AkastroidImage Boost
About Image Boost
First, the part that matters most: Akastroid does not use AI to process your pictures. Calibration, frame grading, alignment, stacking, gradient removal, colour, noise reduction and sharpening all run on your computer, from your own data, the same way every time. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Image Boost is something else, and you only see it if you ask for it.
Why I added it
I hear from a lot of people on their first few nights. They get the focus right, the tracking right, stack a few hundred frames, and the picture still comes out soft or grainy because the seeing was poor or the sky was bright. That is normal, but it can take the fun out of it. Image Boost is for that moment. One press, and they get a cleaner, sharper version of the picture they made, and a reason to go out again.
It lives on the Final polishing step behind a Beginner mode switch, which is off by default. If you process your own data and want nothing touched by AI, leave it off and you will never see it. It never runs by itself.
What it should and should not do
It starts from the picture you already finished and leaves your stack and settings alone. It is asked to clean up and sharpen, and to keep the object exactly where and how you shot it. Akastroid then checks what comes back. If the object has moved, grown, shrunk or turned, the result is thrown away and your picture stays as it was. You can compare the two, keep either one, export both, or press Undo. A small lift is the goal, not a different picture and not that plastic AI look.
Why it costs credits
This is the one part of Akastroid that runs online. Each boost goes to an AI service that charges me for every picture, so unlike everything else in the app it costs money every time. Putting it into the licence price would mean everyone pays for something only some people use, so it is paid per picture instead.
One credit boosts one picture and costs $0.35. A credit is only used when the boost works; if it fails or the result is refused, you keep it. You can add credits from$10.15, they never expire, and they are kept on your Pro or Pro Studio licence key so they follow you. The free copy comes with 2 free boosts to try it.
To use it: finish your picture, open Final polishing, turn on Beginner mode and press Image Boost. It takes about a minute.
If you have questions or think something could be clearer, write to me at hello@akastroid.com. Akash