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Welcome to Dark Master

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[Installation]
[Getting Started]
[Configuration]
[Supported Cameras]
[DSS Integration]

Introduction

When working with long-exposure images, thermal noise can lower the image quality (signal-to-noise ratio). Thus, it is common to calibrate image files with "dark frames", which are images taken at the same ISO, Exposure and Temperature as the light frames. Ideally, you would take many dark frames at the same temperature as the lights frames and stack them together to get a single “Master Dark” frame. Stacking will remove random noise and leave the dark signal intact so it can be effectively removed from the light frames. Many astrophotographers have built up a “library” of dark frames at various ISO/Exposure/Temperature. However…

Controlling the ISO and Exposure is easy; controlling the Temperature is not.

This is where Dark Master can help. It will examine the exif data of your light frames and dark frames and organize them by temperature (assuming your image files have CameraTemperature as a part of the exif data. See: [Supported Cameras])

Dark Master will analyze all of your lights and darks from your dark library and group them together so that each group’s temperature is within a certain range. It will then allow you to save a DeepSkyStacker file list, which you can then open in DeepSkyStacker, add your flats, dark flats and bias, and stack!

Project Admins:

• Barry E.