dips manual v2600

DIPS

Digital Image Processing System

Reference Manual

version: 2.6.0.018.04.2005

Important Every person instructed to work with DIPS has to read andto understand the necessary part of this manual.

Accessibility To avoid handling errors and to accomplish smooth opera-tion of the DIPS this manual has always to be easily accessi-ble for instructed staff.

Copyright This manual is protected by copyright. Without affirmationof the Point Electronic GmbH nobody is allowed to noteven business divisions or departments of other companies reproduce, distribute or change it in any manner exceptthis is permitted explicitly and in written form by the PointElectronic GmbH.

Note Every effort has been made to ensure that all informationthis document contains, is complete and correct by thetime of press date.

Address Point Electronic GmbH

Ackerweg 104

D-06130 Halle (Saale)

Tel. +49 (0) 345 - 12 01 190

Fax. +49 (0) 345 - 12 01 223

E-Mail. [email protected]

www.pointelectronic.de

This manual was made byLenz KD Communication and Documentationwww.lenz-kd.de

Content

1 Explanations to this manual . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

Purpose and structure of this manual. . . . . . . . . 1-2

How to use this manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

2 Structure and function of DIPS . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

User interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3

Edit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4

Image Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5

Tools Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6

View Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7

Window Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8

Help Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9

3 Menu Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1

File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Edit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12

Image Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13

Tools Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22

View Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-33

Window Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-34

Help Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-35

point electronic GmbH DIPS iii

version: 2.6.0.0 Reference Manual

Content

1 Explanations to this manual

Chapter Overview

Purpose This chapter contains information to simplify the work withthis manual.

Content This Chapter contains the following information.

o Purpose and structure of this manual (page 1-2)

o How to use this manual (page 1-3)

point electronic GmbH DIPS Seite 1-1


Purpose and structure of this manual

Purpose of this manual This manual describes the digital image processing systemDIPS and ist components.

Structure of this manual This manual is devided into chapters which are organizedby technical aspects.

The following table contains information to the chapters ofthis manual.



Explanations to this manual Purpose and structure of this manual

Chapter Content

1 Explanations to thismanual

Survey of terms and issues whichare important for the use of thismanual

2 Structure and function ofDIPS

Descriptions of structure andfunction of the system DIPS

3 Menu functions Descriptions of the functions in theseveral DIPS menus

How to use this manual

Note Relating information within the manual are marked by thenote "Continuation next page" resp. Continuation.

Please pay attention to the completeness of the informationwhen copying parts of the manual.

Illustrations The images used in the manual do not always contain alldetails or special cases but only the relevant information.

Representation ofmenu functions

In the manual the various menu functions are presented asfollows:

Finding a menu point: File Open

Representation ofkeyboard shortcuts

Frequently used functions and instructions can be activatedby using certain key combinations. Such are presented asfollows:

Press a key: [Key]

Press a key combination: [Key]+[Key]

Representation of In- andOutputs on the screen

Repeated fixed symbols or descriptions are used to signa-lize possible in- and outputs on the screen for the user:

Input by clicking on a menu point: menu point

Input by clicking on a button: |button|

Indication of dialogue windows: dialog window

Note Important notes are marked as follows.

Note:Notes explain relations that might not be easily revealedeven by expert users. The neglecting of a note is no di-rect security risk, however, it can lead to disturbances inthe operating procedure.



Explanations to this manual How to use this manual

2 Structure and function of DIPS

Chapter Overview

Purpose This chapter contains descriptions of structure and functionof the user interface of DIPS.

Content This chapter contains the following information.

o User interface (page 2-2)

o File Menu (page 2-3)

o Edit Menu (page 2-4)

o Image Menu (page 2-5)

o Tools Menu (page 2-6)

o View Menu (page 2-7)

o Window Menu (page 2-8)

o Help Menu (page 2-9)



User interface

Description With DIPS (Digital Imaging Processing System) all acquiredimages can be processed, labelled, measured, printed andsaved easily. A special layout technique facilitates the pro-cessing of several related images as well as their documen-tation and archiving.



