Installation Instructions For BackscatterXTerminator

Welcome to BackscatterXTerminator!
Once installed and properly configured, BSXT will save you countless hours by cleaning up backscatter.
To get the most of BSXT, please follow our step by step installation instructions for your operating system, and then proceed to our Training Portal.

STEP 1) Login to your RC-Astro Account
Please go to https://www.rc-astro.com/account and enter your registered email and password to get to the account page.

STEP 2) Get Familiar with your RC-Astro Account Panel
On this page you will find:
• Your unique License Key
• Button to Reset your Activations
• BSXT Installer for Photoshop (macOS)

STEP 3) Download the BackscatterXTerminator Photoshop Installer (macOS)
Click the Photoshop (macOS) Button to download the Installer to your computer.

STEP 4) Run the BackscatterXTerminator Photoshop Installer (macOS)
Open the Downloads folder, and double click the Installer to run the Installation.

STEP 5) Click the Continue Button

STEP 6) Read the RC Astro, LLC Agreement and Click the Continue Button

STEP 7) Agree to the Software License Agreement

STEP 8) Click the Install Button

STEP 9) When prompted to Install the Photoshop Action, Click Yes.

STEP 10) You can now Close the Installer

STEP 11) Feel free to delete the Installer

STEP 12) Open Photoshop CC

STEP 13) Open an Original RAW File (Original Camera Image) or DNG File into Photoshop

STEP 14) Open the Actions Panel

STEP 15) Select the BSXT_ACTION (Click Here) Action File, and then Click the Play Button

STEP 16) Activation Prompt for BackscatterXTerminator
The first time you run BSXT, you will see an Activation Prompt.

STEP 17) Enter Registration Email and License Activation Key
Your license key and registration email can be found in your RC-Astro Account Panel.

STEP 18) Click Validate
You’re now permanently licensed.

STEP 19) Run BackscatterXterminator
Click OK to run BSXT.

STEP 20) Continue to View the Training Video in Our Training Portal
You’re now ready to watch our comprehensive training video found in our Training Portal.

VIEW TRAINING PORTAL

STEP 1) Login to your RC-Astro Account
Please go to https://www.rc-astro.com/account and enter your registered email and password to get to the account page.

STEP 2) Get Familiar with your RC-Astro Account Panel
On this page you will find:
• Your unique License Key
• Button to Reset your Activations
• BSXT Installer for Photoshop (Windows)

STEP 3) Download the BackscatterXTerminator Photoshop Installer (Windows)
Click the Photoshop (Windows) Button to download the Installer to your computer.

STEP 4) Run the BackscatterXTerminator Photoshop Installer (Windows)
Open the Downloads folder, and double click the Installer to run the Installation.

STEP 5) Click Yes to Allow BackscatterXTerminator.exe to proceed with Installation

STEP 6) Click the Next Button to Proceed with the Installation

STEP 7) Click I Agree to the Software License Agreement

STEP 8) When prompted to Install the Photoshop Action, make sure the Checkbox is Checked.
Click the Finish button.

STEP 9) Open Photoshop CC

STEP 10) Open an Original RAW File (Original Camera Image) or DNG File into Photoshop

STEP 11) Open the Actions Panel

STEP 12) Select the BSXT_ACTION (Click Here) Action File, and then Click the Play Button

STEP 13) Activation Prompt for BackscatterXTerminator
The first time you run BSXT, you will see an Activation Prompt.

STEP 14) Enter Registration Email and License Activation Key
Your license key and registration email can be found in your RC-Astro Account Panel.

STEP 15) Click Validate
You’re now permanently licensed.

STEP 16) Run BackscatterXterminator
Click OK to run BSXT.

STEP 17) If you have a Supported GPU (NVIDIA GPU with a minimum of 6GB of video RAM)
Proceed to Download the TensorFlow GPU Installer (Windows).
The installer can be found in your RC-Astro Account Panel.

STEP 18) Run the TensorFlow GPU Installer (Windows)
Open the Downloads folder, and double click the Installer to run the Installation.

STEP 19) Click Yes to Allow TensorFlow GPU Installer to proceed with Installation

STEP 20) Click Next to Continue with the Installation

STEP 21) Click I Agree to the Software License Agreement

STEP 22) Click Finish to Complete the Installation of TensorFlow NVIDIA GPU Acceleration Setup
You’re now ready to take advantage of the power of your NVIDIA GPU when processing images with BackscatterXTerminator!

STEP 23) Continue to View the Training Video in Our Training Portal
You’re now ready to watch our comprehensive training video found in our Training Portal.

VIEW TRAINING PORTAL

COMMON SUPPORT QUESTIONS:

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Any Photoshop CC version
MacOS 12 (Monterey) or later, Apple silicon preferred but not required
Windows 10 or later

CPU must support “AVX” instructions, which is most CPUs after ~2012, but “Celeron” CPUs, used in many lightweight laptops and mini-PCs, do not support AVX and won’t run BSXT.
ARM-based Windows machines are NOT supported – x86 CPUs only at this time (Intel or AMD).
GPU acceleration requires an NVIDIA GPU with at least 6GB VRAM, and requires installation of the special TensorFlow-GPU installer.

Tablets and smaller devices are not supported at this time.
Photoshop Elements is not supported.

When the BackscatterXTerminator installer is run, it installs the plugin for all versions of Photoshop CC that are installed. However, the Action File we provide might only install into one of the Programs. This is a common issue for people that are running the Photoshop (Beta), in addition to their current Creative Cloud Photoshop version.

