Summary of IPLab Features

Read the list of new features in our latest version of IPLab: New in IPLab for Windows

Image Capture

Camera Control	Capture images using popular scientific grade CCD cameras.
Time Lapse	Capture images at specified time intervals. Measure and plot intensities over time.
Control Microscopes	Control motorized microscope stands from popular manufacturers.
Control Devices	Control third-party devices: shutters, filter wheels, stages.
Z-Stacks	Capture through-focus series using Z-axis focus drives.
Multi-Fluorescence	Capture images from multiple wavelengths, overlay colors, and quantify intensities.

Image Adjustment and Enhancement

Normalization	Enhance brightness and contrast, and apply a gamma curve to the displayed image data.
Background/Shading Correction	Easily perform flat-fielding to correct for lighting and sensor non-uniformities.
Enhance	Choose from built-in sharpening, smoothing, and median filters; pseudocolor tables, contrast enhancements and tools for geometric re-sizing.
Custom Filters	Define your own linear filter kernels.
Image Registration	Add registration marks to several images and let IPLab automatically rotate, scale and shift the images to bring them into alignment.
Image Size and Orientation	Rotate, Scale, Flip.
Transfer Attributes	Easily transfer information from one image to another, including the ROI and object definitions, color table, overlays and units.
Edit Color Table	Complete control over the color lookup table to pseudo-color images, equalize histograms and stretch the image contrast.

Image Processing

Batch File Processing	Create a list of files to process all at once. Indexed files provide automatic file naming and numbering.
Split Color Channels	Split any 24- or 48-bit color image into the separate components. View the separated images in their corresponding colors. Operate on the color component images as you would any grayscale image.
Merge Color Channels	Build a 24- or 48-bit color image out of three separate image files or sequences. Blend a fluorescent image or sequence with a DIC or other grayscale image.
Image Arithmetic	Combine and compare two images on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Perform background subtraction and image averaging to reduce noise. Mask certain frequencies in the Fourier domain.
Point Functions	Choose from an extensive list of built-in mathematical operations to apply to each pixel for analysis and enhancement.
Geometric Transforms	Arbitrary rotation, scale and translation with sub-pixel accuracy. Choose nearest neighbor or bilinear interpolation methods. Also transpose and flip images to view them differently.
Complex Arithmetic	Complex multiplication of Fourier spectrum real and imaginary components. Convert between real-imaginary and magnitude-phase.
FFT and Cosine Transformations	Forward and inverse 1-D and 2-D Fast Fourier transform with results in either real-imaginary or magnitude-phase. Forward and inverse cosine transform. All transformations are done with floating-point values for best accuracy.
Cut, Copy, Paste:	Exchange image data with other programs through cut-and-paste.

Image Analysis

Measurements	IPLab has a long list of measurements you can perform, for measuring density, shape, position and intensity moments. Limit measurements to specific regions and/or value ranges.
Quantify	Count objects and measure density, shape, position, and intensity moments for individual objects and for groups. Limit measurements to specific regions and/or value ranges. Automatically label measured items. Export results to spreadsheets.
Densitometry	Integrated and mean densities, RMS and standard deviation, max and min values.
Histogram	Plot image data using color histograms. Customizable or automatic binning.
Scripts and Macros	Record your own macros to automate your experiments. Run reproducible protocols as if they were a single command. Assign your most common scripts to keyboard function keys. Turn complex procedures into a sequence of labeled key-presses. There is no scripting language to learn; just point and click.
Image Ratios	Compute optical density, perform accurate ratios of images taken at different wavelengths.
Graphs and Plots	Our integrated graphing functions produce publication quality graphs of your data and analysis results.
Calibrate Units	Calibrate measurements in units of your choice-- microns, mm, cm, inches, etc.
Slices and Object Boundaries	Plot data values along a slice through the image, or list the (x,y) coordinates and data values at each point along the boundary of an object.
Interactive Measurement	Click the mouse to quickly measure lengths and angles. Automatically creates table of measurements and marks the measured lines and angles on the image within a nondestructive overlay.
Segmentation / Thresholding	Interactively select thresholds to separate objects from their background.
Segment Morphology:	Erosion, dilation, opening and closing filter operations, with user-definable kernels.
Row/Column Averages:	Plot the average value or the sum of all the pixels along a row or column of a rectangular or polygonal region.
Custom Extensions	Customize IPLab further by programming your own algorithms. The manual gives complete instructions and examples for including your own code and dialogs written using CodeWarrior for Macintosh and Microsoft Visual C++TM.
Set Pattern	Add or replace values to the region of interest: horizontal and vertical ramps, Gaussian and uniform random noise.

Data Display and Export

Image Annotation	Non-destructive overlays let you draw text and graphics on top of your images without altering the underlying data values. IPLab saves both the overlay and image data.
Opening and Saving Images	Read and write files in a number of formats: TIFF, Text, and our own IPLab formats from both Mac and Windows. IPLab/Mac also handles PICTs, FITS, and EPR (*.raw and *.psf) formats. IPLab's powerful Open As command imports foreign files in almost any file format.
Animation	Create a movie loop from your time lapse and 3D images. Play it in IPLab or export it as movie files: QuickTime on the Mac and AVI on Windows.
View As Text	Switch easily between a text view and a standard image view of your data.
Export to Excel®	Easily export results to Microsoft Excel®. In IPLab for Windows, use our Export to Excel command to open your data in Microsoft Excel 2002 or later. In any version of IPLab, you can save your data as text and easily open it in Excel or any other spreadsheet program.
Mosaic	Capture multiple images and place them together in one large montage.
Print	Print images as halftones to any PostScript printer or QuickDraw compatible printer. Make a PostScript file of your image data.

Continue Reading

Please continue reading about IPLab:

• Features: A summary list of IPLab's most useful features
  • New IPLab/Win Features : The release notes for IPLab for Windows
• Extensions: Software that adds abilities to IPLab
• Image Acquisition: An entire section about cameras and collecting images
• System Requirements: The minimum computer systems needed to run IPLab