Description
Theia is an AI-driven software created for astrophotographers, aimed at enhancing fine details of night sky images by restoring the image with a smaller, more circular point spread function. As a standalone tool, it fits smoothly into any editing workflow, offering specialized deconvolution without tying users to a specific editing platform.
Key Features:
- AI-Driven Deconvolution: Take advantage of AI algorithms trained on astrophotography, Theia can distinguish between noise and the details of stellar and nonstellar objects, ensuring the noise within an image is not sharpened, like with traditional solutions.
- Standalone Utility: Its standalone nature allows Theia to be a part of your editing process, compatible with many other photo editing software you prefer for prior or subsequent adjustments.
- User-Friendly Interface: Designed to be accessible, Theia caters to all skill levels, ensuring an easy-to-understand deconvolution process.
- Workflow Integration: Easily integrate deconvolved images into your existing editing workflow, thanks to Theia’s compatibility with many photo editing tools.
- Detail Preservation: The software’s algorithm ensures that while it effectively reduces blur and aberrations, the noise remains unchanged.
Theia stands out for its dedicated approach to astrophotography deconvolution, offering a simple yet powerful tool that deblurs astro images without enhancing unwanted artifacts.
How to use
Starting Up:
- When you launch Theia, it may take a moment to initialize. This is a normal part of the startup process.
Selecting the AI Model:
- Upon purchase of Theia, there will be an option to download the current AI model version.
- After downloading, click on the “Select AI” button.
- Locate and select the model file, typically named “AIx.x.pth”.
Selecting the Input Image and the Output Directory:
- Click on the “Input Image” button to upload your astrophotography image.
- Please note that the program accepts 32-bit RGB/mono FITS images only.
- The input images should be minimally processed. Ideally directly after initial cropping, gradient correction, and color correction.
- The “Output Directory” is where your processed image will be saved.
- By default, Theia will save to the same folder as your input image.
Settings:
- Adaptive PSF: Theia dynamically generates a PSF for each tile it processes, accounting for variations across the image due to atmospheric turbulence, optical aberrations, or sensor idiosyncrasies. This mode is currently experimental and is subject to further updating.
- Manual Mode: Theia permits the manual specification of the Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM). This value dictates the assumed shape and size of a circular PSF with the provided FWHM, enabling the model to perform restoration based on this parameter.
- Sharpen Amount: Theia allows the user to decide how much sharpening is applied to the image. This slider will decide the intensity of the sharpening on each tile it processes.
- Luminance Only: This mode isolates the luminance of an RGB image for deconvolution, leaving the color balance unaltered.
- Circularize Only: This mode attempts to transform elongated or distorted stars into more symmetrical, circular shapes, without altering their size.
- Large Overlap: This mode is recommended when the standard mode gives tiling artifacts. These could be in the form of a faint dark grid in the image or distinct lines.
Processing Your Image:
- Once you’re happy with the settings, click the “Process” button to start the deconvolution.
- The loading bar may not start immediately. Please be patient; the program is still working on your image.
- After the processing is complete, a message will pop up to inform you.
- Click “OK” on this message, and the processed image will be available in the output folder.
- The processed file will have the same name as the original, but with “_Theia” appended to it.
Requirements
- CPU: Most modern x86 CPUs
- RAM: 4GB or more
- Storage: Up to 5GB for setup, executable, and AI model if you opt for GPU accelerated version.
- GPU: 4GB VRAM (for GPU accelerated version) and matching criteria in this article.
- Operating System: Windows 10 or higher (limited to windows currently)
Changelog
Program-AI Versions
Notes
1.0.2-1.1 (BETA)
Program Changes: Minor bug fix
– Fixed issue where program threading may cause license validation to stop responding.
1.0.1-1.1 (BETA)
Program Changes: Minor bug fixes.
– Fixed issue where mono images were saved with 3 dimensions rather than 2. This caused issues with software that did not support 3 dimension mono images with a channel value of 1.
– Fixed issue where FITS headers containing Theia settings were concatenated into a single comment, along with other miscellaneous header formatting issues.
– Fixed file name formatting issue when input filename contains more than one period.
1.0.0-1.1 (BETA)
Program Release: The initial beta version 1.0.0 of Theia has been launched.
AI Model: AI version 1.1 is now available and integrated within the software.
Notes: As this is the first release in beta, we welcome feedback and suggestions to improve functionality and user experience for future updates.