Command Reference

MENU COMMANDS
How to Perform the Command Description of the Command
File: Open and Add Images/Movies Brings images and quicktime movies into the workspace. Details of the interface for opening movies are described in the section on planetary processing.
File: Open Dark Frame Selects a dark frame image.
File: Open Flat Field Frame Selects a flat field frame image.
File: Open FITS File as Stack Opens one FITS file as a red, green, or blue channel of the stack.
File: Open Raw File as Stack Opens one Raw file as the stack.

File: Save Stack as 32-bit PICT Saves the stack as a 32 bit PICT file.
File: Save Stack as 48/96-bit FITS Saves the stack as three FITS files, one each for red, green, and blue, at 16 or 32 bits per component per file.
File: Save Stack as 48/96-bit Raw Saves the stack as a Raw file at 16 or 32 bits per pixel component.

File: Open Workspace Opens a workspace file (the state of the Clips Window).
File: Save Workspace Saves the workspace (the state of the Clips Window) to a single file for further processing.
File: Dump Workspace Dumps the workspace (the state of the Clips Window) to a set of PICT files.

File: Close Window Close the current window.

Edit: Select All Selects all the frames.
Edit: Deselect All Deselects all the frames.
Edit: Invert Selection Inverts the frame selection.
Edit: Select Included Selects only the frames that are to be included in the stack.

Operations: Create Hot Pixel Mask Creates a mask that excludes hot pixels during stacking.
Operations: Set Alignment Brightness Threshold AssignS a brightness threshold for use on subsequent difference-alignment operations.
Operations: Align RGB Channels Separately Toggles whether or not to align the red, green, and blue channels separately.
Operations: Power^2 Bounds Dim Selects the dimensions of the Operation Bounds Rectangle when using the power-of-2 option.
Operations: Crop Clips Crops the frames prior to stacking.
Operations: Resample Clips Resamples the frames prior to stacking.
Operations: Rotation Method Selects an interpolation method for rotation.
Operations: Sort clips Sorts the frames based on the method selected. Details are given in the section on planetary processing.
Operations: Sum/Stack all included frames Produces a 96 bit (32 bits per red, green, blue channel) mean-based (average) stack of the included frames.

Operations: Gaussian Blur Gaussian blurs the stacked image.
Operations: Unsharp Mask Unsharp masks the stacked image.
Operations: Laplacian Pyramid Sharpen Laplacian sharpens the stacked image.
Operations: Fourier Transform Editor Presents an interface in which you may paint out areas of the power spectrum that correspond to periodic noise artifacts.
Operations: Wavelet Shrinkage Denoise Denoises the stacked image.
Operations: Adjust Histograms/Levels Adjusts the levels of the stacked image.
Operations: Star Beautification Performs deringing and debloating on stars.
Operations: Transform Rotates and/or flips the stacked image.
Operations: Resample Bins the stacked image 4 to 1 or 9 to 1. Increases the dynamic range by 4 or 9.

Threads: Synchronize feedback to thread progress Specifies whether the cyan border and the Frame Inspector window reliably reflect the progress of multi-threaded tasks. With this option disabled, these forms of feedback may lag behind the actual progress of the task (the task may end before the cyan border has hilighted all selected clips). However, with this option enabled there may be a slight increase of overall time required to complete the task.

Threads: Number of threads Sets the number of threads to use for parallel operations. Also lets you set whether or not to keep the display synchronized to thread progress during a threaded operation.

View: Small/Medium/Large Clips Sets the size of the clips in the Clips Window.

View: Minimal Visual Feedback Disables the cyan border around the clips and updates to the Frame Inspector Window during long, multi-clip tasks. This may speed the task up considerably, but has the cost of making it more difficult to monitor the progress of the task. However, the Working Dialog and associated progress bar will still be presented.

View: Channels Specifies which channels are shown in the Stack Window.

