Figure 19. NIS-Elements Compact Layout
Tabs for switching between the layouts.
Opened images displayed as tabs. Each image has its own tool bar. See Image Window.
The
Acquisition 
panel.The panel for switching of hardware settings, also called lightpaths. Control panels of devices active in the selected lightpath are displayed below. See
Acquisition Panel.LUTs control panel with measuring panels and shortcuts below. See
LUTs.Intensity Profile and Measurements analysis panels. See Analysis Panels.
Customizable shortcuts to advanced functions.
Experiment pad (Experiment pad).
Microscope control pad (Microscopes).
File saving and opening commands.
The 
Menu button in the top tool bar displays or hides the main menu.
Click 
RMB on the Compact tab to display a menu with the following options:
Default mode
Adds an additional column with the Device Control panel.
Selects between the previous two modes automatically based on the monitor width.
Select which layout to open after the software starts.
See Modifying Layouts.
This panel is used to quickly modify color and brightness of the image using Look-Up Tables (LUTs). Simply drag the left or the right triangle to adjust the input intensity range. Lift or drop the yellow point to adjust the Gamma parameter. Double-click into the graph area to zoom the histogram so that the “high” and “low” limits are distinguishable. For more details about LUTs, please see LUTs - Non-destructive Image Enhancement.
If turned on, LUTs are applied to the current image.
Keep Auto LUTs Click this button to run the Auto LUTs permanently on the live image (see below).
Auto LUTs This button adjusts the white slider position of all channels automatically with the purpose to enhance the image reasonably.
Reset LUTs Discards all LUTs settings and turns LUTs OFF.
Pixel saturation indication If turned on, all pixels in the image with values reaching maximal values are highlighted red.
In Color / Mono Switches the single channel image between the color and monochrome view mode.
Zoom Use mouse wheel to zoom the graph. This button jumps to the last zoomed position.
Tip
Double-click in the graph to zoom the input intensity range.
This panel is used for interactive intensity measurements. An arrow is shown in the image indicating the profile cross section. This cross section intensity is shown in the graph. The profile line can be resized by dragging its ends by mouse arbitrarily. It is always a straight line. Context menu over the arrow allows you to Reverse Direction of the arrow, edit Line Properties (color, width and style), change the Intensity Profile Properties (described below) and to choose which channel is used for the measurement.
Click into the graph to define the maximum.
Click again into the graph to define the minimum.
Half of this interval defines the value in which the graph width will be measured.
Draw Free Line Click and drag directly in the image to draw a profile line.
Free Line Insert a profile line which can be freely positioned.
Vertical Line Inserts a vertically fixed profile line.
Horizontal Line Inserts a horizontally fixed profile line.
FWHM This tool measures the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) value on the given graph range.
Figure 20.
Note
If the minimum is defined in a different part of graph (e.g.: different peak), the width is measured on the peak where the maximum value was defined.
Auto FWHM Measures the FWHM value automatically once this button is clicked.
Realtime Auto FWHM Measures the FWHM value continually on the live image.
Vertical Autoscale Zooms the graph so that both minumum and maximum values are visible.
Reset Resets any zoom changes.
Settings Opens the Intensity Profile Properties dialog window where you can set the graph interpolation type and the width of the line neighbourhood used for the visualization of the mean/max intensity values.
This panel enables the user to perform simple measurements on the current image.
Pointing Tool Use this tool for selecting measurement objects in the image.
Simple Line Line length is measured. Click and hold the primary mouse button over the starting position and drag to the ending position and release the button. Confirm the object by the secondary mouse click.
Polyline Polyline length is measured. A polyline consists of several line segments. Use the primary mouse button to draw the line segments. Each mouse-click creates a new node. Complete the total length definition by the clicking the secondary mouse button.
Polygon EqDiameter of a polygon is measured. Draw a polygon by clicking the primary mouse button inside the image. The secondary mouse button or a double-click will place the last node of the polygon and close the object. To draw a free-hand shape, hold down the primary mouse button. Confirm the object by the secondary mouse click.
Autodetect Polygon EqDiameter of a detected object is measured. The system automatically detects a homogeneous area around the clicked point.
Count Click inside the image to insert counted points. A red cross is inserted to the image after each click. Right-click to the image to finish counting.
Clear Overlay Deletes all measurement objects from the image.
Clear All Deletes both the measurement objects and the measurement table.
Export Data Exports the results table into a .csv file.
Shortcuts
Clicking on the button opens a window where you create a shortcut to any function available in the main menu.
Click the button.
Type the name of a menu command into the search field and select one of the search results.
Below, you can change the icon and the tool tip text of the shortcut.
Confirm creation of the shortcut by .
Note
Right-click a created shortcut and select Remove to remove it from the panel.
This panel gathers acquisition and hardware control.
Figure 21.
Live - standard live signal form the camera
Smart Live - works only on Fluorescence experiments. It checks the hardware status, including stage movement and changes in the light power. If there are no changes detected, the system automatically captures all experiment channels and deactivates the light. This ensures the convenient access to a multichannel live image without causing bleaching to the sample.
