Using Live Tiling

Image-Pro with Capture Module Only

The Live Tiling module for Image-Pro makes it easy to acquire a large tiled image without an automated microscope stage.

To use Live Tiling:

Go to the Capture tab on the Image-Pro ribbon and find the Live Tiling group.

The Run button will be enabled only when a live preview or image sequence is active.

Click the Run tool's drop-down arrow to display theLive Tiling options. Options on the drop-down list box include the following:

  • Motion Detection: Motion blur is a common problem with capturing images of moving objects. This problem can be eliminated by activating the Motion detection option. Activating this option is recommended for long exposure times. When this option is active,  a new tile in auto-tiling mode will be added only when the camera is still.
  • Use EDF Adding Tiles: If the image contains out-of-focus areas, use the Use EDF Adding Tiles option. When this option is on, every new tile is added using the EDF algorithm. The borders of the EDF image are blended with Blending Width (see Tiling Options). When the option is off, the tiles are added with full overlap blending. The option can be activated temporary to merge several focus planes adding tiles using the Add button.
  • Auto EDF: When the  Auto EDF option is on, the new images are added to the output constantly and clicking the Add button is not necessary. You can simply adjust the focus, and during the adjustment the EDF image will be created. EDF images are not added when the stage is moving.
  • Show Crop ROI: Shows the outline of any ROI on the image.
  • Set New Position : Use this button if,  in the middle of creating a tiled output, you want to continue from another side of the tiled image. Clicking the button will activate the  position selection mode, where you must click on the output image where you want to continue tiling.
  • Correct Background: If the microscope has uneven illumination, it can be corrected using this option. Use the empty area on slide as the background, move the slide under microscope, and click the Set background Image button.
  • Background Color: This option is used for empty areas outside the tiles on an output image. Clicking the Pick from Image button will activate the color picking tool, which you can use to select a color for the image

The easiest way of tiling is with the Auto tiling option. In that case the images will be added to the output automatically when the image shift exceeds 25% (when an  internal yellow rectangle touches the image border). Move the stage slowly, and the images will be acquired and tiled automatically.

Additional options are available through the Options dialog. Click here for more information.

To start the tiling procedure, move the microscope to the area of the specimen where you want to start tiling and click the Run button. When you click Run the current image becomes the starting point for the tiled image. Yellow rectangles will show you the outline of the original frame when you move objects under the microscope. The tiling uses cross-correlation to find the image shift. Use objects with texture for tiling. Note that empty fields cannot be aligned correctly automatically. When you see that the yellow frame follows the image correctly, you can start tiling. Note that the maximum image shift between slices cannot exceed 25-40%.

Move the object by 30-35% from the original position (when the inner rectangle will touch image border) and stop the stage. The image will be automatically captured when the object will stay still for 2 frames. It will eliminate motion blur and improve the quality of tiled image.

Repeat step 6 (move-stop) until whole area is tiled.

If a bad tile is created using the auto-tiling feature, you can undo it and add it manually.

Click the Undo tool and move microscope to the location when correlation is stable. Then activate Auto tiling option again.

When the tiling is done, click the Stop button. It will stop the output and any blank areas will be filled with the background color.