PictureSnapApp version 1.8.8

[neko]

Dang, this was harder than I thought it would be but we added the ability to rotate an image +/- 90 or 180 degrees to deal with samples mounted in different orientations in different instruments.  Or perhaps you loaded the sample in the same instrument, but upside down, as is sometimes the case!

You're getting faster all the time, I see. I was just about to request this feature, but the problem was already solved 22 hours ago. Which is extra handy, because our probe only does vertical thin sections, and our LA-ICMPS that I installed PSA on only does horizontal thin sections. And our slide scanner only does horizontal sections as well. Not that it's that difficult to rotate an image in another program, but translating the stored points? That's worth every penny.

[John Donovan]

Dang, this was harder than I thought it would be but we added the ability to rotate an image +/- 90 or 180 degrees to deal with samples mounted in different orientations in different instruments.  Or perhaps you loaded the sample in the same instrument, but upside down, as is sometimes the case!

You're getting faster all the time, I see. I was just about to request this feature, but the problem was already solved 22 hours ago. Which is extra handy, because our probe only does vertical thin sections, and our LA-ICMPS that I installed PSA on only does horizontal thin sections. And our slide scanner only does horizontal sections as well. Not that it's that difficult to rotate an image in another program, but translating the stored points? That's worth every penny.

Hi Nick,
The stored annotations in the rotated image ACQ file should be correctly converted when you re-calibrate the image to the different instrument stage (I gave it a good long thought and I think that modifying the screen calibrations for the rotation operation should be enough), but to be absolutely honest I haven't had a chance to test it.  So if you get a chance to test it before I do please let me know.   
john

Edit by John: OK, so I scanned a standard block that I had rotated 90 degrees, and loaded the block into the instrument with the same orientation as the scanned image. Then I calibrated three calibration points and made an annotation in another spot.

I then removed the rotated standard block and loaded it back again, but this time with a normal orientation.  I then started PictureSnapApp and using the Transform menu, selected the rotated image, clicked Rotate 90 (CCW) and clicked OK. I then loaded the rotated (now normally oriented) image into PictureSnapApp using the File | Open Image menu.

I didn't know what to expect, but to my surprise the calibrations and the annotation all loaded in the correct orientation, but of course the stage coordinates were all wrong.  So I proceeded to update the rotated stage calibrations (you need to be sure that calibration point #1 is updated to the new calibration point #1 location, calibration point #2 to the new calibration point #2, etc.), and when I clicked Calibrate Image, lo and behold, everything was perfect.

So I think it's all working fine...

[Changkun]

This app works nicely in my JSM-7200F. Installation was easy even though the IP address of SEM-PC is 192.168.20.3, not a default IP.
Image rotation was one on my wish list. I should update soon. Thanks, John 

Sometimes I made high resolution reflected, plane-polarized, and cross-polarized images with >10,000 X >10,000 pixels by optical microscope, and want to observe the details of the same area (very small) by SEM-EDS and EPMA, which observed by optical microscope. In order to this, zoom-in/out is highly required in this program.

FYI, ImageJ and/or Image Composite Editor are used for stitching images. Especially, BaSIC plugin for ImageJ works great to correct intensity discontinuities in the mosaic image. Please refer the paper below.

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14836

[John Donovan]

Sometimes I made high resolution reflected, plane-polarized, and cross-polarized images with >10,000 X >10,000 pixels by optical microscope, and want to observe the details of the same area (very small) by SEM-EDS and EPMA, which observed by optical microscope. In order to this, zoom-in/out is highly required in this program.

Hi Chankun,
Glad it's working for you! 

We're adding zoom in/out soon as part of our new "Image Locator" feature.  In the meantime please note that since the main PictureSnapApp window is already mapped at 1 image pixel to 1 screen pixel, zooming in will only make it look pixelated.  For an overview of the whole image, simply open the Full Image Picture View window from the Window menu.

[John Donovan]

We've now added support to PictureSnapApp for JEOL 8800/8900/8100/8200/8500 EPMA instruments:



Support for JEOL 8230/8530 EPMA instruments is available using the existing EIKS interface for JEOL SEMs.

