SPECTRAVISION
Science-first astrophotography for everyone.
2025 Tutorial
Utah Astrophotography

Welcome to
SpectraVision

Scientific night photography colour analysis. Runs entirely in your browser — no install, no server, no upload. Your photos never leave your device.

23
Analysis & Correction Tabs
6
CVD Types Supported
0
Installs Required
Open SpectraVision →
What makes SpectraVision different Most photography tools require you to judge colour by eye. SpectraVision gives you scientific numbers — Kelvin, R:G:B ratios, FWHM, SQM — so corrections can be verified without trusting your display or your eyes. This makes it uniquely useful for colorblind photographers, and valuable for everyone.

This tutorial covers every feature across all 23 tabs. Use the sidebar to jump to any topic.

02 — Getting Started

Loading Your Photo

Tap or click the Open button in the top toolbar. SpectraVision supports more formats than any browser-based tool:

JPEGPNGWebP TIFF 8-bitTIFF 16-bitTIFF 32-bit float NEFARWCR2/CR3DNGRAF ORF PEF RW2
TIFF supportNatively decodes 16-bit Lightroom exports and 32-bit float output from PixInsight, Siril, DeepSkyStacker, and Astro Pixel Processor. LZW, ZIP/Deflate, and uncompressed formats all work. The horizontal-differencing predictor (Lightroom’s default) is un-applied automatically.

RAW Files

For RAW files, SpectraVision extracts the largest embedded JPEG preview. All scientific analysis runs on those pixels. After loading, a banner appears offering Auto Balance. Images are displayed at up to 1800px on the long edge. Your original file is never modified or uploaded.

iPhone / iPadUse Safari for best performance on iOS. The tool works fully offline once loaded.
03 — The Interface

Navigating the App

The screen splits into two panels. The left panel always shows your photo. The right panel is the analysis area, navigated by the tab strip running down the right edge of the photo.

All 23 Tabs

TabNameWhat it shows
SPATIALSpatial Analysis5×4 grid of zone, Kelvin, and colour preservation per region
ZONESZone SystemAdams Z0–Z9 tonal distribution histogram
SKYSky PresetsScientific sky condition targets with R:G:B ratios
SOURCESLight SourcesDetected pollution types: sodium, mercury, LED, airglow
WAVEWaveformBroadcast-grade luma + R/G/B channel parade
SCOPE3D VectorscopeDrag-to-rotate colour volume in 3D hue space
STARSStar AnalysisStar count, Bortle estimate, light pollution compass
NOISENoise / SNRSignal-to-noise per zone, hot pixel map, stacking advice
FOCUSFWHM / FocusStar sharpness, FWHM distribution, focus quality map
GRADGradient Map16×10 luminance heatmap revealing vignetting and gradients
CAChromatic AberrationRGB channel misalignment map and severity score
WBWhite BalanceEyedropper: tap any pixel to sample its white balance
SELECTSelective ColourTap any pixel to isolate all similar-hued pixels
REGIONRegion AnalyzerDrag a box on the photo to analyse just that area
CALCExposure CalculatorNPF rule and 500 rule for your exact camera settings
SQMSky Quality MeterEstimated SQM reading and A–F composite site grade
EXIFEXIF DataCamera, lens, exposure, and GPS from the image file
PLATE ★Plate SolveSky coordinates, field of view, constellation, star overlay — new in 2025
REPORTAnalysis ReportFull scientific summary, exportable as HTML
CVDColour VisionGuided correction + channel enhancement for colorblind photographers
ASTROAstroMod CameraSimulate or correct astro-modified sensor response
PRINTPrint CalibrationGamma, luminance, and blue-light filter compensation
CORRECTCorrections10 live sliders: sky temp, pollution, contrast, blacks, clarity, and more
04 — Analysis

Spatial Analysis

The SPATIAL tab divides your image into a 5×4 grid of 20 cells. Each cell shows three values simultaneously: colour temperature in Kelvin, Adams Zone, and colour preservation %.