Structure and function of DIPS User interface

File Menu

Description The File Menu includes all commands and dialog boxesnecessary to open, save, export and print DISS files especi-ally of images. Moreover, in this chapter you will find somefunctions for setting up of various parameters.

Structure The following figure shows the File Menu.



Structure and function of DIPS File Menu

Edit Menu

Description The Edit Menu includes functions to undo steps and copyand paste data to the clipboard.

Structure The following figure shows the Edit Menu.



Structure and function of DIPS Edit Menu

Image Menu

Description The Image Menu includes image processing functions.

Structure The following figure shows the Image Menu.



Structure and function of DIPS Image Menu

Tools Menu

Description The Tools Menu includes further image processingfunctions.

Structure The following figure shows the Tools Menu.



Structure and function of DIPS Tools Menu

View Menu

Description The View Menu includes functions to control the display ofopen images in the image window or images within a lay-out of more than one image.

Structure The following figure shows the View Menu.



Structure and function of DIPS View Menu

Window Menu

Description The Window Menu includes functions for changing and/orarranging the display of image windows on the DIPS workspace.

Structure The following figure shows the Window Menu.



Structure and function of DIPS Window Menu

Help Menu

Description The Help Menu includes functions for accessing the DIPSonline help systems.

Structure The following figure shows the Help Menu.



Structure and function of DIPS Help Menu

3 Menu Functions

Chapter Overview

Purpose This chapter contains descriptions of the functions in theseveral DIPS menus.

Content This chapter contains the following information.

o File Menu (page 3-2)

o Edit Menu (page 3-12)

o Image Menu (page 3-13)

o Tools Menu (page 3-22)

o View Menu (page 3-34)

o Window Menu (page 3-35)

o Help Menu (page 3-36)



File Menu

New Layout With the function New Layout you can choose a new lay-out you want to use for the combination of more than oneimage. If you click on New Layout, a list with all availablelayouts will be shown.

Click on the one, which is suited best for your combinationof images. The layout will appear on the DIPS surface. Ofcourse, all fields are empty at the beginning.

Open [F3]

Opens the dialog window Load Image for opening animage or layout files from a specific folder.

Note:DIPS supports the image formats Tagged Image File For-mat (TIFF), Joint Picture Expert Group (JPEG), WindowsBitmap (BMP) and DOS-DISS (PSD).

For further information about a standard Windows dialogwindow look at your Windows-documentation.

Continuation next page



Menu Functions File Menu

Continuation

Look in:From the Look in drop down list select the folder in whichyou want to search for the image.

File nameType the name of the file you want to open or click on oneof the names shown in the large file list.

Files of typeFrom the Files of type drop-down list select the type ofimage file you want to search for.

PreviewCheck this box if you want to preview the image file youselected.

Image Browser[Ctrl]+[F2]

DIPS has its own simple image browser which contains thetools and menus you can use to search and view savedimage files.

It allows you to get an overview of all images stored in aspecific folder.





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From the Image Browser window, you can view, open anddelete images from an image gallery. A gallery is a collec-tion of image thumbnails stored in a single folder. Eachthumbnail within the gallery is a pointeror link to the cur-rent file in the folder, so your gallery is essentially a directoryof your images.

The image browser window is entirely independent. It hasno links to any other open window. It contains its ownmenu commands: Open image, Refresh and Delete.

In the left, explorer-style tree all folders of a drive are shown.Select the one your images are stored.

If the folder contains images in TIF-format, these images areshown right as thumbnails including its comment, if theyhave been stored with one.

With a click on one of the thumbnails it will be marked witha green frame and all informations stored with the imageare shown in the left lower field.

When a gallery is displayed, you can simply doubleclick onan image to open it on the DIPS work space.

Save[F2]

Saves the active image or layout if it has already a file name.

If the overwrite warning is not enabled, the original image orlayout will be overwritten. For activating the warning seemenu File Settings Miscellaneous.

If the active image or layout has not been saved before, thiscommand will automatically open the dialog windowSave as...

Use the Save command only if you have performed anychanges on the image or layout and want to save thesemodifications.





Continuation

Save As[Shift]+[F2]

Saves the active image or layout for the first time or under anew name.

