0-0-beta17/#post-28039 Â
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