Tutorial: AstroImageJ - creating a

RGB-composite
Version 1.1

Christian Ambros
29. Juli 2022

Creating a RGB composite of monochrom fits files

from LCO telescopes
1. Open AstroImageJ (AIJ) 5.0.3.02 .

2. Select the three fits files in the file manager of you choice from your operating
system in the three filter bands R, G and B and drag them with left click-
holded mouse button into the lowest line of the AIJ gui.

3. From AIJ menu choose Image ⇒ Stacks ⇒ Images to Stack.

4. Name the stack and hit ⇒ OK.

5. Between the view and the histogram there is some kind of shift selector for
choosing the slice of the stack. With left clicking on it you can choose the slice.

6. From stack menu choose Process ⇒ Align stack using WCS or apertu-
res...

7. Choose the radii for the apertures.

Note: (star diameter / 2) + radius of the brightest star
 8. Enabling\disabling check buttons:
• Use Ra\Dec to locate... if platesolved
• Use single step mode... for step-by-step-mode
• Show help panel

9. If satisfied hit OK.

10. Choose four to five nearly round stars in the first slice with left mouse click.

11. Start alignment with right mouse click.

12. From stack menu choose Process ⇒ Align stack using image stabilizer...
and hit ⇒ OK.

13. From stack menu choose Color ⇒ Make Composite color image.
14. From Make Composite window choose Display Mode ⇒ Composite and
hit ⇒ OK.

15. For every color channel choose the correspondent image: choose stack slice,
than in channel window deselect all slices that don’t belong to the channel.
The color of the image name shows which color is mapped to the channel.
16. Set the desired intensity of the channel with the right shifter of the histogram.

17. Hit ⇒ More to choose a different one. To allocate the blue channel to the
stored image in the particular slice choose, Blue.

18. Do the same with the other channels.

19. To save the result, from aligned stack menu choose File ⇒ Save image dis-
play as PNG... and select a file name.
20. Result: