The astrophotography darkroom

Nebula StudioBETA

On your deviceYour original stays untouched

0 of 10 steps complete

No image openLocal workspace

Open an image

Drop your stack or photograph here.

FITS · TIFF · PNG · JPEG · WebP

Ready for an imageUp to 40 MP · 256 MB

Workspace

START

Recent edits

Settings saved here. Reselect the original to continue.

Sample images

Try real mono data

Phone-friendly cutout · downloads only when opened

Which file should I open?⌄

Use a stacked, demosaiced RGB or monochrome FITS, or a 16-bit TIFF. Studio does not stack raw exposures.

PNG, JPEG and already-processed images work too. Choose “Already processed” in the first step.

Save a Studio project to keep originals, channels, your current edit and AI results together. Browser recipes save settings only. AI models download only when you run their tools; phone image limits are lower.

On this device · no automatic uploads

Your next capture starts hereStarting viewLocal workspace

Starting viewEdited

Fitted background · contrast boosted for inspection

Blue: clipped shadowsOrange: clipped highlightsPink: both

Preparing image…

Drop to open in Studio

Starting viewEdited

Fit

Full-resolution exports

Start with a stack. Finish with something worth sharing.

Develop

HistogramRGB

STEP 1 OF 10Not reviewed

Check your starting image

Tell Studio where you are starting. Your original stays untouched.

What are you starting with? Unstretched stackDevelop faint signal from a linear image. Already processedRefine an image that has been stretched. Not sureKeep every step available and choose as you go.

Your saved adjustments are restored. Choosing a route does not reset them; check any layers marked for rebuilding.

Studio gave this format a starting display stretch. If the file was already stretched, start with neutral levels instead.

Device & file checks

Stack and demosaic your captures first. RGB editing currently assumes sRGB primaries; ICC profiles are not converted.

Happy with the framing? Continue without changing it.

Your image, four starting points. Pick by eye, then refine below.

Shadows at black—Highlights at white—

Checking preview

Preview estimates: pixels with at least one clipped channel, not a full-resolution quality score.

An AI result needs rebuilding. Return to its step to rebuild it or switch it off before exporting.

Overall balance

Compare against the starting image. Look for a natural background and preserved faint structure.

I’ve checked the overall balance

Stars & fine detail

At 1:1, inspect bright stars, halos, cores and faint nebulosity. Pan around the image.

I’ve checked stars and fine detail

Removed detail

If you used AI, inspect what it removed. Real nebulosity should not be mistaken for noise or stars.

Checked, or no AI layers used

Tick the three checks when you have reviewed them, or choose Skip review to continue without signing them off.

16-bit TIFF or PNG for further editing. JPEG for sharing.

Processing summary

A recipe keeps settings, not AI pixels. Keep your original and export any layers you need before closing.

Layers Finished image!⌄

An earlier adjustment changed, or this result is not in memory. Rebuild the marked AI layer or switch it off. Exports will wait for this to be resolved.

Original preserved. Select a layer to inspect it on the same canvas.

Keeping your layers

Layers stay in memory while this image is open. Download those you want to keep before closing. Saved recipes retain your settings; reopen the original and rebuild its AI layers to continue.

Local AI, licences & source ↗

Denoise

Not created

GraXpert AI reduces noise before the stretch. Keep some texture; inspect the residual for lost detail.

Stars already separated: denoise changes also refresh star separation. Your current image and star amount are kept until the update is ready.

Apply denoise layer Strength65% 478 MB model · downloads on first use · your image stays local.

Star separation

Not created

Keep the nebula and stars in separate layers. No new image, no lost history.

Apply star separation Star amount0%

StarlessAll stars

218 MB model · full-resolution layers · 4 MP mobile / 12 MP desktop originals.

LOCAL AI

Clean background

GraXpert

Estimate uneven sky glow from your original. Best on a linear stack; compare carefully around faint nebulae.

217.7 MB model · downloads once when you run it.

Apply AI correction Correction strength100% Background smoothing

About local processing

Your image stays on your device. AI and sampled correction are alternatives; enabling one switches off the other. Protection markers affect sampled correction only.

The model is cached where browser storage allows. Reopen an original and run estimation again to rebuild its AI background; saved recipes keep the strength and smoothing settings.

GraXpert model, licence & integration source ↗

Astro finishingNeutral⌄

Apply astro finishing

Colour finesse

Vibrance0%Lift muted colour, with protection for the darkest background. Background saturation100%Lower to calm colour speckling in dark areas. This is a tonal mask, not noise removal. Green cast reduction0%Reduce dominant green only. Use cautiously on narrowband palettes and genuine green emission.

Stars & bright detail

Highlight softening0%A gentle brightness roll-off. Cannot recover detail already clipped in your source. Star colour100%Separate stars first to adjust their colour independently.

Every adjustment is reversible

Repair toolsNo repairs⌄

Apply repairs

Heal small spots from surrounding sky. Use Clone for texture; avoid painting over real detail.

Brush diameter24 pxOriginal-image pixels · soft edge Strength100%

Repairs affect the finished image only. Erase reveals the processed image beneath them, not transparency. Each stroke can be undone.

Stretch & levels⌄

Bring faint signal out of the background.

Stretch0 Black point0 White point1 Exposure · EV0

Starting points, not filters. Your colour, curve and background adjustments stay intact.

Tone curve⌄

Shadows25% Midtones50% Highlights75%

Colour⌄

Saturation1 Red balance1 Green balance1 Blue balance1

Manual colour balance, not photometric calibration.

Sampled background⌄

Gradient model

For a smooth gradient across the frame. At least 6 sky samples.

Canvas tool New protection radius12%

Drag a marker to move it. Tap it to remove it.

Correct background0 samples

Add sky samples to assess the gradient.

Correction strength100% Neutralise background colour Inspect fitted background

Advanced sampling & reset

Auto gridSample radius

Best on linear stacks. Purple regions exclude samples, not the correction. The model view is contrast-boosted and is never exported.

Give the nebula some room

Use star separation above, then fine-tune star colour in Astro finishing.

Crop & rotation⌄

Straighten0.0°

Rotation resets the crop and trims empty corners. Fine-tune your crop afterwards.

Output resolution

Average four finished pixels into one for a smaller, smoother result. Trades fine detail for lower pixel-to-pixel noise; not sensor binning. Your original and AI inputs stay full resolution.

Edit history & recipe⌄

Open an image to begin.

Settings stay on this browser for your last ten images. Reopen the same file to resume; save a recipe to keep them elsewhere.

Source & processing⌄

32-bit floating-point working data. Display previews never replace your source pixels.

Stack and demosaic your captures first. Deblurring is not included.

Start

Original protected

Current Studio edit

Preparing your image…

Fit

Preview zoom · inspect at 1:1

Prepare your image in Develop, then separate the stars.

Star separation

A little less starlight.
Room for the faint stuff.

Processing settings Process

Horizontal positionVertical position

Advanced settings

Overlap Processing

Your image stays on this device.

218 MB model download on first use.

Make it yours

Stars returned50%

Star colour100%

0% neutral · 100% original colour

Inspect the Stars only layer for lost nebulosity before keeping the result.

Compare Before / selected layer

Opens the selected full-image layer as a new 16-bit image in Develop. Keep your original to revisit earlier edits.

Processing details

AI can remove real structure or leave halos. Check faint nebulosity and bright stars at full resolution.

Uses the current crop, stretch, colour and background correction. Full-image limit: 12 MP desktop / 4 MP mobile or low-memory devices. Larger images can use test patches; nothing is silently resized.

Results stay here when you switch to Develop. Changing the input edit requires a new separation. Download before opening another image or leaving Studio. Star separation is not stored in your recipe.

Star colour adjusts only the extracted stars, not the nebula. Strong colour boosts can clip highlights; 100% keeps the original star colour. Preview zoom is for navigation; use 1:1 to check native pixels.

Check the faint stuff

Star detail · 100%

LayerCompare original

Original / Starless

Reading native pixels…

Local processing32-bit workspace/Original protected

Plan it. Capture it. Make it yours.

Night Planner ↗Sky Map ↗Gallery ↗

Example images

Start with a real sky

Seven images with stars, at their original resolution. Start with the Cave Nebula for the quickest full-image test. Processing starts only when you choose Separate stars.

Choose by eye

Find your starting look.

These are previews of your image, not filters. Choosing one applies the same settings at full resolution.

Protect the faint stuff

Review sky samples

Amber samples disagree with the fitted gradient; their influence is reduced, not removed. Check each patch for stars or nebulosity.

Choose a sample

Sky sample

Outlined area · current stretch · no correction

What do these checks mean?

Residuals are differences from the model in normalised source RGB, not a calibration score. A good fit can still subtract real nebulosity: review the image too.

Actual image detail

100% inspection

Reading full-resolution pixels…

Explore different looks

Comparison snapshots

Name this look

Snapshots stay on this browser with this exact source file. Use Compare to choose any two looks; Apply makes a snapshot your editable recipe. Download recipes separately to keep them elsewhere.

Keep your masterpiece

Export your image

Your finished image

Format

Format & colour notes

Exports use your chosen crop, rotation and output resolution, including repairs. FITS exports contain normalised RGB, not calibrated flux; source WCS and capture headers are not retained. RGB editing assumes sRGB primaries; ICC conversion is not available yet.

Or keep a private gallery draft

Members can save private drafts and processing versions. Local editing and downloads work without an account.

CHANNEL COMPOSER

Build your colour image

View

Start with your mono stacksDrop up to four aligned FITS, TIFF or PNG files here.

Preview only · your source files stay untouched.

Choose a palette, then add your mono stacks.

Palette

Source stacks

All input stacks are

Use the same dimensions, format and precision. Do not mix stretched and unstretched stacks.

Input notices

Output channels

RedGain

GreenGain

BlueGain

Luminance source

Choose a point on the image, then blink the channels to check that stars stay in place.

These stacks are already aligned on the same pixel grid.

Matching sizes do not prove alignment. Automatic alignment is not applied.

Your combination

Luminance strength100%

0% keeps RGB alone. 100% uses the L stack for lightness, retaining RGB hue and saturation.

Luminance settings

Luminance gain

HSL lightness blend on the working pixels, without an added stretch. Balance L to your colour data; this is not a greyscale opacity overlay.

Match channel brightnessOptional · linear stacks only

Reference channel

Fits brightness and background to the reference. Not colour calibration or exposure matching. Narrowband structures can differ: compare before accepting.

Matching measurements

Matching is available for unstretched stacks only. Return to Load stacks to change the input type.

Keep this combination

Continue to Studio, then use Project → Save project to keep the source channels, mix and your edits together. Edit mix returns here without reselecting files. Master FITS downloads combined pixels only, without separate channels or WCS.

Add your source stacks to begin.

PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF

Studio project

A local download, not a cloud save. Keep this file to resume on another device. Use Export for a finished image.

Saves the current edit and its retained AI results. Session undo history and comparison snapshots are not included. Up to 768 MB on desktop / 256 MB on phones and low-memory devices; image limits still apply.

UPDATE YOUR SOURCE

Apply this channel mix?

The original comparison will become this new combined master. Save a project first if you want to keep the previous version.

AI background, denoise and star removal must be rebuilt for changed pixels. Undo and comparison snapshots start again. Keeping adjustments requires the same image dimensions.