This command opens the standard dialog windowSave Imagewith some DIPS specific additional features.

Save as typeDIPS saves images in TIF (.tif), JPEG (.jpg) or Windows Bit-map (.bmp) format. However, images saved as JPEG filescannot be opened with the DIPS program.

Furthermore, bitmap images cannot be saved with pointdata or other DIPS specific informations.

OptionsThe field Options contains the following threecheckboxes:

16bit-format (raw data)If this checkbox is activated the image is saved in 16bit for-mat. This is only possible, if the image has been acquired in16bit-format (see also chapter Image Acquisition:Options)

Note:At present, 16bit-image data can be processed withDIPS only with the equidensities function. Therefore,16bit-images opened with DIPS are automatically redu-ced to 8bit-format.





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Layout as single imageIf this checkbox is activated the active layout is saved assingle image for export to third party application software.With layouts saved as single images, it becomes impossibleto process the individual images of a layout afterwards.

Use image zoomIf a layout is saved as a single image, this checkbox causesthat the layout is saved as single image as shown on thescreen, i.e. the degree of zoom of the individual images of alayout are preserved.

If a layout with more than one image is saved as a singleimage, the size of this image can be defined by enteringvalues for either the width or the height. The other dimen-sion will automatically be adjusted to maintain proportions.

JPEGIf an image is saved as JPEG file the grade of compressionor the quality of the image resp. can be adjusted by ente-ring a value between 1 and 100, whereby 100 means hig-hest quality and low compression ratio.

Auto Save[Ctrl]+[A]

Opens a dialog window with two lines.

ActiveActivates the Autosave mode.

All operate like an On/Off switch, activating or disabling theautosave mode.

In autosave mode a click on the Save button of the tool-bar or a [F2]-keystroke will automatically save the activeimage with a name consisting of a root name followed by athree digit number which is increased each time by one.





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File nameOpens the dialog window Filename for auto save todefine the root name.

This window is very similar to the Save as dialog window,but the checkbox Layoutassingleimage cannotbe activated and the checkbox Maintain zoom is replacedby the checkbox Closeimageautomatically.

Use this option in order to close the image from the DIPSsurface after it has been saved. This is very useful becausetoo many open images can cause a collapse of the system.

Export Exports point or linescan data as ASCII- (.txt) or Excel- (.xls)files.

Printer Setup Opens the standard dialog window for the printer setupwith all parameters which can be defined for the pluggedprinter.





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Print[Ctrl]+[P]

Opens the dialog window Print to configure the printoutof an active image or layout.

Use image zoomActivates printing of the image as it is shown on the screen.

Center of pageActivates automatically place of the image or layout in themiddle of the page. Otherwise the left and upper marginswill define the position of the image or layout on the page.

OrientationContains the radio buttons Portrait and Landscape.

MarginsUse the Left, Right, Top, and Bottom selectors to specifythe margins from the corresponding edges or to specify theposition of your image or layout upon the printed page.

CopiesEnables to enter the number of printed copies.

SetupOpens the standard dialog window for the printer setupwith all parameters which can be defined for the pluggedprinter.





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Select TWAIN Source Shows all available TWAIN sources and can be used toselect the most suited for your application. In general it willbe the latest version of the DISS TWAIN source.

Acquire fromTWAIN...[Ctrl]+[T]

Opens the TWAIN source previously defined with thefunction Select TWAIN source.

After the acquisition, the image or layout can be transferredinto the DIPS application software and displayed on theDIPS work space.

Preferences Opens the dialog window Program Preferenceswiththree tabs.

Tab TWAINContains three checkboxes.

Show current TWAIN source as hintIf this checkbox is activated, the selected TWAIN source isdisplayed as tooltip for the Acquire from TWAIN Button.

Close TWAIN source after acquisitionActivates closing of the TWAIN source after image acquisi-tion.

Override in autosave modeIf this checkbox is activated, the TWAIN source will not beclosed at automatic image acquisition.

Tab ViewContains the checkbox Flat toolbar style. If this checkboxis activated, the user interface is displayed with the newWindows flat style buttons.





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Tab MiscellaneousContains the following functions.

