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.
Reposting this from the general forum:
I have 2 questions.
(1)Regarding "remove light pollution/background calibration," when processing an integration which has some nebulosity everywhere in the image, is there a best strategy for making the selection boxes?
(2)When producing a narrowband image (Ha, OIII, SII), I like to use 2 or 3 different formulas for combining the stacks. Let's say I use the HSO fomula. Then I do the "remove light pollution/calibrate background", etc. When I'm done, I then might combine the stacks using the SHO formula, for a different look. Is it possible to use the same light pollution correction model that I created for the first image? As it is, I have to go through the process of "remove light pollution/calibrate background" all over again. This seems unnecessary. There may be an obvious way to do this, but I haven't found it.
Any guidance would be appreciated
I’ve had problems with light pollution removal in nebula images as well so I’m also very interested in recommendations how to do it.
I also have a lot of challenges when the field is mostly nebulosity. Of late I've just hitting the corners with the minimum number of boxes. If you follow the tutorials and increase to the 30% brightness setting in the drop menu of the preview window controls you can sometimes find a spot that has a hole in the nebulosity. Just be ready to remove the box if it makes the image go wonky.
Hi @edwallace,
Sorry to have kept you waiting.
The use of the same selection boxes for different images is on our todo list 😉 The best approach is to start with 5-6 area selectboxes and calculate, and then iteratively add 1-2 boxes each time between new calculations to fully correct the whole image in the end. We show this in our mosaic tutorial. It is not advised to immediately place 20-50 boxes and then clicking calculate.
This it the mosaic tutorial that demonstrates this: https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/part-4-light-pollution-correction-and-background-calibration-of-the-mosaic-tutorial-milky-way-to-rho-ophiuchi-by-mabula/
Let me know if this helps 😉
Mabula
