To access the measurement mode of the program click on the measurement tool located in the tool
panel 
or select
from the
main menu.
TIP: Pressing the M key will switch to this mode as well.
While in this mode you may click on a region of the data to compute its width, or you may click and drag to measure a length as well. The values of the measurements are displayed on the status bar at the bottom of the main window. Note that you are clicking on the 2D display window to take a measurement and that the program will calculate the third coordinate automatically. The width measurement is always taken in the XY direction (perpendicular to the optical (Z) axis of the microscope). In addition, the measurement is re-centered after the width is calculated.
- Hold down the Ctrl key while clicking to over-write the last measurement.
- Use the Up and Down (arrow) keys to change the position of a measurement.
- Use the Left and Right (arrow) keys to change the angle of a measurement.
TIP: Only measurements that have a length greater than zero (by clicking and dragging) can be repositioned and/or rotated.
If the slice viewer is active, creating a measurement while viewing from the forward (along the optical axis) direction will force the Z coordinate of the measurement to be placed at the Z position of the current slice.
Note that if the location of your mouse click falls outside the boundaries of the region of interest, then no new measurement will be created.
Example: (no length)
1) Identify a structure to be measured.
2) Left click over the structure to take a measurement (width). Note how the measurement has been re-centered.
Look at the status bar at the bottom of the main window to view or record the measurement(s). Note that these values can later be saved to a file.
TIP: You should try to aim for the center
of the structure when clicking.
Example: (with length)
1) Identify a structure to be measured. Click and drag along the apparent length of the structure. A line will be drawn as you drag to help visualize the length.
2) Release the mouse button. A width will be calculated by default at the midpoint of the length line.
3) If necessary the position of the measurement can be moved along the length line by using the Up and Down (arrow) keys. Note that the width is recalculated after each press of a key.
4) Again if necessary, the angle of the width calculation can be rotated by using the Left and Right (arrow) keys. As with moving the measurement, the width is recalculated after every key press.