SPATIAL tab on a desert arch photo showing the 5x4 grid with zone and colour temperature data
SPATIAL tab on a desert arch photo. The CVD bar at top reads NEEDS WORK — Kelvin 2692K, far below the True Dark Night target of 10500K. Sky cells visible through the arch read Neut/VCool. Lower rows read Warm throughout — warm sandstone and light-polluted horizon. Colour preservation % shows how much usable colour data survives in each cell.
What does Kelvin per cell tell you?
Each cell’s Kelvin reading shows whether that region is warm (light pollution or warm foreground) or cool (clean dark sky). Upper sky cells should read 8000–12000K. Horizon cells at 2200–5000K confirm sodium or LED pollution.
What is colour preservation?
The percentage of colour information surviving in that zone. 30% means 70% of pixels are flat, crushed, or indistinguishable from noise. Upper sky cells should be 65–85%. Heavily polluted cells often drop below 30%.
Try itTap any cell in the 5×4 grid. The detail panel shows exact Kelvin, Zone, and preservation. Compare an upper sky cell vs a lower foreground cell on your image.
What to look forWarm band at the bottom = light pollution gradient. Bottom row at 2500–4000K and top row at 9000K+ = strong gradient needing correction. Uneven colours across the top row = multiple pollution sources at different compass bearings.
05 — Analysis

Zone System

Based on Ansel Adams’ Zone System. Click any zone bar in the histogram to highlight those exact pixels overlaid on your photo.

ZoneWhat it means in a night photo
Z0Pure black. A spike here means crushed blacks with no recoverable detail.
Z1–Z2Faint star texture in near-black sky. Ideal zone for most dark sky pixels.
Z3–Z4Milky Way structure, nebulosity, dust lanes.
Z5–Z6Bright galactic core, light pollution glow. Large proportion here often means overexposure or heavy LP.
Z7–Z8Horizon glow, bright planets, galactic centre peak.
Z9Pure white — clipped highlights. Acceptable only for very bright star cores.
Ideal distributionFor a well-exposed Milky Way shot: most pixels should fall in Z1–Z4. A spike at Z0 means crushed blacks. Large proportion in Z5–Z6 usually means overexposure or heavy pollution.
A photo has 40% of pixels in Zone 0. What does this mean?
The sky is perfectly exposed with deep blacks
Severe shadow crushing — detail is permanently lost
The image has excellent dynamic range
06 — Analysis

Waveform Monitor

The WAVE tab shows a broadcast-standard luminance waveform with a full R/G/B channel parade, plotted at native retina resolution — the same quality as professional video scopes.

SpectraVision WAVE tab on iPhone
WAVE tab on iPhone. Top: luma waveform — the mountain-shaped trace follows brightness across the image. Centre: R, G, B channel parade shown separately. B being the tallest trace indicates a well-balanced sky. Bottom: before/after histogram.

Reading the Luma Trace

The horizontal axis corresponds to horizontal position in your photo. The vertical axis is brightness from 0 IRE (pure black) at the bottom to 100 IRE (pure white) at the top. A flat floor at 0 IRE = crushed blacks. A flat ceiling at 100 IRE = clipped highlights.

Reading the Channel Parade

The three traces show R, G, and B channels independently. For a correctly balanced dark sky, B should be the tallest trace. If R is taller than B, your sky is warm — use Sky Colour Temp and Light Pollution Remove in the CORRECT tab until B sits above R.

07 — Analysis

3D Vectorscope

The SCOPE tab plots every pixel in your image as a dot in 3D hue space. Drag to orbit, pinch or scroll to zoom. Toggle Auto-rotate for a continuous 360° view.

SpectraVision 3D Vectorscope showing Milky Way image pixel cloud
Desktop SCOPE tab with a Milky Way image. The large orange/yellow pixel cloud toward R–Y reveals warm sodium light pollution and galactic dust. Scattered blue dots are hot O/B stars. The caption below the scope reads: “Sky clusters near centre-blue · Sodium drifts yellow-orange · Airglow = slight green offset.”
What does a tight cluster near centre mean?
Low saturation and good balance — correct for dark sky photos. The night sky is subtle, not vivid. Most pixels should cluster near the neutral vertical axis.
What does an orange/red tail extending from the cluster mean?
Warm light pollution pulling sky pixels toward R/Y. The longer the tail, the more severe the pollution. After Sky Colour Temp correction, the tail collapses back into the main cluster.
What do isolated dots away from the main mass mean?
Individual stars plotted by their spectral type. Blue O/B stars toward B; red M-class toward R. Yellow/orange G/K stars cluster in between.
SpectraVision 3D Vectorscope on iPhone showing BRIGHT and DARK axis labels
SCOPE tab on iPhone from a different orbit angle. Each dot is a pixel plotted by hue (angle around the vertical axis), saturation (distance from centre), and luminance (height). BRIGHT at top, DARK at bottom. Drag with one finger to orbit to any angle.
Science noteThe vectorscope is one of the most powerful pollution diagnostic tools. An image with no visible pollution on the histogram can still show a clear orange tail on the vectorscope, revealing a subtle colour cast that the eye and histogram both miss.
08 — Analysis