Next image numberEnter the number to be used for the next image saved.

Confirmation for saving imagesIf this checkbox is activated, you must confirm when savingan image already saved in the same folder.

Max. size for auto scaleWhen an image or layout is transferred from theTWAINsource on to the DIPS work space, it will be converted auto-matically to twice its size unless it is larger than the figureshown in the value field Max. size for auto scale.

This function improves the pixel resolution of the images orlayouts and is especially advantageous for layouts withsmall x-ray maps if they will be provided with a captionunder each image.

You can prevent automatic scaling if you enter a zero intothis field.





Continuation

Smooth scalingActivates an interpolating procedure for automatic scaling.Otherwise a simple pixel duplication is performed.

The following three images have been acquired with 80 x64 pixels and a comment.

pic. 1) without scaling

pic. 2) standard scaling

pic. 3) smooth scaling

Exit[Alt]+[X]

Closes the DIPS program.




Edit Menu

Undo[Alt]+[Backspace]

Reverses the most recent action.

Note:DIPS can only undo one operation.

Copy[Ctrl]+[Ins]

Copies the content of the active image or layout to the Clip-board. Copy will not change the contents of the image inthe active window. Any data in the DIB format (device inde-pendent bitmap) already on the Clipboard will be replaced.

Paste[Shift]+[Ins]

Copies the contents of the Clipboard into a new imagewindow.Before you can execute the Paste function, you mustsomehow have placed DIB image data on the WindowsClipboard (see the Copy command).If there are no data on the clipboard, the Paste commandwill not be active.

You can use Paste to generate duplicates of images.

Paste image data[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[V]

Differs from the simple paste function that an image copiedfrom another than the DIPS program into the clipboard ispasted into a DIPS layout.

This image must have the same pixel resolution than theother images in the layout.



Menu Functions Edit Menu

Image Menu

Brightness/Contrast

Opens a dialog window to adjust the visual qualities of yourimage.

There is an independent slider control for each characteris-tics:

Move the slider up and down to change the image bright-ness and contrast between - 100% to +100%. A value of 0represents no change to the image value.

With a click on |Reset| the values for brightness and con-trast will be reset to the original value of 0.

With color images the activated color button specifies thecolor channel whose brightness and contrast will bechanged.

HistogramFunctions

Opens the histogram window and displays the intensity his-togram for the active image.

A histogram shows you the frequency distribution of thepixel values in your image. It describes , in graphic form, thecontrast and dynamic range characteristics of the image.




Menu Functions Image Menu

Continuation

Tab EqualizationSlider enables to enhance the contrast and dynamic rangeof an active image.

If you move the slider the result is immediately visible on theimage.

Tab RangeUse the mouse to move the two red bars from the right andleft over the histogram.

Only those pixels of the active image will be shown whoseintensity (gray level) lay within the two markers.





Continuation

Tab AreaUse the mouse to move the two red bars from the left andright over the pixel histogram to select a specific range ofpixel values, which will be shown in the image in red color.

The sum of the red pixels is expressed as percentage of thetotal area.

Matrix Filter The menu Image Matrix Filter opens the dialog windowMatrix-Filter.

Use the Matrix Filter to apply one of DIPSs numerous con-volution filters to the active image.

Filtering operations produce their effect by modifying apixels value based upon the values of the pixels around it.These operations reduce or increase the rate of changethat occurs in the intensity transitions within an image.

Areas in which there are sudden or rapid changes in inten-sity appear as hard edges in an image. Areas where thereare gradual changes produce soft edges.





Continuation

Filtering acts to detect and modify the rate of change atthese edges. It can increase the intensity differences in asoft edge to make it appear sharper, or reduce the intensitydifferences in a hard edge to smooth and soften it.

Matrix filter operations accomplish their results by exami-ning and processing an image in small regions, called pixelneighborhoods. A neighborhood is a square region ofimage pixels, typically 3x3, 5x5, or 7x7 in size.

Convolution or linear filters process image neighborhoodsby multiplying the values within a neighborhood by a matrixof filtering coefficients (integer values). This matrix is calleda kernel. It has the same size as the neighborhood that itis being applied to.

The results of this multiplication are added and divided bythe sum of the filter kernel. The result replaces the centerpixel in the image neighborhood.

DIPS provides an extensive set of convolution filters.

You can also create your own filtering kernels and applythem to images.

When you select the menu Image Matrix Filter or clickon the corresponding button of the toolbar, the matrix filterwindow is opened. Within this window you select the typeand size of filter you want to use.

Filtered results can be previewed or immediately written tothe active image.

You may use the menu Edit Undo if you want to removethe effects of a filter you have applied.

MatrixThe coefficients of the selected filter are displayed and canbe changed. The allowable range of values is -128 to +127.

Plus-SymbolOpens a dialog window, where you can enter the name fora new filter.Define the new filter matrix by entering the coefficients forthe kernel and values for the Divisor and the Bias.





Continuation

DivisorAfter applying the matrix filter, the calculated intensitieshave to be standardized.Enter an appropriate value for the divisor which should nor-mally correspond to the sum of the matrix coefficients.

BiasShifts the calculated intensities by the value you enter intothis field.

Minus-SymbolDeletes a selected filter from the list.

Arrow-SymbolOpens a dialog window to rename a selected filter.

ApplyApplies the selected filter.

PreviewPreviews the effect of the selected filter to the active image.

OKCloses the dialog window without applying a filter to theactive image. All changes will be saved.

CancelCloses the dialog window. All changes will be discarted.





Continuation

Equidensities(optional)

Equidensities are lines or areas which connect pixels withequal gray values or color densities.

Thresholding can be used as a tool to segment an imageinto its constituent elements.

With an image displayed, use the menu Image Equiden-sities to open a dialog window Equidensitieswith thepixel histogram and a list field.

With the mouse pointer in the histogram area, click the rightmouse key to open a simple context menu with twofunctions: Add and Delete.If you choose Add, a red bar will be shown. You can grab itand move it over the histogram to set thresholds.

Simultaneously, you can observe in the active image theequidensity line or if the checkbox Areadisplay isactivated the area with equal density.

Furthermore, in the list field the threshold will be shown aspercentage, absolute value and as percentage of the totalimage area.

You can define the thresholds also numerically if you movethe mouse pointer into the list field and open the contextmenu with the right mouse key.





Continuation

If you choose Add a new dialog window will be opened inwhich you can define a new threshold by entering a percen-tage or absolute value, the latter one must be in the rangebetween 1 and 255, if 8 Bit images are used.

In the list field all defined thresholds are displayed.

For each of them you can see the percentage threshold,the absolute threshold and the corresponding area in rela-tion to the total area of the image.

You can exclude thresholds from the equidensity calcula-tions by clearing its checkboxes, or use the context menu.

From the threshold color drop down list select the color forthe preselected threshold.

Invert Inverts the pixels in the active image, producing a nega-tive effect.

This function can only be used on Gray Scale images.





Continuation

Calibrate[Ctrl]+[K]

You can select the menu Image Calibrate only in themeasurement mode (see Tools Measurement mode).

Non-calibrated images can be calibrated if they include astructure with known length or a -marker.

After you have placed the measuring cursors onto theknown structure, apply the Calibrate command by hitting[Ctrl]+[K]. You will receive the dialog window Calibrate.

First choose first the direction of the measurement, thenenter the values of the magnification and the real distance.

If it is the first time you calibrate DISS, click |Save|. It sto-res the calibration coefficient into the registry.

If you only want to recalibrate an image, click |OK|.

If you save the images in TIFF format, the calibrationcoeffi-cient is saved with the image and is available when reloa-ding the image into the DIPS program.

Calibrate scanned image[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[K]

This function is for special applications with images notgenerated in electron microscopes.





Continuation

Image Info Window[Ctrl]+[I]

Opens the dialog window Image Information to viewand/or modify informations stored with the image.

Not all image informations can be modified from this menu,the image size, for example, is fixed.

Note:All image informations are stored only, if the image is sa-ved in TIF-format.




Tools Menu

Standard[F5]

Switches to the standard mode and deactivates all othermodes. Drag & Drop is only available in the standard mode.

Zoom[F6]

Activates the zoom mode. In this mode, the mouse cursoris displayed as magnifying glass over the active image. Aclick on the left mouse key magnifies the image, a click onthe right mouse key reduces the image magnification. Theclicked point is moved to the center of the image.

The current magnifying factor is displayed in the title bar ofthe image window.

Press the [Ctrl]-key in the zoom mode to change the mousecursor from magnifier to a hand symbol.

With the left mouse key held down, the image can be gra-sped and moved. You can grasp again by releasing theleft mouse button, repositioning the hand cursor, and thenpressing the left mouse button again.

This feature is also available in the full-screen mode.

Crop[Ctrl]+[F7]

Enables to crop a rectangular section from the image andcreate a new, smaller image.

If you are in the crop mode, position the mouse pointer inthe active window, hold the left mouse key down and drawa rectangle. The width and height of the rectangular regionis displayed in the status bar.

In the usual manner you can resize the selected area bygrabbing and moving either the green lines or one of thecorners.

You can move the selected area by positioning the mousepointer in the rectangle and moving it with the left mousekey held down.

In a layout window you can copy a region into anotherwindow with drag and drop [Ctrl] + left mouse key, provi-ded that the image dimensions are equal.




Menu Functions Tools Menu

Continuation

MeasurementCursor

[F7]

Activates the measurement function. It will show four greenlines arranged as a rectangle.

You can grab and move the lines or corners of the rectan-gle with the mouse if you hold the left mouse key down.

If you press the [Ctrl]-key before you click the left mousekey, the nearest corner is caught.

The measuring lines can be positioned more exactly, if theimage is enlarged (zoom). You can change the zoom levelin the measuring mode with the keys [+] and [-] of thenumeric keypad. When you switch directly from the Measu-ring Mode to the Zoom mode, the green lines remain visi-ble.

Now you can zoom into the image section to be measuredand afterwards switch back into the measuring mode toposition the measuring cursor more exactly.

In zoom mode you can catch the green rectangle with the[Space]-key.

To change the measuring direction (highlighted line) usethe [Tab]-key. Use the mouse to grab and move the measu-rement label to another position.

Use [Ctrl] + [+] or [-] on the numeric keypad to modify thesize of the label.

The [R]-key shows the radius and also returns to the rectan-gle.

Summary:

o [Ctrl] + left mouse key Catch nearest cornero [Tab] Change between X1, Y1, X2, Y2o [R] Change to radiuso [Space] Catch the rectangle in zoom modeo Num [+] Zoomo Num [-] Unzoomo [Ctrl] + [+] Enlarge font sizeo [Ctrl] + [-] Reduce font sizeo [Enter] Apply





Continuation

With the measurement function you can determine distan-ces in x, y, and diagonal direction and also radii. The resultsare displayed in the status line of the DIPS window and onthe active image.

For all non-calibrated images the unit for measuring distan-ces is pixel. Non-calibrated images can be calibrated laterwith the menu Image Calibrate, provided the imageshows a structure with known dimensions.

If a calibration has been performed on an image withknown structures, all images acquired and transferred intothe DIPS program thereafter are automatically calibratedprovided the REM-magnification has been entered or auto-matically read after the image acquisition.

The highlighted line of the measurement cursor, as well asthe corresponding value, will be burned into the image, ifyou hit the [Enter]-key. First the Text dialog window will beopened. There you can change the format of the label.

Click |OK| to burn the label into the image. The dialogwindow will be closed.

NoteOnly the last label can be eliminated with the menuEdit Undo.Since the labels are burned into the image, you shouldsave the original image prior to editing.





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Angle measurement[F8]

Is used to obtain an angle measurement from your image.

Use the mouse to position the lines that they form the angleyou want to determine. To move the endpoint or vertex ofan angle, click on the required position and the nearestpoint will be caught.

Use the mouse to shift the label to another position. Tomodify the size of the label use [Ctrl] + [+] or [-] on thenumeric keypad.

Hit [Enter] to burn the two sides of the angle as well asthe corresponding value into the image.

The dialog window Captionwill be opened. There you canchange the format of the label.Click |OK| to burn the label into the image. The dialogwindow will be closed.

Only the last label can be eliminated with the menuEdit Undo.

Since the labels areburned into the image, you shouldsave the original image prior to editing.

Label[F9]

Adds text to images. You might do this to permanentlymark an image with comments about features of interest.

In the annotate mode, position the mouse pointer in theactive image where you want to add the comment, then hitthe left mouse key.

This will open the dialog window Text.Enter and edit the text. Click |OK| to transfer the text intothe image area. Hit [Space] to modify the annotation andthe font settings.

Use the mouse to move the text into the proper position. Hit[Enter] to add the text into the image.

Only the last annotation can be eliminated with the menuEdit Undo.

Be aware that the added text overwrites the pixels in theplace where it is applied. The original pixel information isessentially gone.





Continuation

Pointscan Data Displays a table with point scan data of an image.

With the pointer in the table you can open a context menuby hitting the right mouse key. Here you can select thecolumns to be displayed or save the table in ASCII, HTMLor Excel format.

In addition, you can label individual or all points within theimage.

The buttons below the table can be used to mark and labelthe points in the image.

Use this button to mark and label a point choosen in thetable with a mouseclick.

It opens the dialog window Caption. Here you can entertext, choose the color, size and font of the characters.Furthermore, you can change the color of the foregroundand background and the line width.

Use this button to to mark and label all selected points inthe table automatically with corresponding index.

Again you can change the size, font and color of the indexand the color and linewidth of the cross used to mark thepoints.

Use this button if you want to only mark all selected pointswith a cross, whose color and linewidth you can choosewith the dialog window Caption.





Continuation

Use this button to draw a line between the first and lastpoint of the table, no matter if you selected all a few or onlyone point.

The color and linewidth of this line can be defined in thedialog window Caption.

This function is only useful for concentration profiles.

Coordinates The coordinates of the points in the table can be expressedin cartesian form with the origin at the left lower corner ofthe image, if you choose the Image Option.

For some applications it is more convenient to use the cen-ter of the image as origin for the coordinates of the points inthe table. In this case choose the option DAC center.

If the system is connected to a motorized microscope stage(option) the coordinates of the points can be expressed asstage coordinates if the option Stage is activated.

With the mouse pointer somewhere in the pointscan table aclick on the right mouse key opens the following contextmenu.

Select all points [Ctrl]+[A]Selects all points in the table with the pointscan data formarking or labelling.





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Caption[Ctrl]+[B]

Opens the dialog window Image Caption for creatingcaptions under your active image.

Tab Image CommentIf you have transferred or saved an image with a caption itwill be shown in the large white and the yellowish field.

You can edit the comment in the white field but only thefirst 40 characters will show up in the yellowish field andalso as the image caption.

Any additional text will be added to the TIF file as informa-tion and can later be looked at with the commandImage/Image Info Window together with additional informa-tions generated automatically or manually.





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Tab SettingsIn the upper white text box the parameter string is dis-played which will be automatically displayed as caption

Add ParametersFrom the next drop down list you can select an image para-meter. The following parameter macros are available:

$COMMENT Image comment$DATE Acquisition time (date/time value)$HV High voltage (floating point value)$IMAGENO Self incrementing image number (integervalue)$MAG Magnification (floating point value)$WD Working distance (floating point value)$DEVNAME Name of the microscope

Click |Add Parameters| to add the selected macro to theinput line. If you confirm your changes in the caption dialog,any parameter macro in the input line is substituted with thecorresponding value stored with the active image.

Paramer FormatOpens a dialog window for changing the format string ofthe current parameter macro except $COMMENT and$DEVNAME.

The format string defines how the related parameter isshown. The parameter macros $HV, $MAG and $WD mustbe formatted as floating point values, $IMAGENO as integervalue and parameter macro $DATE as date/time value.





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ColorThe left mouse key selects the foreground color (color oftext and micron marker), the right mouse key the back-ground color of the text.

Transparent BackgroundIf this checkbox is activated, the text background willappear transparent.

AutomaticIf this checkbox is activated, the initial values for font sizeand line width will be calculated automatically based on theheight of the active image.

ChangeOpens a windows dialog for the selection of font type, styleand size. It is recommended to adapt the font size to theimage resolution.The option of changing font sizes is only available if theautomatic function is disabled.

OKApplies the image caption and the micron bar to the cur-rent image and closes the dialog window. In a multi-imagelayout, only the caption of the active single image isapplied.

OK for allIs only available with layout windowsAdds the caption of all images in the layout simultaneously.Every single image in the layout gets the caption, which isentered in the edit field. It is possible to generate imagespecific captions by using macros for image parameters.

Note:This step can only be undone for the last image of alayout.

CancelCloses the dialog window without applying the caption orthe measuring bar to the image.





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MeasurementData Window

Opens a dialog window with tables of all current measure-ments performed on the displayed image.

Click |Columns| to customize the tables by Drag & Drop.

Click |Save| to save the tables in various formats.

Mix Window Opens the dialog window Mix Images.

Tab False ColorsEnables to color or combine gray scale images.Use Drag & Drop to move one or several active images intothe three windows at the left side. You must begin with theuppermost window. Note that these images must ave thesame dimensions and pixel resolution and only gray scaleimages can be used.





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This feature is especially useful to generate false color ima-ges of elemental x-ray maps. If you drag the same image ofa layout one after another into the three windows you cancreate a new image with any color hue by using the red,green and blue slider. After you have created the desiredcolor dot map drag it from the right window back into thelayout or into the DIPS window, if you want to use or save itas a single image.

If you want to create a combined image of three elements,drag three dot maps of a mapping layout into the threewindows and move all sliders into the upper position.

The resulting color dot image can be dragged from thecombi window on the DIPS surface or back into an imagewindow of the original or a new layout.

Note:All three windows must be filled with gray scale images.

Tab MergeUse Drag & Drop to move two active images into the twowindows at the left side beginning with the top window.The images can be gray scaled and/or colored images.However they must have the same pixel resolution.Useful mergers are the combination of a BSE image with acolored x-ray image of one element. Another example is thecombination of a SE and a BSE image.





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Color PaletteWindow

Opens a dialog window with a list of predefined LUTs (Lookup tables).

You can assign one of the listed color tables via Drag &Drop to an active image or layout. When editing mappingimages, it is recommended to assign a color table afterhaving changed contrast and brightness, because coloredimages cannot be adjusted.




View Menu

100%[F10]

Displays the current image in standard view. One screenpixel corresponds to one image pixel. In a multi image lay-out only the active image is changed.

Fit in Window[F11]

Fits the image into the image window while maintaining theproportion of the sides.

Full Screen[F12]

Displays the current image or layout in full-screen mode.You can switch back to normal display mode by hitting the[F12]-key or the [Esc]-key again.



Menu Functions View Menu

Window Menu

Cascade Arranges the opened image windows so that they areroughly equally sized and layered, leaving only their title barand left border visible.

It places only the open image windows, command or datawindows will stay in their initial positions.

Arrange Places all minimized image windows to their default posi-tions.

Tile Horizontally Arranges all opened image windows in such a way thatthey are all visible and roughly equally sized one over theother across the screen.

It tiles only the open image windows, command or datawindows will stay in their positions.

Tile Vertically Arranges all opened image windows in such a way thatthey are all visible and roughly equally sized one besidesthe other across the screen.

It arranges only the open image windows, command ordata windows will stay in their positions.

Minimize All Minimizes all opened image windows to symbols.



Menu Functions Window Menu

Help Menu

Contents[F1]

Opens a dialog window with the DIPS Help.

About Opens a window, that shows copyright-information, the pro-gram-version and the serial-number.



Menu Functions Help Menu

TitleLegal PageContent1 Explanations to this manualPurpose and structure of this manualHow to use this manual

2 Structure and function of DIPSUser interfaceFile MenuEdit MenuImage MenuTools MenuView MenuWindow MenuHelp Menu

3 Menu FunctionsFile MenuEdit MenuImage MenuTools MenuView MenuWindow MenuHelp Menu

dips manual v2600

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