Live/Smart Live Displays the live camera image according to the camera settings (the button changes to Freeze when the live image is shown). There are two types of live:
The Smart Live function can be enabled in the 
Configure... menu.
Manual LI Runs the Acquire > Manual Large Image command used for a manual large image acquisition.
Large Image Runs the Addons > Large Images > Scanning Wizard 
command used for a step-by-step large image acquisition.
Save Saves the current image.
Save As... Opens a standard dialog for saving image files.
Open Displays a standard opening dialog for opening image files.
EDF Capture Captures an extended depth of focus image.
For more information please see Extended Depth of Focus.
HDR Capture Captures a high dynamic range image. For more information please see Applications > HDR > Capture HDR Image.
See Cameras.
See Illumination Devices.
See Other Devices.
Capture and Store This button captures an image and saves it to a folder specified in the path edit box (use to change the path) while taking into account the parameters set in Settings. For more details about the settings options, please see View > Acquisition Controls > Capture and Store 
.
Permanently burns the scale into the image.
Permanently burns annotations into the image.
If selected, the live window is opened right after the capturing is finished.
If selected, the captured image is opened right after the capturing is finished.
Annotations and Measurements Opens the View > Analysis Controls > Annotations and Measurements 
panel below the image. It is used for manual measurement and annotating of images.
Distance Measurement Opens the View > Analysis Controls > Distance Measurement 
panel below the image. It is used for complex measurements.
Insert Text Runs the Edit > Insert Text command for pasting texts into the image.
Insert Arrow Runs the Edit > Insert Arrow command for inserting arrows into the image.
Burn Overlay Burns all vector annotations and measurement objects to the image. After that, they cannot be edited or removed later.
Image to Report Runs the File > Report > Send Current Image to Report command which creates a new report using the current image.
Screen Snapshot Creates a snapshot of a rectangular area drawn by the user.
Each opened image is shown as a tab. Click on the tab to activate the image or click X to close it.
The navigation tools at the bottom of the image are the same for both layouts and are described here: Control Bar. The top toolbar buttons are described here.
Undo Moves one step back through the history of changes.
Redo Moves one step forth through the history of changes.
Pointing Tool The main and default tool used for clicking on objects and selecting graphical interface elements.
Magnifier Glass Tool for magnifying portions of an image. Select this tool and click and hold the primary mouse button inside your image. To define the zooming parameters run View > Magnifier Glass Options (see View > Magnifier Glass Options).
Advanced functions with this tool are described here: Handy Keyboard Shortcuts.
Turn Probe On/Off This button activates the probe. The probe affects histograms, auto exposure and auto white balance functions.
Mouse XY This feature requires a motorized XY stage. If turned on, the mouse cursor on a live image changes and you can control the XY stage by dragging the live image. Before using this function, it is recommended to perform automatic calibration.
Show Scale Displays a line scale which can be moved around the image using the mouse. Context menu over the scale enables the user to Burn Scale into the image permanently, move it to the Default Scale Position, Lock Scale Position or adjust Scale Properties (View > Layers Properties > Scale Properties).
Tip
Use / to show or hide the scale.
Show Graticule Displays a graticule layer over the image for quick and approximate measurements. Graticules behave like adjustable floating rulers. User can simply align a graticule with the measured object and read the distance value. Click on the line and drag it to move the graticule. Context menu over the graticule enables the user to move the graticule to the center (Move to Center) and adjust the Graticule Properties.
Tip
Use the * key shortcut to show or hide the graticule layer.
Show Binary Displays or hides the binary layer in the image.
Tip
Use Ctrl + Up/Down to decrease/increase the binary layer transparency.
Show Intensity Profile Displays/hides the intensity profile in the image. The Intensity Profile panel is shown on the left.
Show Annotations (A) Displays the vector layer which typically consists of annotation objects (text labels, arrows) and measurement objects.
Create EDF Focused Document Creates a new simple focused image from an ND file. See Extended Depth of Focus.
Show EDF Anaglyph Enables/disables the anaglyph 3D view. New options appear in the toolbar - you can define the position of the first frame (Lowest/Highest), Style (the color combination used for anaglyph image), Effect (Descend into the Screen / Rise from the Screen) and Z-zoom (define the percentage).
Show EDF 3D Surface View Opens the 3D surface view of the image. See Applications > EDF > Show Surface View 
.
Show EDF Z-Profile Opens the EDF Z-profile panel with the Z-profile graph of the image. See View > Analysis Controls > EDF Z-Profile 
.
Show EDF Z-Map Creates a new image displaying the EDF Z-map. See Applications > EDF > Show Z-Map Image.
Compare View Arranges the two last viewed images next to each other and turns on their dimension and zoom synchronization.
Full Screen Hides all screen elements such as menus, toolbars, etc. and maximizes the image. Only some basic tools for controlling the image stay displayed. