Tools Palette

Main Menu: View > Tools Palette
Shortcut: F5

The Tools palette contains tools for making "point and click" manual measurements, such as counting points, measuring angles, distances, perimeters or areas on the image.

The basic steps involved in taking manual measurements are:

1. Selecting the appropriate tool in the tool palette, shown to the right, depending on which measurement. you need to take (polygon, segment, automatic area, etc.).

2. Taking the actual measurement in your image. Each tool has its own way of obtaining a measurement. See How the different measurement tools work below for instructions about the process for each different  tool.

3. When you take a measurement, it appears on the image along with its label (see ), and also is automatically recorded in the Measurements window data sheet.

4. Alternatively, after all the measurements on the image are done, they can be exported to the Results window, in order to consolidate measurements from different images in a single datasheet or divide them in series to perform statistical analysis or generate charts.

When you select the Measurements command, the Measurements window is opened. There are three tabs or pages in the dialog box, which are organized in the order of workflow from left to right. The first tab is the Feature page. The second is the Input / Output page, and the last one is the Options page. This dialog is resizable, with a minimum size that accommodates the larger of the Input / Output and Options pages. When the dialog is opened, the last page used will be displayed.

Note:
You may want to set the Conversion Factor before taking any measurements.

How the different measurement tools work

The tools on the top: Angle  , Segment   and Polygon    insert control points with each click. The points are connected between them by lines. The angle tool only uses three points and the segment tool just two, but the Polygon tool can add any number of points, to measure multiple segments, perimeters or areas:

• To delete a point,  press the Control key and click on it.

• To insert a point between other two points click on the dashed line that connects the points at the location when the new point should be.

• To move a point simply click and drag it.

• To draw perfectly vertical or horizontal line press the SHIFT key, so the points are placed ONLY in 90 degree directions to the previous control point.

The Polygon tool  allows closing the drawing path (to measure an area). To do so click on the first point. You will notice that the cursor changes to a link:

Clicking on the first point will close the path and write the measurement. In case you need to move the first point without actually closing the path, press the Alt key while clicking it.

The Rectangle and Ellipse tools place a 10x10 pixels size rectangular or elliptical shape on the image (that size may be modified at Preferences tab). To move or resize the measurement click the shape control points. If the SHIFT key is pressed while resizing the shape it will have exactly the same width and height, so it will become a perfect square or a circle.

To scroll up/down or left/right the image while making a measurement, press the spacebar to turn on temporarily the Hand Grabbing Tool.

To write the measurement right click and select Write measurement, or choose Unselect (Cancel) if you want to cancel it.

Each measurement will be numbered sequentially, but if you delete some measurement that may cause gaps in the measurement numbering sequence. To clear such gaps use the Clear counting gaps command on the Measurements menu.

Use the Line Selection tool  to modify the position of the points or add new points to measurements already written.

Configuring predetermined options

Some tools can be work in different ways depending on its settings. To define how tools work right click on the tool you want to configure, or just select the Edit > Preferences menu command to open the  Preferences window.

The following table describes how each tool work.

Options: CF: Uses the Conversion Factor. S: Supports Statistics. CO: Supports copying.

