Configuration on Astro Live Stacker

A successful session

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:39 +0000

📘 Introduction

This chapter is your roadmap for running a successful ALS session and monitoring its progress.

It wraps up the presentation of ALS main concepts before you dive into the user interface guide.

⚙️ Setup

Whether you’re shooting DSO live, preparing data for detailed post-processing, or diving into something more artistic, these steps will help you get the best out of ALS every time.

✔️ Choose Your Profile

EAA: For live imaging

main controls

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:39 +0000

Introduction

During this chapter, you will:

get familiar with ALS main controls
Deepen your knowledge on key features

Overview

The ALS control station is the Main Controls interface panel

Located on the left side of the ALS interface, it organizes the most used controls and displays into sections:

Session

Session controls and status
Stack

Stack controls and stack information
Image Server

Image server controls and status
Image Saver

Image saving tools

Processing

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:39 +0000

Introduction

In this chapter, you will learn how to improve your images using the Processing panel.

Overview

The Processing panel is the control room for the Process module in ALS.

Located on the right side of the interface, this panel organizes image processing controls into several sections:

Histogram
A graphical representation of pixel intensity distribution.
Auto Stretch
Adjust the strength of the automatic stretch.
Levels
Fine-tune overall exposure and adjust black and white clipping.

Preferences

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 23:57:05 +0000

The vast majority of the application configuration is done through the Preferences window.

Preferences are divided into 3 groups:

General

Main settings
Process

Image processing settings
Output

Disk saving and image server settings

General Tab

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:46:48 +0000

The most critical ALS settings are presented in the General tab.

Overview

This tab is divided into 3 sections:

The General tab in ALS preferences

Scanner

Scan Folder

ℹ️ This setting can only be modified when the session is stopped.

Defines the path of the folder monitored by ALS to detect subs recorded by your acquisition system.

Process Tab

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:39 +0000

The ALS processing settings are presented in the Preferences page Process tab

Overview

This tab contains only one section: Preprocess

It gathers the settings for all calibration tasks:

Preferences page Process tab

Output Tab

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:20:09 +0000

The settings governing ALS outputs are presented in the Output tab.

Overview

This tab is divided into 2 sections:

The Output tab in preferences

Save

Here are the output file format, output folders, and autosave function settings

Format

ALS saves the main output images in one of the following formats:

TIFF
PNG
JPEG

Main output file format preferences

A successful session

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:38 +0000

📘 Introduction

This chapter is your roadmap for running a successful ALS session and monitoring its progress.

It wraps up the presentation of ALS main concepts before you dive into the user interface guide.

⚙️ Setup

Whether you’re shooting DSO live, preparing data for detailed post-processing, or diving into something more artistic, these steps will help you get the best out of ALS every time.

✔️ Choose Your Profile

EAA: For live imaging

main controls

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:38 +0000

Introduction

During this chapter, you will:

get familiar with ALS main controls
Deepen your knowledge on key features

Overview

The ALS control station is the Main Controls interface panel

Located on the left side of the ALS interface, it organizes the most used controls and displays into sections:

Session

Session controls and status
Stack

Stack controls and stack information
Image Server

Image server controls and status
Image Saver

Image saving tools

Processing

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:38 +0000

Introduction

In this chapter, you will learn how to improve your images using the Processing panel.

Overview

The Processing panel is the control room for the Process module in ALS.

Located on the right side of the interface, this panel organizes image processing controls into several sections:

Histogram
A graphical representation of pixel intensity distribution.
Auto Stretch
Adjust the strength of the automatic stretch.
Levels
Fine-tune overall exposure and adjust black and white clipping.

Preferences

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 23:57:05 +0000

The vast majority of the application configuration is done through the Preferences window.

Preferences are divided into 3 groups:

General

Main settings
Process

Image processing settings
Output

Disk saving and image server settings

General Tab

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:46:48 +0000

The most critical ALS settings are presented in the General tab.

Overview

This tab is divided into 3 sections:

The General tab in ALS preferences

Scanner

Scan Folder

ℹ️ This setting can only be modified when the session is stopped.

Defines the path of the folder monitored by ALS to detect subs recorded by your acquisition system.

Process Tab

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:38 +0000

The ALS processing settings are presented in the Preferences page Process tab

Overview

This tab contains only one section: Preprocess

It gathers the settings for all calibration tasks:

Preferences page Process tab

Output Tab

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:20:09 +0000

The settings governing ALS outputs are presented in the Output tab.

Overview

This tab is divided into 2 sections:

The Output tab in preferences

Save

Here are the output file format, output folders, and autosave function settings.

Format

ALS saves the main output images in one of the following formats:

A successful session

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:39 +0000

📘 Introduction

This chapter is your roadmap for running a successful ALS session and monitoring its progress.

It wraps up the presentation of ALS main concepts before you dive into the user interface guide.

⚡ Startup

ALS can be launched either from its graphical interface or directly from the command line, depending on your workflow or automation needs.

Graphical launch:
Simply start ALS as any other application. You’ll land in the main window, ready to configure your session.

main controls

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:39 +0000

Introduction

During this chapter, you will:

get familiar with ALS main controls
Deepen your knowledge on key features

Overview

The ALS control station is the Main Controls interface panel

Located on the left side of the ALS interface, it organizes the most used controls and displays into sections:

Session

Session controls and status
Stack

Stack controls and stack information
Image Server

Image server controls and status
Image Saver

Image saving tools

Processing

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:51:43 +0000

Introduction

In this chapter, you will learn how to improve your images using the Processing panel.

Overview

The Processing panel is the control room for the Process module in ALS.

Located on the right side of the interface, this panel organizes image processing controls into several sections:

Histogram
A graphical representation of pixel intensity distribution.
Auto Stretch
Adjust the strength of the automatic stretch.
Levels
Fine-tune overall exposure and adjust black and white clipping.

Preferences

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 23:43:23 +0000

The vast majority of the application configuration is done through the Preferences window.

Preferences are divided into 3 groups:

General

Main settings
Process

Image processing settings
Output

Disk saving and image server settings

General Tab

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:46:48 +0000

The most critical ALS settings are presented in the General tab.

Overview

This tab is divided into 3 sections:

The General tab in ALS preferences

Scanner

Scan folder

ℹ️ This setting can only be modified when the session is stopped.

Defines the path of the folder monitored by ALS to detect subs recorded by your acquisition system.

Process Tab

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:33:39 +0000

The ALS processing settings are presented in the Preferences page Process tab

Overview

This tab contains only one section: Preprocess

It gathers the settings for all calibration tasks:

Preferences page Process tab

Output Tab

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:20:09 +0000

The settings governing ALS outputs are presented in the Output tab.

Overview

This tab is divided into 2 sections:

The Output tab in preferences

Save

Here are the output file format, output folders, and autosave function settings.

Format

ALS saves the main output images in one of the following formats: