Setting Toolbox Preferences
Setting Toolbox Preferences
In this section...
“Viewing and Changing Preferences Using the Preferences Dialog Box” on page 4-77
“Retrieving the Values of Toolbox Preferences Programmatically” on page 4-77
“Setting the Values of Toolbox Preferences Programmatically” on page 4-78
Viewing and Changing Preferences Using the Preferences Dialog Box
You can view and change Image Processing Toolbox Preferences in the Preferences dialog box. To open this dialog box, select Preferences > Image Processing in the File menu in the MATLAB desktop or in the Image Tool, or type iptprefs at the command line.
Retrieving the Values of Toolbox Preferences Programmatically
You can use Image Processing Toolbox preferences to control certain characteristics of how imshow and imtool display images on your screen. For example, using toolbox preferences, you can specify the initial magnification used by imtool and imshow.
To determine the current value of a preference, use the iptgetpref function. This example uses iptgetpref to determine the value of the
ImtoolInitialMagnification preference.
iptgetpref('ImtoolInitialMagnification')
ans =
100
Preference names are case insensitive and can be abbreviated. For a complete list of toolbox preferences, see the iptprefs reference page.
4-77
4 Displaying and Exploring Images
Setting the Values of Toolbox Preferences Programmatically
To specify the value of a toolbox preference, use the iptsetpref function. This example calls iptsetpref to specify that imshow resize the figure window so that it fits tightly around displayed images.
iptsetpref('ImshowBorder', 'tight');
For a table of the available preferences, see the iptprefs reference page.
4-78
5
Building GUIs with
Modular Tools
This chapter describes how to use the toolbox modular tools to create custom image processing applications.
•“Overview” on page 5-2
•“Displaying the Target Image” on page 5-10
•“Creating the Modular Tools” on page 5-11
•“Customizing Modular Tool Interactivity” on page 5-28
•“Creating Your Own Modular Tools” on page 5-33
5 Building GUIs with Modular Tools
Overview
The toolbox includes several modular interactive tools that you can activate from the command line and use with images displayed in a MATLAB figure window, called the target image in this documentation. The tools are modular because they can be used independently or in combination to create custom graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for image processing applications. Using the tools typically involves the following steps.
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Step |
Description |
Notes |
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1 |
Display the image to be |
Use the imshow function to display |
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processed (called the target |
the target image, see “Displaying |
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image) in a figure window. |
the Target Image” on page 5-10. |
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2 |
Create the modular tool, |
You use the modular tool creation |
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associating it with the target |
functions to create the tools — see |
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image. |
Summary of Modular Tools on page |
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5-3 |
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Most of the tools associate |
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themselves with the image in the |
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current axes, by default, but you |
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can specify the handle to a specific |
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image object, or a handle to a |
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figure, axes, or uipanel object that |
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contains an image. See “Creating |
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the Modular Tools” on page 5-11. |
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Depending on how you designed |
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your GUI, you might also want |
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to specify the parent object of the |
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modular tool itself. This is optional; |
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by default, the tools either use the |
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same parent as the target image or |
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open in a separate figure window. |
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See “Specifying the Parent of a |
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Modular Tool” on page 5-15 for more |
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information. |
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You might need to specify the |
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position of the graphics objects in |
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5-2
Overview
Step |
Description |
Notes |
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the GUI, including the modular |
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tools. See “Positioning the Modular |
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Tools in a GUI” on page 5-18 for |
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more information. |
3 |
Set up interactivity between |
The modular tools all set up their |
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the tool and the target image. |
interactive connections to the target |
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(Optional) |
image automatically. However, |
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you can also specify custom |
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connectivity using modular tool |
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APIs. See “Customizing Modular |
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Tool Interactivity” on page 5-28 for |
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more information. |
The following table lists the modular tools in alphabetical order. The table includes an illustration of each tool and the function you use to create it.
Note The Image Processing Toolbox GUI, Image Tool, uses these modular tools — see “Using the Image Tool to Explore Images” on page 4-11.