Tool		Options	Description
	Angle Measurement Tool		The Angle tool allows you to determine the angle defined by three points within the digital image. Angles are drawn by clicking on three points: on one point subtending the angle, the vertex and the second point on the rays subtending the angle to be measured. Place the cursor over the initial point (1), click, point to the angle center (2) and click other time, point to the final point (3), and click again. To write the measurement right click and choose Write measurement. If End segment and angle measurement automatically is set ON in Preferences window, the measurement will be written automatically as soon you click for a third time.
	Line Measurement Tool	CF	The Line tool allows you to determine the distance defined between two points within the image. To draw a single-segment line, click at one end of the line, point to the other end and click again. To write the measurement right click and choose Write measurement. If End segment and angle measurement automatically is set ON in Preferences window, the measurement will be written automatically as soon you click for a second time.
	Manual Tags and Counter Tool		The Manual Tag and Counter Tool allows counting manually objects within an image. Each time you click on an image point, it is tagged using a colored pixel and the total counting is incremented by one.  Each tag is stored in the Measurements window and numbered accordingly to the counting. To change the actual counting right-click . Also you can get the Best Fit line for the tags.
Manual area/perimeter measurement
	Polygonal Area/Perimeter Measurement Tool	S, CF, CO	Click on the first point, and continue moving and clicking until you have marked all segments. To measure a polygonal area click on the first point at the end of the measurement in order to close the polygon. To write the measurement right click. The Polygonal Area/Perimeter  Measurement Tool supports Basic Statistics and Frequency Analysis. NOTE: Important notice about irregular selections.
	Rectangular Area/Perimeter Measurement Tool (*)	S, CF, CO	Drag on the image to select a rectangular area. You may adjust the boundaries and position of a rectangular selection while it is active. To adjust a boundary, place the cursor along the edge or corner of the rectangle selection and drag it when the 2-way cursor appears. To move the rectangle selection, place your cursor in the middle of the rectangle and drag it when the 4-way cursor appears. To write the measurement right click and choose Write measurement. The Rectangular Area Measurement Tool supports Basic Statistics and Frequency Analysis.
	Elliptical Area/Perimeter Measurement Tool (*)	S, CF,  CO	Drag on the image to select an elliptical area. The selecting is drawn from the center. To move the selection, place your cursor in the middle of the rectangle and drag it when the 4-way cursor appears. To write the measurement right click and choose Write measurement or Write measurement and extended information. The Elliptical Area Measurement Tool supports Basic Statistics and Frequency Analysis. NOTES: Important notice about elliptical selections. Comparing the Elliptical and Automatic Area Measurement Tools
(*)	Both and tools draw a predetermined size rectangular or circular selection when you click, the size of that shape is predetermined by the Rectangle/Size default size, set in Preferences window.
Automatic selection area measurement
	Automatic Area Measurement Tool	CF	Makes automatic selections of pixel areas with similar color. Click the color you want to select. A mask will mark the selection. To modify the selection scope and modify other related settings,  open the Selection Settings palette. NOTE: Comparing the Elliptical and Automatic Area Measurement Tools

The following buttons are not measurement tools but perform other useful functions:

	Line Selection Tool	Use the Line Selection Tool to edit measurements previously done with the , , , or tools. To select a measurement click on any of its lines, after the measurement is selected its lines can moved or stretched. To write the measurement (replacing the previous measurement by the modified one) right click and choose Write measurement. To cancel all modifications and keep the previous measurement, right click and choose Unselect (Cancel). Note: To modify a measurement done by the tool you should select it in the Measurements window and then open the Selection Settings palette.
	Color Picker Tool	Use the Picker Tool to set the foreground color. Click the color you want to pick.
	Freehand Pencil Tool	Use the Freehand Pencil Tool to paint over the image.
	Hand Grabbing Tool	Scrolls an image in any direction when the whole image is bigger than the image window. Note: Pressing the spacebar turns on temporarily the Hand Grabbing Tool without interrupting the measurement in progress.
	Zoom Tool	Enlarges or reduces your view of the image depending on which mouse button is clicked. Right-click enlarges and left-click reduces the zoom. See also Magnifying Lens and Keyboard shortcuts
	Foreground/Background Color	Click on the Foreground (left box) or Background (right box) boxes to open the color window to select a new color. The Foreground color determines the color used to draw the new measurements, although after a measurement is done, its color can be modified at the Measurements window. The Background color is also used when a selection is transferred another window. Learn more: Important notice about transferring selections.
	Brush size	The brush size affects the    tool and also the tool (when adding/subtracting selections manually).
	Selection Lines color	If selected the selection lines will be drawn using the Foreground/Background colors. It unselected they will be drawn in black and white colors. This option doesn't affect the color used to draw the lines on the Measurement Layer.