I'm relatively new to image processing and just wanted to say how straight forward and powerful StarTools is. Thanks for all your hard work and a fantastic product that I can't recommend strongly enough!L. B., United States
As a relative newcomer to Astrophotography, I struggled with post processing using GIMP and other non-aware astro software; then stumbled upon Star Tools a year ago and haven't looked back.N. Gialiris, Canada
Although you can go deep with StarTools, I think for beginners in processing, it is more easy to start working with it than some other software, like GIMP I used to work with.F. M., Belgium
I'm now creating gorgeous images from even mediocre data with very little effort using StarTools.G. B., United States
I discovered StarTools and my photos are now amazing. Thank you StarTools for turning my average photos into amazing ones.R. Forest, Canada
The code and the theory behind it are truly innovative and much easier to use than the competition.E. O., United States
I'm impressed with StarTools, in the sense that it might possible have the best simplicity of use/results ratio of all. I managed to process my fist image in 20 minutes after my first contact with StarTools.P.A., Portugal
No nonsense, affordable astro software that just works.S. Sheriff, Spain
Since I've discovered Star Tools I feel that processing can be something faster, easier and much more intuitive compared with other software. It has really powerful tools not seen in other programs.A. Roig, Barcelona, Catalunya
Your truly innovative and powerful software continues to amaze and delight me!D. Zielke, Canada
Your software makes intuitive sense to me. It is easy and automatic enough to get good results almost immediately, but powerful enough to tweak even more from my data once some time is spent playing with it.P. Brand, Australia
Congratulations for your huge and wonderful masterpiece in image post processing!M. Cecconi, Fundación Galileo Galilei - INAF, Fundación Canaria, Spain
It seemed easy to navigate and concise, but still crammed with advanced functions. Even without reading the documentation in any detail I managed to produce something half decent from a single sub!T. Murray, United Kingdom
I tried your 'Startools' today and was blown away with its blinding speed and unique functionality.R. Higby, Australia
Such a wonderful piece of software.G. Stevens, Australia
StarTools offers a breath of fresh air in a field that at times can be complex and bewildering.BBC The Sky at Night Magazine, April 2013
Having acquired StarTools I'm now starting to feel confident with what I can do in this hobby. And that's a bloody good thing!!M. Vecchi, Australia
I love love love your StarTools! Please keep up the good work! Its an amazing piece of image processing software. I am so glad I found your StarTools.A. Svahins, United States
This ingenious software in my opinion out performs all previous packages I have used in the past.P. Scully, South Africa
Underneath its simple front interface is a powerhouse of tools.BBC The Sky at Night Magazine, April 2013
I am impressed with the ease of working with the package compared to MaxIm DL Pro 5, PI and PSCS2/3/4 with which I am very familiar.J. Giles, Australia
There are many clever things about StarTools, but the most impressive is the way it rejuvenates image processing by combining more primitive algorithms into new routines.BBC The Sky at Night Magazine, April 2013
- Technical FAQ
- Minimum specs
What are the CPU, GPU, RAM and storage requirements?
The minimum specifications to run StarTools, increases with the resolution of the dataset you intend to process.
For best results, 16GB and a modern many-core CPU are recommended, in addition to running from a RAM disk (or alternatively a Solid State Drive). You should ensure your operating system is configured to provide an additional 2x-3x as much virtual memory as physical memory.
As of version 1.7 StarTools is fully GPU accelerated. Heavy arithmetic is offloaded to any OpenCL 1.1 compliant GPU present in your system. Significant processing speed can be seen on even modest, older GPUs.
Regardless of your machine's specification, consider binning your data if your data is oversampled.
You may also be interested in...
- Why does StarTools crash in some demanding modules like SVDecon? (under Technical FAQ)
Ideally, you should configure your system to provide "unlimited" virtual memory.
- Unofficial German manual / Inoffizielle Deutsche Anleitung (under Download)
Inoffizielle StarTools 1.8 Anleitung in Deutsch (164MB), letztes Update 2022-01-05.
- Why does the StarTools crash under heavy load on my older macOS device? (under Technical FAQ)
If this is the case, then the best course of action is to force StarTools to use the CPU, rather than the GPU.
- My system only reports partial GPU usage, what gives? (under Technical FAQ)
Depending on your GPU monitoring application, it may appear your GPU is only used partially.
- Is my GPU or iGPU compatible? (under Technical FAQ)
StarTools is compatible with any GPU drivers that support OpenCL 1.1 or later.
I'm relatively new to image processing and just wanted to say how straight forward and powerful StarTools is. Thanks for all your hard work and a fantastic product that I can't recommend strongly enough!L. B., United States
As a relative newcomer to Astrophotography, I struggled with post processing using GIMP and other non-aware astro software; then stumbled upon Star Tools a year ago and haven't looked back.N. Gialiris, Canada
Although you can go deep with StarTools, I think for beginners in processing, it is more easy to start working with it than some other software, like GIMP I used to work with.F. M., Belgium
I'm now creating gorgeous images from even mediocre data with very little effort using StarTools.G. B., United States
I discovered StarTools and my photos are now amazing. Thank you StarTools for turning my average photos into amazing ones.R. Forest, Canada
The code and the theory behind it are truly innovative and much easier to use than the competition.E. O., United States
I'm impressed with StarTools, in the sense that it might possible have the best simplicity of use/results ratio of all. I managed to process my fist image in 20 minutes after my first contact with StarTools.P.A., Portugal
No nonsense, affordable astro software that just works.S. Sheriff, Spain
Since I've discovered Star Tools I feel that processing can be something faster, easier and much more intuitive compared with other software. It has really powerful tools not seen in other programs.A. Roig, Barcelona, Catalunya
Your truly innovative and powerful software continues to amaze and delight me!D. Zielke, Canada
Your software makes intuitive sense to me. It is easy and automatic enough to get good results almost immediately, but powerful enough to tweak even more from my data once some time is spent playing with it.P. Brand, Australia
Congratulations for your huge and wonderful masterpiece in image post processing!M. Cecconi, Fundación Galileo Galilei - INAF, Fundación Canaria, Spain
It seemed easy to navigate and concise, but still crammed with advanced functions. Even without reading the documentation in any detail I managed to produce something half decent from a single sub!T. Murray, United Kingdom
I tried your 'Startools' today and was blown away with its blinding speed and unique functionality.R. Higby, Australia
Such a wonderful piece of software.G. Stevens, Australia
StarTools offers a breath of fresh air in a field that at times can be complex and bewildering.BBC The Sky at Night Magazine, April 2013
Having acquired StarTools I'm now starting to feel confident with what I can do in this hobby. And that's a bloody good thing!!M. Vecchi, Australia
I love love love your StarTools! Please keep up the good work! Its an amazing piece of image processing software. I am so glad I found your StarTools.A. Svahins, United States
This ingenious software in my opinion out performs all previous packages I have used in the past.P. Scully, South Africa
Underneath its simple front interface is a powerhouse of tools.BBC The Sky at Night Magazine, April 2013
I am impressed with the ease of working with the package compared to MaxIm DL Pro 5, PI and PSCS2/3/4 with which I am very familiar.J. Giles, Australia
There are many clever things about StarTools, but the most impressive is the way it rejuvenates image processing by combining more primitive algorithms into new routines.BBC The Sky at Night Magazine, April 2013