Designing a Pixinsight Core Workflow for Origin

Refined March 2026

Using the Origin as a serious instrument at this stage means moving beyond using the native software app to process images. The native app will get you close with reasonable results, but I still find that the Origin needs a lot of refinement to be on par with stand alone imaging rigs.

The core hardware and electronics of Origin are acceptable. While the camera is not cooled, it is at least consistent. And the Origin is really demanding on its temperature parameters. It is well advised to never work at temperatures below -5C.

When working with the Origin, it is also very important to shoot a lot of darks – specifically darks near the temperature you will be imaging from. Doing this helps clean up a lot of random noise, hot pixels and more that can be properly subtracted out and corrected in processing. You want to put the best signal in storage prior to doing any additional manipulation.

The workflow I am outlining here is preliminary and open to refinement. I have based this workflow around using the FinalStackedMaster files generated and saved by the Origin, as well as on stacking the lights using WBPP. This allows the Origin to run using the app, deliver something that can be viewed and then something which can be retrieved via FTP from the Origin to work with in Pixinsight. It does require you to manage the file storage on your Origin.

STAGE 1 – Preparation for tools

Stage 1 is all about retrieving the data, cropping out the edges, preparing for tools ahead by generating an astrometric solution, and giving some visibility to the end user to begin to assess the steps ahead.

1.    WBPP or single Final Stacked Master

Can be done 2 ways

A.    For WBPP of Final Stacked Master must change to .xisf from .tiff – this way WBPP will recognize them, and you need a minimum of 3 to stack in WBPP – otherwise just convert file to .xisf and bypass WBPP if there are less than 3 files.

B.    To stack all light frames (.fits files), you can load the light frames into Pixinsight, but you need to rename the calibration frames with the word master_ at the leading edge of the name and convert them to .xisf files – this will allow you to load and stack all lights in WBPP instead of in the app. If you do this, be sure to turn on 2x drizzle.

NON-LINEAR PHASE

2.    Turn on Screen Transfer Function

3.    Dynamic Crop (if needed)

4.    Image Solver

STAGE 2 – Gradient Removal

Stage 2 moves into cleaning up light gradients that appear in your images. Removing the ambient signal from your image is vital to having a consistent look and background across the entire image. I much prefer to use Method A.

Pick Either Method A or Method B

Method A (do 5 and 6) Use only if in MARS database

5.    Spectro Photometric Flux Calibration (will tell if in MARS database)

6.    Multiscale Gradient Correction

Proceed to step 8

Method B (do 7) Use if object is NOT in MARS database

7.    Background Extraction (Graxpert if available, can use ABE)

   Proceed to step 8

STAGE 3 – Color Correction

Stage 3 takes us to another level of cleanup, where we neutralize the background of the image, and provide it with details on true to life colors such that when we stretch it, we wind up with a realistic result. I find this step to make a big difference in the end processing, especially in color balance.

8.    Background Neutralization

9.    Spectro Photometric Color Calibration

10.Turn off Screen Transfer Function

STAGE 4 – Cosmetic Corrections

Finally in stage 4, we do those minor fixes that we need to do to our image, namely BlurX to make the stars more pinpoint and NoiseX to get rid of the “splotchy” background noise that finds its way into the image. These two AI steps are huge in giving better images. The Curves transformation at the bottom is there if you need to tweak the final output colors. If you don’t like the MAS, consider the Veralux stretch, or just use one of the many other tools for stretching that you like and design your own.

LINEAR PHASE

11.Multiscale Adaptive Stretch (MAS)

At this point you might do star extraction, create masks, do pixel math, etc

12.BlurXterminator – some say to do in non-linear phase

13.NoiseXterminator – some say to do in non-linear phase

At this point you may do some cosmetic cleanup on halos, etc

14.Curves Transformation (If needed to boost saturation)

15.Save files

At the end of the day, this process is not a magic bullet. Origin still lacks some good and vital core front end software. We really need dithering on this package to contend with walking noise. Some people will go the extra mile and work to process that walking noise out of these images, but it is a patch at best to clean it up when you can prevent it. Some use drizzle in the stacking phase to help average it all out. Some do cosmetic corrections.

Despite all of this, Origin remains a work in progress. The image shown is an example of what this workflow can deliver.