Astro Pixel Processor (APP)

Astrophotography requires a lot of post processing and there are a handful of programmes that make this simple and deliver great results. I have started a 30 day trial of APP to see how it compares to my default Deep Sky Stacker.

A 30 day trial is available for download. After a quick registration processes and email verification, links become available for downloads (both Mac and Windows). I have a Mac running Boot Camp with Windows, primarily for Deep Sky Stacker and Registax. I tried the Mac 64-bit download but couldn’t get it to run, so went into Boot Camp and ran it on Windows 10. The website lists the performance requirements, RAM and free disc space: https://www.astropixelprocessor.com/

What help did I receive?

Having installed APP I jumped straight in and did a test image. Although it is easy enough to follow with numbered tabs, I did make a few schoolboy errors, including Tab 0 for how the program reads my FITS files. So I sought some advice from two places:

• @AstroStace has a number of YouTube demos for APP so I started watching these

• Sky at Night Magazine ran a series of tutorials by Sarah Wager during 2018 so I dug out my old copies and used these for reference.

Test image 1

M63 comprising a set of 30x 120sec light frames, 12 dark frames, 20 flat frames and 100 bias frames.

First impressions

I am really pleased with the improved quality of this image; it is sharper, has more detail and a more natural colour saturation. I always struggled to get decent colour out of DSS and had to increase the saturation before export, probably giving a colour distortion. There is also far more nebulosity in this image that picks out the darker dust lanes around the edges of the galaxy. My stars have more defraction spikes which suggest a sharper image too. The bad news is I now want to re-process every image to do it better…maybe a job for the summer!

One error (I’m sure of my own making) was trying to use Master Flat/Dark/Bias from one image to the next. The files integrated fine from the individual flat/dark/bias but I got an error trying to reuse previously saved Masters. Something about ‘3 sets vs 1 set’ or vice versa?

I’d be interested to know how other APP users organise their folder structures and if they save the FITS after each stage (you could end up with 4 versions of each light once registered, calibrated and normalised). Is this necessary?

I can see me experimenting with a few more images, watching some more demos and likely buying this software using one of their license pay methods.

Maybe I’m just rubbish at DSS! I don’t think even the most hardened DSS supporter could deny the superior images produced in APP. Yes DSS is free, but APP isn’t mega bucks; when the trial ends, I will be signing up for good.