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Today we are glad to announce a new development project: XISF. XISF stands for Extensible Image Serialization Format, an open file format used from now on for storage and management of images and their associated data and properties by default in PixInsight. XISF effectively replaces the FITS format, which is now deprecated in PixInsight, and will be supported exclusively for compatibility with existing data and applications.

We have just released a new open-source XISF module for all supported platforms: FreeBSD, Linux, OS X and Windows. The XISF module is an initial implementation of the XISF version 1.0 specification. We have also released a new version 1.38 of the BatchPreprocessing script that uses XISF for all generated output by default. Both updates are now available for PixInsight Core 1.8.3.1123.

For detailed information on XISF, see the official announcement on PixInsight Forum:

http://pixinsight.com/forum/index.php?topic=7815.0

We hope you enjoy this new initiative. Thank you for your continued support.

The PixInsight Team at Pleiades Astrophoto

There has been some confusion and concern about this announcement, which we want to address by clarifying the following points:

* The FITS format will always be available in PixInsight.

* We will continue implementing and supporting future versions and revisions of the FITS standard.

* XISF is fully compatible with FITS by design. Existing FITS header keywords are always stored in XISF files, and all FITS keywords are retrieved automatically and transparently when a XISF file is loaded in PixInsight. This means that no data can be lost as a result of FITS to/from XISF conversions. Thanks to this compatible design, XISF integrates seamlessly with existing data sets and tools as an effective replacement for the FITS format.

* XISF is from now on the native file format of PixInsight, and as such will be used for image output by default. However, other formats that are and will be supported, such as FITS, TIFF, JPEG or PNG for example, can be selected as default output formats by simply editing a few preferences options.

* The XISF project has been created to improve the performance and versatility of the PixInsight platform, and hopefully also of other imaging applications. It overcomes a number of important limitations of other formats and provides a powerful, robust and flexible tool for storage and management of image data.

* XISF is a free format. The entire XISF format specification will always be publicly available, and XISF will never be subject to any patents, royalties or restrictions, so that anyone will be able to use it at no monetary cost for any purpose.

Thank you for your attention.

The PixInsight Team at Pleiades Astrophoto