CLIPS WINDOW COMMANDS
How to Perform the Command Description of the Command
Mouse click/drag with shift key Makes a selection of the clips for a subsequent operation. Selected clips are marked with a thin yellow outline.
Mouse click Toggles stack inclusion on all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) (excluded clips have a red X over them).
Mouse click with option key Completely removes any alignment on all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty)
Mouse click with control key Toggles darkframe subtraction on all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) (darkframe subtracted clips have a 'D' in the upper right corner).
Mouse click with control and shift keys Toggles flat field division on all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) (flat field frame divided clips have an 'F' in the upper right corner).
Mouse click with command key Performs any other command such that all clips are treated like the clip under the mouse. Otherwise each clip is processed separately (can have different effects if a selection of clips includes a mixture of settings). For example, if a selection has some clips stack-included, and others not, the default behavior when clicking on the selection is to toggle each clip individually. Holding down the command key will make all the selected clips match the clip that is clicked on.
Mouse click with '1', '2', or '3' keys Autoaligns by difference the translation of all selected clips to the reference frame (the first clip). '1' autoaligns fastest if the translation is off by more than 15 pixels, '2' autoaligns fastest if the translation is off by 5 to 15 pixels, and '3' autoaligns fastest if the translation is off by fewer than 5 pixels. It doesn't matter too much which method you use, it's only a speed issue.
Mouse click with '4' key Autaligns by centroid the translation of all selected clips. This method is less precise than the difference method and should be followed by a difference alignment, but might it might be faster to use this method first. It's up to you.
Mouse click with '5' key Autaligns by cross-correlation the translation of all selected clips. Slower than centroid alignment, but it's there if you want it.
Mouse click with '6', '7', or '8' keys Autoaligns by difference the rotation of all selected clips to the reference frame (the first clip). '6' autoaligns fastest if the alignment is off by more than 4 degrees, '7' autoaligns fastest if the rotation is off by 2 to 4 degrees, and '8' autoaligns fastest if the rotation is off by fewer than 1 or 2 degrees. It doesn't matter too much which method you use, it's only a speed issue.
'[', ']', '{', or '}' keys If there are more clips than can fit in the Clips Window at its present size, these keys move back forth through the pages of clips. The square brackets, '[' and ']', move in half pages, and the curly brackets, '{' and '}' move in whole pages.
'R' key Sets the clip under the mouse to the reference frame by switching places with the first frame.
'D' key Permanantly deletes all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) from the workspace.
'N' key Normalizes all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty). Details are given in the section on planetary processing.
'M' key Median filters all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty). Should be used sparingly, with a low threshold. Primarily intended as a method to fill in hot pixel holes, not as a denoising technique (for which median filtering is commonly used). Denoising is better accomplished through stacking.
'B' key (uppercase) Debayers all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty). This is for use with RAW modded cameras that receive the Bayer matrix pattern from the camera. Different clips may require different Bayer patterns, so it is recommended to deBayer the reference frame manually, and then deBayer the rest to match it.
'b' key (lowercase) Removes deBayering from all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty).
arrow keys Manually nudges all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) by one pixel.
arrow keys with shift and/or control and/or option keys Manually nudges all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) by 5, 25, or 125 pixels. The number of modifier keys held down determines how large the nudge is. It doesn't matter which of the three modifier keys are used though (holding down shift, control, or option alone, will nudge by 5 pixels, any two of those keys will nudge by 25, and all three will nudge by 125).
'z', 'x' (lowercase) Manually rotates all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) by .36 degrees.
'Z', 'X' (uppercase) Manually rotates all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) by 3.6 degrees.

FRAME INSPECTOR WINDOW COMMANDS
How to Perform the Command Description of the Command
Space key Forces the Frame Inspector Window to display the reference frame. Otherwise the Frame Inspector Window displays the clip under the mouse.
Mouse click/drag Defines an Operation Bounds Rectangle.
Mouse click/drag with control key Defines an Operation Bounds Rectangle that is forced to be of power-of-2 dimensions.

FRAME STACK WINDOW COMMANDS
How to Perform the Command Description of the Command
arrow keys with '1', '2', or '3' keys Manually nudges the red, green and blue channels of the Frame Stack by one pixel.

