Hubble Space Telescope survey of clusters in nearby galaxies. I. Detection and photometry

We have developed photometric techniques that can be applied to images with highly variable backgrounds, as well as to slightly extended objects (object size comparable to or smaller than point-spread function [PSF] size). We have shown that ordinary stellar PSF-fitting photometry can be applied to slightly extended objects provided that one applies a systematic correction to the photometry that is a function primarily of the observed sharpness. Applying these techniques to the Cepheid target NGC 3627, we find that we are successfully able to photometer the stars and clusters, as well as discriminate the cluster population with a negligible number of false detections.