To install the Action File manually into a version of Photoshop that the action file is missing, simply follow these steps:

Go to the BSXT Training Portal
Scroll down to the Downloads section, and click on the BSXT Action File button to download the .ATN to your Downloads Folder
Go to your Downloads folder and Drag the .ATN file onto the Photoshop App that is missing the Action File, and it will install the Action into the Actions Panel of the version of Photoshop that was missing the Action.

You are permitted to install and activate BackscatterXTerminator on up to two computers at a time. If you need to change which computers are activated, we provide a Reset Activations button in the RC-Astro Account Area.

Steps to Reset your License Activations:

Login to your RC-Astro Account and click on the “RESET ACTIVATIONS” button.
You will then need to reactivate BSXT on the two new desired computers you wish to use. The activation dialog will appear again when trying to run BSXT.

If you are unable to activate your license to BSXT or are having an activation related issue, please:

CONTACT BSXT SUPPORT

Yes. However, you won’t have the added benefit of using our super powerful Photoshop Action. Additionally, the Training that is provided is tailored towards Adobe Photoshop.

If you are an Affinity Photo user and you haven’t done so already:

• You will need to enable “unknown” plugins:
• Affinity Photo → Preferences
• Navigate to the Photoshop plugins page
• Check the box next to “Allow ‘unknown’ plugins to be used”
• You will need to restart Affinity Photo after making this change

No. Photoshop CC or later is required. Please see full system requirements below.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Any Photoshop CC version
MacOS 12 (Monterey) or later, Apple silicon preferred but not required
Windows 10 or later

CPU must support “AVX” instructions, which is most CPUs after ~2012, but “Celeron” CPUs, used in many lightweight laptops and mini-PCs, do not support AVX and won’t run BSXT.
ARM-based Windows machines are NOT supported – x86 CPUs only at this time (Intel or AMD).
GPU acceleration requires an NVIDIA GPU with at least 6GB VRAM, and requires installation of the special TensorFlow-GPU installer.

Tablets and smaller devices are not supported at this time.
Photoshop Elements is not supported.

No. Photoshop CC or later is required. Please see full system requirements below.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Any Photoshop CC version
MacOS 12 (Monterey) or later, Apple silicon preferred but not required
Windows 10 or later

CPU must support “AVX” instructions, which is most CPUs after ~2012, but “Celeron” CPUs, used in many lightweight laptops and mini-PCs, do not support AVX and won’t run BSXT.
ARM-based Windows machines are NOT supported – x86 CPUs only at this time (Intel or AMD).
GPU acceleration requires an NVIDIA GPU with at least 6GB VRAM, and requires installation of the special TensorFlow-GPU installer.

Tablets and smaller devices are not supported at this time.
Photoshop Elements is not supported.

No. The BSXT purchase is handled by the software developer RC Astro, and it is not possible to use a Go Ask Erin Gift Card for this transaction.

No. It is a perpetual license, which means it’s a one time purchase with free updates for the life of the software.

There is no monthly fee. It is a perpetual license, which means it’s a one time purchase with free updates for the life of the software.

You are provided with one License Key that can be installed on up to two computers (Mac or PC) at the same time.

In Photoshop there is an Action Panel that holds actions.
An action is a series of tasks that you play back on a single file or a batch of files—menu commands, panel options, tool actions, and so on.
To learn more about actions and the action panel, check out this page at Adobe.

Tablets and smaller devices are not supported at this time.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Any Photoshop CC version
MacOS 12 (Monterey) or later, Apple silicon preferred but not required
Windows 10 or later

CPU must support “AVX” instructions, which is most CPUs after ~2012, but “Celeron” CPUs, used in many lightweight laptops and mini-PCs, do not support AVX and won’t run BSXT.
ARM-based Windows machines are NOT supported – x86 CPUs only at this time (Intel or AMD).
GPU acceleration requires an NVIDIA GPU with at least 6GB VRAM, and requires installation of the special TensorFlow-GPU installer.

Tablets and smaller devices are not supported at this time.
Photoshop Elements is not supported.

RC Astro was founded in Austin, Texas, by Russell Croman to create innovative solutions for astronomical image processing, enabling astrophotographers everywhere to transform their hard-won raw image data into beautiful depictions of our universe. For two decades, RC Astro tools have brought unsurpassed technical performance to some of the hardest image processing problems: deconvolution, noise reduction, star separation, and gradient elimination. Widely known for their effectiveness and ease of use, RC Astro tools are used by thousands of amateur astrophotographers around the world as well as by professional institutions such as the Space Telescope Science Institute, home of operations and image processing for the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes.

Russell is an independent engineer and software developer. He currently works full time on image processing solutions for astrophotography from his home near Austin, Texas. He was previously Vice President of R&D Engineering at Silicon Laboratories, and is the inventor or co-inventor of 29 patents. He earned a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Washington State university in 1993. Though trained as an engineer, he is an artist at heart, and enjoys combining art and science to create beautiful astrophotography of his own and the tools to help others do the same.

Russell’s own astrophotography accomplishments are noteworthy. He has been photographing the deep sky since 2002, producing award-winning work that has appeared in online and print publications such as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (16 photos) and National Geographic. He won the Advanced Imaging Conference’s Hubble Award in 2010 for significant and sustained contributions to the astrophotography community.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Any Photoshop CC version
MacOS 12 (Monterey) or later, Apple silicon preferred but not required
Windows 10 or later

CPU must support “AVX” instructions, which is most CPUs after ~2012, but “Celeron” CPUs, used in many lightweight laptops and mini-PCs, do not support AVX and won’t run BSXT.
ARM-based Windows machines are NOT supported – x86 CPUs only at this time (Intel or AMD).
GPU acceleration requires an NVIDIA GPU with at least 6GB VRAM, and requires installation of the special TensorFlow-GPU installer.