MENU COMMANDS
How to Perform the Command	Description of the Command
File: Open and Add Images/Movies	Brings images and quicktime movies into the workspace. Details of the interface for opening movies are described in the section on planetary processing.
File: Open Dark Frame	Selects a dark frame image.
File: Open Flat Field Frame	Selects a flat field frame image.
File: Open FITS File as Stack	Opens one FITS file as a red, green, or blue channel of the stack.
File: Open Raw File as Stack	Opens one Raw file as the stack.

File: Save Stack as 32-bit PICT	Saves the stack as a 32 bit PICT file.
File: Save Stack as 48/96-bit FITS	Saves the stack as three FITS files, one each for red, green, and blue, at 16 or 32 bits per component per file.
File: Save Stack as 48/96-bit Raw	Saves the stack as a Raw file at 16 or 32 bits per pixel component.

File: Open Workspace	Opens a workspace file (the state of the Clips Window).
File: Save Workspace	Saves the workspace (the state of the Clips Window) to a single file for further processing.
File: Dump Workspace	Dumps the workspace (the state of the Clips Window) to a set of PICT files.

File: Close Window	Close the current window.

Edit: Select All	Selects all the frames.
Edit: Deselect All	Deselects all the frames.
Edit: Invert Selection	Inverts the frame selection.
Edit: Select Included	Selects only the frames that are to be included in the stack.

Operations: Create Hot Pixel Mask	Creates a mask that excludes hot pixels during stacking.
Operations: Set Alignment Brightness Threshold	AssignS a brightness threshold for use on subsequent difference-alignment operations.
Operations: Align RGB Channels Separately	Toggles whether or not to align the red, green, and blue channels separately.
Operations: Power^2 Bounds Dim	Selects the dimensions of the Operation Bounds Rectangle when using the power-of-2 option.
Operations: Crop Clips	Crops the frames prior to stacking.
Operations: Resample Clips	Resamples the frames prior to stacking.
Operations: Rotation Method	Selects an interpolation method for rotation.
Operations: Sort clips	Sorts the frames based on the method selected. Details are given in the section on planetary processing.
Operations: Sum/Stack all included frames	Produces a 96 bit (32 bits per red, green, blue channel) mean-based (average) stack of the included frames.

Operations: Gaussian Blur	Gaussian blurs the stacked image.
Operations: Unsharp Mask	Unsharp masks the stacked image.
Operations: Laplacian Pyramid Sharpen	Laplacian sharpens the stacked image.
Operations: Fourier Transform Editor	Presents an interface in which you may paint out areas of the power spectrum that correspond to periodic noise artifacts.
Operations: Wavelet Shrinkage Denoise	Denoises the stacked image.
Operations: Adjust Histograms/Levels	Adjusts the levels of the stacked image.
Operations: Star Beautification	Performs deringing and debloating on stars.
Operations: Transform	Rotates and/or flips the stacked image.
Operations: Resample	Bins the stacked image 4 to 1 or 9 to 1. Increases the dynamic range by 4 or 9.

Threads: Synchronize feedback to thread progress	Specifies whether the cyan border and the Frame Inspector window reliably reflect the progress of multi-threaded tasks. With this option disabled, these forms of feedback may lag behind the actual progress of the task (the task may end before the cyan border has hilighted all selected clips). However, with this option enabled there may be a slight increase of overall time required to complete the task.

Threads: Number of threads	Sets the number of threads to use for parallel operations. Also lets you set whether or not to keep the display synchronized to thread progress during a threaded operation.

View: Small/Medium/Large Clips	Sets the size of the clips in the Clips Window.

View: Minimal Visual Feedback	Disables the cyan border around the clips and updates to the Frame Inspector Window during long, multi-clip tasks. This may speed the task up considerably, but has the cost of making it more difficult to monitor the progress of the task. However, the Working Dialog and associated progress bar will still be presented.

View: Channels	Specifies which channels are shown in the Stack Window.

CLIPS WINDOW COMMANDS
How to Perform the Command	Description of the Command
Mouse click/drag with shift key	Makes a selection of the clips for a subsequent operation. Selected clips are marked with a thin yellow outline.
Mouse click	Toggles stack inclusion on all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) (excluded clips have a red X over them).
Mouse click with option key	Completely removes any alignment on all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty)
Mouse click with control key	Toggles darkframe subtraction on all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) (darkframe subtracted clips have a 'D' in the upper right corner).
Mouse click with control and shift keys	Toggles flat field division on all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) (flat field frame divided clips have an 'F' in the upper right corner).
Mouse click with command key	Performs any other command such that all clips are treated like the clip under the mouse. Otherwise each clip is processed separately (can have different effects if a selection of clips includes a mixture of settings). For example, if a selection has some clips stack-included, and others not, the default behavior when clicking on the selection is to toggle each clip individually. Holding down the command key will make all the selected clips match the clip that is clicked on.
Mouse click with '1', '2', or '3' keys	Autoaligns by difference the translation of all selected clips to the reference frame (the first clip). '1' autoaligns fastest if the translation is off by more than 15 pixels, '2' autoaligns fastest if the translation is off by 5 to 15 pixels, and '3' autoaligns fastest if the translation is off by fewer than 5 pixels. It doesn't matter too much which method you use, it's only a speed issue.
Mouse click with '4' key	Autaligns by centroid the translation of all selected clips. This method is less precise than the difference method and should be followed by a difference alignment, but might it might be faster to use this method first. It's up to you.
Mouse click with '5' key	Autaligns by cross-correlation the translation of all selected clips. Slower than centroid alignment, but it's there if you want it.
Mouse click with '6', '7', or '8' keys	Autoaligns by difference the rotation of all selected clips to the reference frame (the first clip). '6' autoaligns fastest if the alignment is off by more than 4 degrees, '7' autoaligns fastest if the rotation is off by 2 to 4 degrees, and '8' autoaligns fastest if the rotation is off by fewer than 1 or 2 degrees. It doesn't matter too much which method you use, it's only a speed issue.
'[', ']', '{', or '}' keys	If there are more clips than can fit in the Clips Window at its present size, these keys move back forth through the pages of clips. The square brackets, '[' and ']', move in half pages, and the curly brackets, '{' and '}' move in whole pages.
'R' key	Sets the clip under the mouse to the reference frame by switching places with the first frame.
'D' key	Permanantly deletes all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) from the workspace.
'N' key	Normalizes all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty). Details are given in the section on planetary processing.
'M' key	Median filters all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty). Should be used sparingly, with a low threshold. Primarily intended as a method to fill in hot pixel holes, not as a denoising technique (for which median filtering is commonly used). Denoising is better accomplished through stacking.
'B' key (uppercase)	Debayers all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty). This is for use with RAW modded cameras that receive the Bayer matrix pattern from the camera. Different clips may require different Bayer patterns, so it is recommended to deBayer the reference frame manually, and then deBayer the rest to match it.
'b' key (lowercase)	Removes deBayering from all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty).
arrow keys	Manually nudges all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) by one pixel.
arrow keys with shift and/or control and/or option keys	Manually nudges all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) by 5, 25, or 125 pixels. The number of modifier keys held down determines how large the nudge is. It doesn't matter which of the three modifier keys are used though (holding down shift, control, or option alone, will nudge by 5 pixels, any two of those keys will nudge by 25, and all three will nudge by 125).
'z', 'x' (lowercase)	Manually rotates all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) by .36 degrees.
'Z', 'X' (uppercase)	Manually rotates all selected clips (or the clip under the mouse if the selection is empty) by 3.6 degrees.

FRAME INSPECTOR WINDOW COMMANDS
How to Perform the Command	Description of the Command
Space key	Forces the Frame Inspector Window to display the reference frame. Otherwise the Frame Inspector Window displays the clip under the mouse.
Mouse click/drag	Defines an Operation Bounds Rectangle.
Mouse click/drag with control key	Defines an Operation Bounds Rectangle that is forced to be of power-of-2 dimensions.

FRAME STACK WINDOW COMMANDS
How to Perform the Command	Description of the Command
arrow keys with '1', '2', or '3' keys	Manually nudges the red, green and blue channels of the Frame Stack by one pixel.