Stars & Focus Quality

Star Detection (STARS tab)

SpectraVision automatically detects point sources and measures them. The STARS tab shows star count, spectral type distribution, Bortle scale estimate, and a light pollution direction compass.

Bortle Scale Reference
Bortle 1–2Pristine dark sky. SQM >21.5. M33 visible naked eye.
Bortle 3–4Rural. SQM 20–21.5. Milky Way has distinct structure.
Bortle 5–6Suburban. SQM 18–20. Milky Way visible but washed out.
Bortle 7+Urban/city. SQM <18. Only bright stars visible.

FWHM & Focus (FOCUS tab)

FWHM (Full Width Half Maximum) is the width of a star profile at half its peak brightness — the standard scientific measure of focus quality.

EXCELLENT
<2px
Sharp focus
GOOD
2–3.5px
Acceptable
SOFT
>4px
Soft or trailing
09 — Analysis

Light Pollution & Sky Quality

Detected Source Types (SOURCES tab)

SourceColour tempSignature
Sodium vapor~2200KVery high R, almost no B
Mercury vapor~4200KHigh R, moderate B, green cast
LED white4000–6500KBroad spectrum — varies by LED type
Airglow OI 557nmNaturalGreen-dominant mid-brightness pixels

Sky Quality Meter (SQM tab)

Estimates a Sky Quality Meter reading in mag/arcsec² from your dark zone pixels, plus an A–F composite site grade combining SQM, sky temperature, and pollution percentage.

Your SQM reads 20.4. What Bortle range does this correspond to?
Bortle 1–2 (pristine)
Bortle 3–4 (rural)
Bortle 6–7 (suburban)
10 — Analysis

EXIF Data & Plate Solving

EXIF Tab

Reads EXIF metadata directly from the raw file bytes — nothing is sent to any server. Shows camera make/model, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal length, date/time, and GPS coordinates if recorded.

PLATE Tab — New in 2025

Identifies exactly what’s in your image: sky coordinates, field of view, constellation, and nearby bright stars and DSOs drawn as an overlay on your photo.

SpectraVision PLATE tab showing the plate solving interface
PLATE tab with a Milky Way over Sawtooth Mountains. The Sky from EXIF section shows no GPS in this file. The Precise Plate Solve panel shows an API key entered. The amber panel is a CORS error — this only appears when running from a local file on your computer. When the app is served from a web server (like this tutorial site), the Submit button routes requests through a server-side proxy and works correctly.
1
Instant sky position from EXIF GPS
If your photo has GPS coordinates and a timestamp, the PLATE tab immediately computes your Local Sidereal Time, zenith RA/Dec, and lists every bright star and DSO visible above 15° when you took the shot. No internet required.
2
Precise plate solve via Astrometry.net
Enter your free API key from nova.astrometry.net. Returns precise RA/Dec, field of view, pixel scale, rotation, and constellation. Works automatically when served from a web server.
3
Manual plate data entry
Enter RA, Dec, field radius, and rotation from Stellarium, SkySafari, NINA, or any plate solver. The star overlay draws immediately at correct pixel positions.
Free API keyCreate a free account at nova.astrometry.net/signup, then copy your API key from your profile. Enter it once in SpectraVision — saved automatically.
11 — Corrections

Making Corrections

The CORRECT tab has 10 live sliders. Every adjustment immediately updates the image and all 22 other analysis tabs in real time.

Night Correction Sliders — Interactive Demo

Primary control. Increase (higher K) to cool a warm/orange sodium sky. Target: 9000–11000K for true dark night.