[neko]

I wrote a little python program for myself to convert a CSV of coordinates and comments from (comment, x, y, z,) into .ACQ annotation format - it's very basic and doesn't check to see if there are any current annotations, just starts adding them as if the [annotations] line is the last line in the file, currently (i'll improve that as I find it necessary). I figured there's no point in duplicating the work and it's more precise (in theory  ) when you've picked the points in the quant program anyway.

I can post the code if anyone's interested but I suspect John'll make his own import routine at some point, this was mostly an exercise to entertain myself.  it wasn't very difficult in any case

[John Donovan]

Two small changes in PictureSnapApp v. 1.4.9.

First we now close the current image when loading the Help | Update dialog (to avoid the "Do you want to close the current image?" message box).

And second, when opening a new image, we now move to the current stage position (if the stage position is within the image bounds). This is just to allow the app to move the main image window scroll bars to show the current position, since the stage is already at the current position!

[John Donovan]

We updated the PictureSnapApp installer to install some additional tools for configuring the FEI DCOM network connection, if you are installing on a new computer that does not already have an existing DCOM connection to the FEI microscope computer.

Usually one would install PictureSnapApp on a computer that already has a DCOM connection to the FEI microscope computer, for example the computer used for the EDS system.  But if you are installing PictureSnapApp on a new computer to connect to an FEI instrument, the updated instructions (and tools) should be very helpful.  See the detailed pdf instructions provided by FEI in the FEI_DCOM_Tools.zip file.

See attachment below (you must be logged in to the forum to see attachments).

[John Donovan]

The latest version of PictureSnapApp (v. 1.5.2) now configures your stage units and stage orientation automatically for the selected instrument interface (FEI, JEOL and Cameca EPMAs, SEMs and TEMs). 

Of course for demo and text input modes one can select any combination of stage units (mm, um and nm) and stage orientation (cartesian, anti-cartesian or half cartesian), since there is no actual instrument interface.

[John Donovan]

So here are some PictureSnapApp examples of displaying BSE images from PFE displayed on a sample thin section scanned on a Nikon slide scanner with crossed polars:



These "thumbnail" images could be any image source (CL, SE). One can also simply check a box and only the outlines of the image will be visible:

[John Donovan]

And here's another example showing the current position and current FOV on the PictureSnapApp base map:



Try it out in demo (and text input mode) mode (for free!):

http://probesoftware.com/PictureSnapApp.html

[John Donovan]

The latest version of PictureSnapApp (still v. 1.5.9) now has a "measurement tool" as suggested by Kurt Langworthy. This feature is enabled by simply clicking and dragging the mouse on the calibrated image in the main window as seen here:



To "remove" the measurement graphic, simply click once on the image.

As usual, just click the Help | Update PictureSnapApp menu to update PictureSnapApp.

[John Donovan]

As you may know, using the Transform menu dialog in PictureSnapApp one can manually rotate images 90 CW, 90 CCW and 180 degrees.

Previously the code only rotated the screen calibration points, but in the latest version, 1.6.1, the point and FOV annotations and sub image fields also get rotated automatically.

Here is an image with a point annotation, FOV annotation and a sub image field using the image locator feature:



Now rotating it 90 degrees CW, we see this:



Anyway, it seems to be working so if you are moving a sample from one instrument to another and need to orientate  the sample differently in the new instrument, this will work well for you.

You still need to re-find your calibration points for the new instrument stage, but then the rest is automatic.

[John Donovan]

The latest version of PictureSnapApp (and also the PictureSnap feature in Probe for EPMA), now automatically handles samples that are rotated with respect to the image orientation when utilizing the Draw Rectangle feature (available from the Misc menu) as seen here:



The above image shows the rectangular area on the sample, as selected by the user (by double-clicking on the image to move the stage), rotated appropriately when the image is rotated with respect to the instrument stage.

[John Donovan]

I made up a short PowerPoint describing the basics of PictureSnapApp.  I'll be presenting it some time this month to my colleagues at UofO.

The PPT file is too big to post here, but I attached a PDF below (please login to see attachments).

If you're interested in the PPT file, please send me an email and I'll send you a Dropbox link.