Summary of Modular Tools
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Modular Tool |
Example |
Description |
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Adjust Contrast |
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Displays a histogram of the |
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tool |
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target image and enables |
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interactive adjustment of |
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contrast and brightness |
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by manipulation of the |
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display range. |
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Use the imcontrast |
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function to create the |
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tool in a separate figure |
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5-3
5 Building GUIs with Modular Tools
Summary of Modular Tools (Continued)
Modular Tool |
Example |
Description |
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window and associate it |
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with an image. |
Choose Colormap |
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Allows you to change the |
tool |
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colormap of the target |
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figure. You can select |
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one of the MATLAB |
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colormaps, select a |
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colormap variable from the |
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MATLAB workspace, or |
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enter a custom MATLAB |
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expression. |
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Use the imcolormaptool |
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function to launch the |
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tool in a separate figure |
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window. |
Crop Image tool |
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Displays a draggable, |
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resizable rectangle on an |
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image. You can move |
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and resize the rectangle |
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to define the crop region. |
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Double-click to perform |
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the crop operation or |
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select Crop Image from the |
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context menu. |
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Use the imcrop function |
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to create the tool and |
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associate it with an image. |
5-4
Overview
Summary of Modular Tools (Continued)
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Modular Tool |
Example |
Description |
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Display Range |
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Displays a text string |
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tool |
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identifying the display |
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range values of the |
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associated image. |
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Use the imdisplayrange |
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function to create the tool, |
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associate it with an image, |
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and embed it in a figure or |
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uipanel. |
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Distance tool |
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Displays a draggable, |
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resizable line on an image. |
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Superimposed on the line |
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is the distance between the |
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two endpoints of the line. |
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The distance is measured |
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in units specified by |
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the XData and YData |
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properties, which is pixels |
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by default. |
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Use the imdistline |
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function to create the tool |
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and associate it with an |
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image. |
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5-5
5 Building GUIs with Modular Tools
Summary of Modular Tools (Continued)
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Modular Tool |
Example |
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Description |
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Image |
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Displays basic attributes |
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Information tool |
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about the target image. If |
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the image displayed was |
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specified as a graphics |
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file, the tool displays any |
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metadata that the image |
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file might contain. |
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Use the imageinfo |
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function to create the |
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tool in a separate figure |
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window and associate it |
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with an image. |
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Magnification box |
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Creates a text edit box |
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containing the current |
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magnification of the target |
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image. Users can change |
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the magnification of the |
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image by entering a new |
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magnification value. |
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Use immagbox to create |
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the tool, associate it with |
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an image, and embed it in |
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a figure or uipanel. |
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Note The target image |
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must be contained in a |
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scroll panel. |
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5-6
Overview
Summary of Modular Tools (Continued)
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Modular Tool |
Example |
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Description |
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Overview tool |
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Displays the target image |
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in its entirety with the |
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portion currently visible in |
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the scroll panel outlined by |
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a rectangle superimposed |
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on the image. Moving |
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the rectangle changes the |
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portion of the target image |
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that is currently visible in |
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the scroll panel. |
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Use imoverview to create |
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the tool in a separate figure |
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window and associate it |
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with an image. |
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Use imoverviewpanel to |
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create the tool in a uipanel |
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that can be embedded |
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within another figure or |
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uipanel. |
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Note The target image |
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must be contained in a |
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scroll panel. |
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5-7
5 Building GUIs with Modular Tools
Summary of Modular Tools (Continued)
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Modular Tool |
Example |
Description |
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Pixel Information |
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Displays information |
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tool |
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about the pixel the mouse |
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is over in the target image. |
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Use impixelinfo to create |
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the tool, associate it with |
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an image, and display it in |
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a figure or uipanel. |
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If you want to display only |
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the pixel values, without |
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the Pixel info label, use |
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impixelinfoval. |
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Pixel Region tool |
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Display pixel values for |
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a specified region in the |
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target image. |
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Use impixelregion |
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to create the tool in a |
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separate figure window |
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and associate it with an |
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image. |
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Use impixelregionpanel |
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to create the tool as |
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a uipanel that can be |
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embedded within another |
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figure or uipanel. |
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5-8
Overview
Summary of Modular Tools (Continued)
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Modular Tool |
Example |
Description |
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Save Image tool |
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Display the Save Image |
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dialog box. Use this to |
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specify the name of an |
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output image and choose |
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the file format used to |
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store the image. |
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Use imsave to create the |
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tool in a separate figure |
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window and associate it |
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with an image. |
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Scroll Panel tool |
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Display target image in a |
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scrollable panel. |
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Use imscrollpanel to |
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add a scroll panel to an |
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image displayed in a figure |
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window. |
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5-9