ALMA-IMF II -- investigating the origin of stellar masses: Continuum
  Images and Data Processing
  We present the first data release of the ALMA-IMF Large Program, which covers
the 12m-array continuum calibration and imaging. The ALMA-IMF Large Program is
a survey of fifteen dense molecular cloud regions spanning a range of
evolutionary stages that aims to measure the core mass function (CMF). We
describe the data acquisition and calibration done by the Atacama Large
Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observatory and the subsequent
calibration and imaging we performed. The image products are combinations of
multiple 12m array configurations created from a selection of the observed
bandwidth using multi-term, multi-frequency synthesis imaging and
deconvolution. The data products are self-calibrated and exhibit substantial
noise improvements over the images produced from the delivered data. We compare
different choices of continuum selection, calibration parameters, and image
weighting parameters, demonstrating the utility and necessity of our additional
processing work. Two variants of continuum selection are used and will be
distributed: the "best-sensitivity" data, which include the full bandwidth,
including bright emission lines that contaminate the continuum, and "cleanest",
which select portions of the spectrum that are unaffected by line emission. We
present a preliminary analysis of the spectral indices of the continuum data,
showing that the ALMA products are able to clearly distinguish free-free
emission from dust emission, and that in some cases we are able to identify
optically thick emission sources. The data products are made public with this
release.
