StarNet 2.5 plugin

for Astroart 9 / 8 / 7 / 6, version 2.5.

LICENSE

This plugin is released as freeware.
This plugin is provided "AS IS". It's not guaranteed that it will work properly on all PCs and related hardware. This plugin and its documentation are provided without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including the fitness for every purpose.
About StarNet, see the README.txt and LICENSE in the StarNet installation folder for more information.
Please note that StarNet requires a modern CPU with AVX instructions (available since 2011) and Windows 10/11 64 bit. Memory and CPU usage is intensive.

ABOUT

This plugin connects with StarNet, a software which removes stars from an image using a neural network, e.g. artificial intelligence. See: https://www.starnetastro.com.

STARNET INSTALLATION

Visit the web site: https://www.starnetastro.com, click "Command Line Tool", then "StarNet CLI tool" at the bottom of the page, then "Windows" (both the Zip version and the Installer version are supported, select the one you prefer).

PLUGIN INSTALLATION

To install this plugin (after having installed StarNet, see above) copy the files pistarnet2.dll, p64istarnet2.dll and this guide (StarnetPlugin-readme.htm) into the Astroart installation directory, usually C:\ProgramFilesX86(..)\Astroart.

USAGE

In Astroart, click the menu "Plugins" then "StarNet plugin". The first time, select the folder where you installed StarNet.
StarNet requires an image with a real 16 bit dynamic (approx 0..65000, so displayed in Astroart with a range approx 0..65000). Any range between 50000 and 70000 is acceptable, but below 10000 the plugin will refuse to start. If your image has a lower dynamic you may use the Astroart menu command "Arithmetic / Scale / Transfer function" or "Multiply constant" to fix it. It's also possible to use the command "Histogram Stretch" with dynamic 65535 or just the DDP filter.
If you are processing a 8 bit image (for example, a JPEG), you may scale the image automatically with the option "Image is 8 bit".
As a first test, use an image smaller than 2000x2000 pixels, because the processing is slow and CPU intensive, and cannot be stopped. You may crop a region from an your image (bigger than 512x512, which is the minimum size).

HISTORY

2026/07/04: 2.50 Compatible with StarNet 2.5.
2023/07/31: 2.01 Configuration is now always saved, improved documentation.
2022/05/13: 2.00 Compatible with StarNet version 2.0, can be launched by scripts.
2020/11/08: 1.00 The first release.