Subtracts the dominant warm pollution colour from dark zones. Try 30–70% for strongly city-lit skies.

Shadow Lift
Raises the floor of dark zones without affecting highlights. Use when Zone 0 is spiking. Keep below 40 for natural results.
Shadow Colour
Adjusts colour saturation in shadow zones. Positive = adds colour. Negative = neutralises tints. Useful when shadows have an unwanted cast after light pollution removal.
Star Highlight Protect
Reduces blowout in the brightest highlights. Prevents star centres clipping to pure white. High values make bright stars look flat — use gently.

Tone & Detail Sliders

S-curve contrast. Deepens dark sky, lifts Milky Way midtones. Auto Balance sets +35 for RAW files.

Sets the black point. Negative crushes the shadow floor — essential for RAW files which have a lifted shadow curve. Auto Balance sets −20.

Highlights
Only affects pixels above ~55% luminance. Negative pulls back blown star halos. Positive lifts the galactic core brightness.
Vibrance
Boosts under-saturated colours while protecting already-saturated ones. Gentler than raw saturation for bringing out nebula colour.
Clarity
Large-radius unsharp mask (24px). Boosts Milky Way clouds and dust lanes without sharpening stars or dark background. Auto Balance sets +25.
Auto BalanceClick Auto Balance Sky to automatically measure the sky and apply recommended starting corrections. Fine-tune from there.
Split Before / AfterTap ⇄ Split B/A in the CORRECT tab to see original and corrected side by side with a draggable divider.
12 — CVD Workflow

Colour Blindness Balancing

The CVD tab replaces colour judgment entirely with scientific numbers — designed for colorblind astrophotographers, but useful for everyone.

ImportantThe CVD tab UI does not apply a pink or green tint. That would make it harder for colorblind users to read. It uses numbers, symbols, and text only — no colour perception needed to operate it.

Step 1 — Select Your CVD Type

Normal VisionDisable simulation, use as a sighted reference
ProtanopiaRed blind (~1% of males). Red and green appear very similar.
DeuteranopiaGreen blind (~1% of males). Most common form.
TritanopiaBlue blind (~0.01%). Blue and yellow appear similar.
AchromatopsiaNo colour vision — only luminance differences visible.
Protanomaly / DeuteranomalyReduced red or green sensitivity — partial cone function.

Step 2 — Live Sky Balance Verdict

Pick a sky target, then adjust CORRECT tab sliders. The verdict box and three gauges update every frame. All three must show green before the image is balanced.

CVD tab NEEDS CORRECTION state with all three gauges red
NEEDS CORRECTION — 2170K, heavily sodium-lit. All three gauges red. Increase Sky Colour Temp significantly.
CVD tab CLOSE verdict with Devils Tower image
CLOSE — Kelvin 9403K ✓ and R ratio 0.290 ✓ are green. B ratio 0.375 needs a small increase to reach 0.408.
KELVIN
3200K ▲
target ~10500K
R RATIO
0.82 ▲
target 0.265
B RATIO
0.42 ▼
target 0.408

Click the gauges to cycle through states.

Sky Presets

★ True Dark Night
10500K
R:0.265 · G:0.327 · B:0.408
tolerance: ±1500K
Blue Hour
9000K
R:0.244 · G:0.311 · B:0.444
tolerance: ±1200K
Moonlit Night
4100K
R:0.348 · G:0.338 · B:0.314
tolerance: ±800K
13 — CVD Enhancement

Channel Enhancement

The Kelvin slider alone cannot reveal all the colour features of the Milky Way. Several important astronomical signatures exist outside the Kelvin scale.

The problemH-alpha emission nebulae (656nm red), airglow OI 557.7nm (green), and OIII 501nm (blue-green) are spectral line emissions — not blackbody radiation. They don’t follow the Kelvin curve. Cooling the sky from 3000K to 10500K will not make these features visible to a colorblind photographer who cannot perceive those wavelengths.

Emission Lines Tab

H-alpha (656nm)Ionised hydrogen — invisible to Protanopia
Airglow OI (557nm)Atmospheric green — invisible to Deuteranomaly
OIII (501nm)Doubly-ionised oxygen — planetary nebulae
Dust ContrastMilky Way dust lanes — outside the Kelvin scale
How emission line detection works
SpectraVision detects each emission type by its R:G:B signature. H-alpha appears as red-dominant pixels with low G and B. Airglow appears as green-dominant pixels at mid brightness. OIII appears as blue-green with low R. Each slider selectively boosts those identified pixels.

Auto Enhance Presets

CVD typeRecommended presetEffect
ProtanopiaR+80 · Hα+70Shifts red nebulae toward yellow-orange where sensitivity exists
DeuteranomalyG+70 · Airglow+80 · OIII+40Makes green airglow and nebulae distinguishable from background
TritanopiaB+80 · OIII+60Reveals night sky blue and blue-green emission features
14 — False Colour Assist

False Colour Assist

Step 6 of the CVD tab. Remaps colours you cannot perceive to colours you can, using full HSV hue rotation per CVD type. For editing only — disable before exporting.

Always disable before exportFalse Colour Assist is an editing aid, not a correction. Exporting while it is active bakes the remapped colours permanently into the file. The warning banner in the CVD tab stays visible whenever it is on.
Protanopia: what gets remapped?
Red-dominant pixels (H-alpha nebulae, red stars, warm dust lanes) in the 330°–35° hue range shift toward yellow-orange (50°–70°) — placed in the visible range for protanopes without altering sky blue.
Deuteranomaly / Deuteranopia: what gets remapped?
Green-dominant pixels (airglow OI 557nm, green nebulae) in the 90°–155° range shift toward cyan-blue — distinguishable from both warm pollution glow and sky blue, because cyan sits between those two.
Tritanopia: what gets remapped?
Blue-dominant pixels in the 220°–285° range shift toward green-cyan. Deep blue sky that appears grey to tritanopes becomes a visible green-teal.
Achromatopsia: what happens?
All colour information converts to luminance contrast variation. H-alpha regions become slightly brighter, airglow slightly darker — revealing structure otherwise invisible.
15 — Print Calibration

Print Calibration

The PRINT tab diagnoses why prints come out dark or with colour shifts. It builds a compensation profile through six interactive steps.

Step 0 — Critical before anything elseNight Shift (iPhone/Mac) and Night Light (Windows) must be OFF before calibrating. These add 800–3200K of warmth — any corrections made with them on will look cold and blue when printed.

iPhone/iPad: Settings → Display & Brightness → Night Shift → off.   Mac: System Settings → Displays → Night Shift → off.   Windows: Settings → System → Display → Night Light → off.
SpectraVision PRINT tab on iPhone showing calibration steps
PRINT tab on iPhone. Step 1: select viewing environment (Daylight/LED White selected at 6500K). Step 2: gamma test — if the checkerboard patch looks darker than the solid grey patch, your monitor gamma is high and prints will come out too dark. Step 3: shadow detail patches 0–28; count how many you can distinguish from pure black.
StepWhat it testsWhat to do if it fails
Step 1Viewing environment — ambient light colourMove to a D50-standard area or daylight LEDs
Step 2Gamma — checkerboard vs solid 186/255 greyIf checkerboard looks darker, prints will come out too dark
Step 3Shadow detail — count visible patches 0–28Can’t see all 8? Reduce monitor brightness
Step 4Colour neutrality — five R=G=B grey patchesAny looking warm/cool = monitor colour cast that transfers to prints
Step 5Apply compensation profileEV compensation + shadow lift + colour shift applied; export as TIFF
16 — Interactive Tools

White Balance Eyedropper & Selective Colour

WB Eyedropper (WB tab)

Go to the WB tab. Tap any area that should be grey — a rock face, a road, still water. SpectraVision measures the R:G:B at that pixel and calculates its Kelvin equivalent. Tap Apply Sampled WB to Corrections to push that reading into the Sky Colour Temp slider.

Auto Neutral DetectionThe WB tab also automatically finds all near-neutral pixels across the image and shows their average Kelvin — a second reference point without clicking anything.

Selective Colour (SELECT tab)

Tap any pixel on your photo. All pixels with a similar hue are highlighted; everything else dims to black. Use the Tolerance slider to widen or narrow the hue range. Useful for isolating sodium glow vs airglow, or finding which stars share a spectral colour. Tap Clear Selection to restore normal view.

17 — Interactive Tools

Region Analyzer & Exposure Calculator

Region Analyzer (REGION tab)

Drag a rectangle on your photo. The panel shows zone distribution, average Kelvin, SNR, and colour preservation for just that region. Useful for checking sky quality separately from foreground, or measuring a specific portion of the Milky Way core without contamination.

Exposure Calculator (CALC tab)

Calculates maximum shutter speed before stars trail using the NPF rule (more accurate) and the older 500 rule.

NPF vs 500 rule — what’s the difference?
The 500 rule only uses focal length (500 ÷ focal length = max seconds). The NPF rule also accounts for aperture and sensor pixel pitch from your EXIF data, giving a result typically 30–60% more conservative. On modern 24MP+ sensors, the 500 rule produces trailing stars. Stars near Polaris allow 3–4× longer exposures than equatorial targets.
18 — Export

Exporting Your Image

Tap Export ▼ in the top toolbar and choose your format. A progress bar confirms the export has started.

FormatBest forNotes
PNGFurther editing in Lightroom or PhotoshopLossless, no metadata embedded
TIFFPrint labs, professional workflowsUncompressed, full quality. Hand-coded encoder.
Before exportingConfirm False Colour Assist is Off in the CVD tab. If active, remapped colours are permanently baked into the exported file.

The exported image reflects all active corrections from the CORRECT tab, plus any CVD channel enhancement and emission line boosts.

iPhone / iPadIf the image opens in a new tab rather than downloading, long-press it and choose “Save to Photos” or “Save to Files.”
19 — Reference

Sky Colour Temperature Targets

The scientifically calibrated targets built into SpectraVision’s CVD gauges and presets.

True Dark Night
10500K
R:0.265 · G:0.327 · B:0.408
tol: ±1500K
Blue Hour
9000K
R:0.244 · G:0.311 · B:0.444
tol: ±1200K
Moonlit Night
4100K
R:0.348 · G:0.338 · B:0.314
tol: ±800K
ConditionKelvinR : G : B ratios
True Dark Night10500K0.265 : 0.327 : 0.408
Blue Hour9000K0.244 : 0.311 : 0.444
Moonlit Night4100K0.348 : 0.338 : 0.314
Sodium pollution~2200KHigh R, very low B
LED streetlight4000–6500KVaries by LED type
Why B should dominate in true dark sky
True dark sky is illuminated primarily by starlight. Hot O and B class stars skew the collective light blue. The absence of warm artificial lighting allows this blue contribution to dominate. Any condition where R > B on the waveform parade means warm pollution is present.
20 — Reference

Glossary

TermDefinition
BortleScale 1–9 rating of night sky darkness. 1 = pristine, 9 = inner city.
CVDColour Vision Deficiency. Any form of reduced or absent colour perception.
FWHMFull Width Half Maximum. Width of a star profile at half peak brightness, in pixels.
H-alpha656.3nm emission of ionised hydrogen. Appears red. Faint in stock cameras, bright in astro-modified sensors.
IREInstitute of Radio Engineers unit. 0 = pure black, 100 = pure white. Used on the waveform monitor.
Kelvin (K)Colour temperature. Higher K = cooler/bluer. Lower K = warmer/redder.
LZWLempel–Ziv–Welch lossless compression. Lightroom’s default TIFF format. SpectraVision decodes it natively.
NPF RuleExposure rule using aperture, pixel pitch, and focal length. More accurate than the 500 rule for modern sensors.
OIIIDoubly-ionised oxygen at 496–501nm. Appears blue-green. Found in planetary and emission nebulae.
Plate solveIdentifying which part of the sky is in an image by matching star patterns to a catalog.
PredictorTIFF tag 317, value 2 = horizontal differencing before compression. SpectraVision un-applies it automatically.
SQMSky Quality Meter — mag/arcsec². Higher = darker. >21.5 = Bortle 1–2.
Zone SystemAnsel Adams’ tonal scale Z0 (pure black) through Z9 (pure white).
✨ Tutorial Complete You’ve covered all 23 tools in SpectraVision. Load a night photo and start analysing!

Open SpectraVision →