diff --git a/src/imcflibs/imagej/bdv.py b/src/imcflibs/imagej/bdv.py
index dfe4994a..d18b2b3d 100644
--- a/src/imcflibs/imagej/bdv.py
+++ b/src/imcflibs/imagej/bdv.py
@@ -1374,7 +1374,7 @@ def interest_points_registration(
 def duplicate_transformations(
     project_path,
     transformation_type="channel",
-    channel_source=None,
+    channel_source=0,
     tile_source=None,
     transformation_to_use="[Replace all transformations]",
 ):
@@ -1413,7 +1413,10 @@ def duplicate_transformations(
     if transformation_type == "channel":
         apply = "[One channel to other channels]"
         target = "[All Channels]"
-        source = str(channel_source - 1)
+        if channel_source > 0:
+            source = str(channel_source - 1)
+        else:
+            source = "0"
         if tile_source:
             tile_apply = "apply_to_tile=[Single tile (Select from List)] "
             tile_process = "processing_tile=[tile " + str(tile_source) + "] "
@@ -1423,13 +1426,13 @@ def duplicate_transformations(
         apply = "[One tile to other tiles]"
         target = "[All Tiles]"
         source = str(tile_source)
-        if channel_source:
+        if channel_source > 0:
             ch_apply = "apply_to_channel=[Single channel (Select from List)] "
             ch_process = "processing_channel=[channel " + str(channel_source - 1) + "] "
         else:
             ch_apply = "apply_to_channel=[All channels] "
     else:
-        sys.exit("Issue with transformation duplication")
+        raise ValueError("Invalid transformation type: %s" % transformation_type)
 
     options = (
         "apply="