Version 1.2.0 Available fo download

Astro Background Extractor is a professional astrophotography software that removes light pollution and sky background from your deep-sky images. Enhance contrast, preserve fine details, and achieve clean, natural-looking results with a single click.

💻 Compatibility

macOS ✅ Available Now

• Architecture: Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) native ARM64
• Minimum version: macOS 11.0 Big Sur or later
• Recommended: macOS 13.0 Ventura or later
• Distribution format: DMG with drag & drop installer
• Size: ~104 MB (compressed DMG), 267 MB (installed)
• Code signing: Ad-hoc signed (requires first-launch permission)

Windows ✅ Available Now

• Architecture: x64 (64-bit) Intel/AMD
• Minimum version: Windows 10 (64-bit) or Windows 11
• Recommended: Windows 11 22H2 or later
• Distribution format: NSIS installer (.exe) with automatic setup
• Size: ~120 MB (installer), ~300 MB (installed)
• Dependencies: Visual C++ Runtime (included in installer)
• Installation: Standard Windows installer with Start Menu shortcuts

🎯 Target Users

• Amateur astrophotographers: Simplifies post-production workflow
• Professional astrophotographers: Precise tools for quality results
• Astronomy enthusiasts: Improve astronomical photos without advanced skills
• Night photography lovers: Remove light pollution

🚀 Competitive Advantages

1. Ease of use: Intuitive interface, immediate results
2. Professionalism: Processing quality comparable to commercial software
3. Speed: Real-time processing thanks to hardware optimization
4. Versatility: Complete support for astronomical formats (TIFF, FITS, FITS OSC Camera, DNG (RAW), PNG, JPEG)
5. Cross-platform: Native macOS Apple Silicon and Windows x64
6. Multilingual: Accessible to international users (6 languages)
7. Perpetual license: No subscription, one-time payment

Change-Log

🚀 Version 1.3.0 – January 16, 2026

✨ New Features:
• 🎯 Gradient Map Hint – Label with ‘click here to see the gradient map’ text in 6 languages
•✨ Reduction Stars – New slider for reducing star diameter and intensifying nebulosity
• 💾 Persistent Layout – Saves splitter bar position between images and controls
• 🔄 Auto Parameter Reset – All parameters automatically reset when loading a new image

🔧 Algorithm Improvements:
• Balanced Auto-Stretch – Optimized percentiles (0.5%/99.9%) to protect highlights
• Luminosity-Based Stretch – Completely fixes green amplification using (R+G+B)/3
• Natural Contrast – CLAHE clipLimit reduced to 1.0 to avoid ‘black and white’ effect

💡 Technical Details:
• Stretch: calculates percentiles on luminosity, applies same transform to all RGB channels
• Contrast: CLAHE with clipLimit 1.0 maintains natural color saturation
• Layout: QSplitter with saveState()/restoreState() via QSettings
• Reset: centralized resetParameters() function called in loadImage()

🚀 Version 1.2.0 – December 5, 2025

✨ New Features:
• 📂 File Associations – Open images directly from Finder/Explorer with ‘Open with’
• ⚡ GPU/CPU Acceleration – Processing up to 30x faster with OpenCL and multi-threading
• 🌌 Enhanced FITS Auto-Stretch – 4 methods (Linear, Histogram, Asinh, MTF) with smart cache
• 🎨 Bayer Pattern Fix – Red nebulae appear red instead of green
• 📊 System Monitoring – Real-time CPU, RAM and GPU display during processing
• 🌍 Full Unicode – Support filenames with Korean, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek characters

🔧 Improvements:
• Supported Files – TIFF, FITS, DNG, JPEG, PNG associated with app
• Performance – Background calculation with GPU acceleration (if available)
• FITS Auto-Stretch – 4 algorithms: Linear, Histogram Equalization, Asinh Transform, MTF
• Bayer Matrix – Fixed red-green color inversion in OSC images
• Real-time Info – CPU/RAM/GPU panel updated every second
• Unicode – TIFF, FITS, DNG support 완성.tif, изображение.fits, 图像.dng

🐛 Bug Fixes:
• Fixed: TIFF/FITS/DNG files with Unicode names not loading (완성.tif, Ελληνικά.fits)
• Fixed color inversion on Bayer patterns
• Improved GPU processing stability
• Optimized memory usage during processing

🚀 Version 1.1.0 – November 26, 2025

✨ New Features:
• Full FITS Support – Load mono, RGB and OSC FITS files with automatic debayering
• Narrowband Coloring – Automatic coloring for H-alpha, OIII, SII, NII, Lum, RGB filters
• Auto Contrast (CLAHE) – Enhance local contrast with adaptive histogram equalization
• Filter Recognition – Automatic filter detection from FITS header (case-insensitive + wavelengths)
• Improved Auto-Stretch – Automatic reset when loading new image with cache

🔧 Improvements:
• FITS OSC – Debayering for RGGB, BGGR, GRBG, GBRG patterns with offset
• FITS RGB – Support for [W,H,3] and [3,H,W] layouts with separate plane reading
• Button UI – Auto-Stretch, Auto-Contrast and Narrowband side-by-side optimized
• Full Internationalization – All UI/status/tooltip messages in 6 languages (IT, EN, ES, FR, DE, PT)
• License Dialog – All texts translated and localized

🐛 Bug Fixes:
• Fixed FITS RGB reading error
• Fixed auto-stretch cache on image change
• Improved non-standard FITS layout handling
• Fixed all hardcoded untranslated messages

🎉 First Release – Version 1.0.0

✨ Main Features:
• Background Extraction – Removes background gradient from astronomical images
• Opacity Control – Adjust background correction intensity
• Green Cast Removal (HLVG/SCNR) – Eliminates green tint with Average Neutral algorithm
• White Balance – Three methods: Gray World, Neutralize Background, Manual
• Per-Channel Processing – Enabled by default for optimal results
• Auto-Stretch Histogram – Automatically improves contrast with highlight protection
• Reset Image – Undo all applied corrections

🖥️ Interface:
• Side-by-side original/processed image display
• Synchronized zoom and pan between images
• Informative tooltips (?) for each function
• Support for 6 languages: Italian, English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese

💾 Supported Formats:
• Import: TIFF, DNG, FITS, PNG, JPEG
• Export: TIFF 16-bit, PNG, JPEG

🔐 License System:
• Secure online activation
• 180-day validity with 7-day grace period