Foraxx Palette Studio
Dynamic Foraxx and the classic fixed mappings, with a live preview that runs the real pipeline, not an approximation.
Overview
Building a narrowband palette means juggling dozens of settings without ever seeing the result until you execute. Foraxx Palette Studio shows the image while you tune it.
Dynamic Foraxx (the gold-to-teal blend the palette is known for) and every classic fixed mapping (SHO, HSO, HOO, OHH and the rest) live in one list. In Foraxx classic at the defaults, the starless image is identical, bit for bit, to Paul Hancock's original script; everything else sits around that core as parameters.
The preview is not an approximation: the engine makes downsampled copies of your channels once, then runs exactly the pipeline the Execute button runs: the same PixelMath expression strings, the same process instances. Per-channel weighting and normalization, adjustable transition behaviour, independent star handling, a per-image histogram driving a levels transform, HDR compression, an artificial CIE lightness layer, and hue-selective green and magenta suppression. Presets, settings persistence and process icons included.
It takes stretched channels, or linear ones with the auto stretch switched on. Written by Nicolas Godingen, maintained by Caelo Works. Interface in English and French. Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 (non-commercial use).
With thanks
Nicolas Godingen
Author of Foraxx Palette Studio
Foraxx Palette Studio was built by Nicolas Godingen: the engine, the interface and every default in it, settled against his own narrowband masters rather than guessed. Caelo Works maintains and distributes it with his agreement; the credit is entirely his. Thank you, Nicolas.
Features
Dynamic Foraxx and fixed palettes
One list: the dynamic gold-to-teal blend and every fixed mapping (SHO, HSO, HOO, OHH…). The Foraxx amount brings a fixed palette exactly onto its dynamic equivalent, with no measurable deviation.
Live preview, the real pipeline
Not an approximation: the same PixelMath expressions and process instances as Execute, on downsampled copies. Continuous cursor-anchored zoom, and a target for starless, stars, luminance or the complete combination.
Per-channel weighting and normalization
A soft per-channel gain (never clipping bright cores), normalization after the NarrowbandNormalization method to bring Sii, Ha and Oiii to a common brightness, and two transition sliders for the gold/teal boundary.
Stars handled on their own
A star field is a broadband combination (stars are not line emitters): believable colour, a single brightness slider, and a screen blend that adds stars to the nebula without clipping a core to flat white.
Per-image histogram and levels
The panel under the preview belongs to the image on screen: starless, stars and luminance each keep their own black point, midtones and white point, applied to their own image and to nothing else.
Bilingual, presets and persistence
Interface in English and French (image identifiers stay in English). Settings persist between sessions, and the New Instance button saves a configuration as a process icon.
Screenshots
Install
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01
Add the CaeloWorks repository
In PixInsight, open Resources → Updates → Manage Repositories and add the CaeloWorks repository URL:
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02
Check for updates
Run Resources → Updates → Check for Updates and accept: PixInsight downloads and installs the script.
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03
Restart PixInsight
Relaunch the application: the script shows up in the Script menu. Future updates then arrive automatically.
Once installed, the script shows up under Script → CaeloWorks → Foraxx Palette Studio. Requires PixInsight 1.9.0+ (V8 engine), Windows, macOS or Linux. Output is floating point. Written by Nicolas Godingen, distributed by Caelo Works under the CC BY-NC 4.0 licence (non-commercial use).
Changelog
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3.1.2 2026-08-28
Star-field fixes on the HOO palettes: stars no longer come out blue. The star mix wrongly discarded the Sii channel, and the Oiii normalization curve tinted the field blue; all three star channels now share one curve (the Ha one), each keeping its own black point. The stars image changes wherever normalization or linear input is on; the starless image is untouched.
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3.1.1 2026-08-28
The script now runs on the V8 JavaScript engine, which raises the minimum to PixInsight 1.9.0. Fix: it refused to launch on builds without SpiderMonkey (the macOS arm64 build of 1.9.4). Nothing changes for the images: expressions, defaults and pipeline are untouched.
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3.1.0 2026-08-28
First release distributed by Caelo Works. Linear input is back, under its own section, with screen transfer (STF) or statistical stretch. The interface is available in French, chosen from the header. The settings column scrolls instead of resizing the window, and a new Complete preview target shows the screen combination of the starless image and the stars. Star treatment is reduced to the broadband combination and the brightness stretch. Fixes: closing the dialog during a preview no longer crashes PixInsight, and HDRMultiscaleTransform / UnsharpMask failures are no longer reported as the process being absent.