ImPPG

Photos often need to undergo further processing after they are captured, and this is especially true for astrophotography. There are plenty of image editors out there that you can rely on, but a specialized utility may be a far better option.

ImPPG is an open-source utility that can help you perform several post-processing operations and align sequences of images. It was mostly designed with astrophotographers in mind, but it can be used to process other types of images as well.

ImPPG is primarily intended to be used for fine-tuning images of the sun. To begin with, it can automatically adjust a picture’s brightness levels so that they wall within a user-defined range, and it also comes with a simple-to-use tone curve editor.

The application can also perform image sharpening through non-blind Lucy–Richardson deconvolution. You can set the Sigma value and number of iterations, as well as reduce ringing.

Finally, ImPPG enables you to sharpen or blur the image, and an adaptive mode is available for users who wish to have more control over the operation.

Once you’ve configured the parameters for a processing job, you can save the settings to an XML file and load them later. In batch processing mode, you can use these configurations to edit a large number of images in one go.

When capturing multiple shots with inaccurate tracking, it may be necessary to align them in order to create a seamless animation. Thankfully, ImPPG can help you correct these issues, and this feature can have uses outside of astrophotography as well.

There isn’t much we can say about the program’s user interface, but it features a minimalistic design and is very easy to work with. It is also possible to customize the dimensions of the toolbar icons.

You can find detailed documentation on the project’s homepage, so do not hesitate to check it out if you need more information.

Overall, ImPPG is a great post-processing tool for astrophotographers, particularly those who need to process solar images. It is easy to work with and provides users with comprehensive documentation.