Tile tiles images together to form large montage images.
This module allows more than one image to be placed next to each other in a grid layout you specify. It might be helpful, for example, to place images adjacent to each other when multiple fields of view have been imaged for the same sample. Images can be tiled either across cycles (multiple fields of view, for example) or within a cycle (multiple channels of the same field of view, for example).
Tiling images to create a montage with this module generates an image that is roughly the size of all the images' sizes added together. For large numbers of images, this may cause memory errors, which might be avoided by the following suggestions:
- Resize the images to a fraction of their original size, using the Resize module prior to this module in the pipeline.
- Rescale the images to 8-bit using the RescaleIntensity module, which diminished image quality by decreasing the number of graylevels in the image (that is, bit depth) but also decreases the size of the image.
- Use the ConserveMemory module just before this module to clear out images created previously in the pipeline that are stored in memory but no longer needed. Place this module prior to the Tile module (and maybe also afterwards) and set it to retain only those images that are needed for downstream modules.
Please also note that this module does not perform image stitching (i.e., intelligent adjustment of the alignment between adjacent images). For image stitching, you may find the following list of software packages useful:
Other packages are referenced
here Settings:
Select an input image
Select the image to be tiled. Additional images within the cycle can be added
later by choosing the "Across cycles"option below.
Name the output image
Enter a name for the final tiled image.
Tile assembly method
This setting controls the method by which the final tiled image is asembled:
- Within cycles: If you have loaded more than one image for each cycle
using modules upstream in the pipeline,
the images can be tiled. For example, you may tile three different channels
(OrigRed, OrigBlue, and OrigGreen), and a new tiled image will
be created for every image cycle.
- Across cycles: If you want to tile images from multiple
cycles together, select this option. For example, you may tile all the
images of the same type (e.g., OrigBlue) across all fields of view in your
experiment, which will result in one final tiled image
when processing is complete.
Final number of rows
Specify the number of rows would you like to have in the tiled image.
For example, if you want to show your images in a 96-well format,
enter 8.
Special cases: Let M be the total number of slots for images
(i.e, number of rows x number of columns) and N be the number
of actual images.
- If M > N, blanks will be used for the
empty slots.
- If the M < N, an error will occur since there are
not enough image slots. Check "Automatically calculate number of rows?"
to avoid this error.
Final number of columns
Specify the number of columns you like to have in the tiled image.
For example, if you want to show your images in a 96-well format,
enter 12.
Special cases: Let M be the total number of slots for images
(i.e, number of rows x number of columns) and N be the number
of actual images.
- If M > N, blanks will be used for the
empty slots.
- If the M < N, an error will occur since there are
not enough image slots. Check "Automatically calculate number of columns?"
to avoid this error.
Image corner to begin tiling
Where do you want the first image to be placed? Begin in the upper left-hand corner
for a typical multi-well plate format where the first image is A01.
Direction to begin tiling
This setting specifies the order that the images are to be arranged.
If your images are named A01, A02, etc,
enter row".
Use meander mode?
Select Yes to tile adjacent images in one direction,
then the next row/column is tiled in the opposite direction.
Some microscopes capture images
in this fashion. The default mode is "comb", or "typewriter"
mode; in this mode, when one row is completely tiled in one direction,
the next row starts near where the first row started and tiles
again in the same direction.
Automatically calculate number of rows?
Tile can automatically calculate the number of rows
in the grid based on the number of image cycles that will be processed.
Select
Yes to create a grid that has the number of columns
that you entered and enough rows to display all of your images.
Select
No to specify the number of rows.
If you check both automatic rows and automatic columns, Tile
will create a grid that has roughly the same number of rows
and columns.
Automatically calculate number of columns?
Tile can automatically calculate the number of columns
in the grid from the number of image cycles that will be processed.
Select
Yes to create a grid that has the number of rows
that you entered and enough columns to display all of your images.
Select
No to specify the number of rows.
If you check both automatic rows and automatic columns, Tile
will create a grid that has roughly the same number of rows
and columns.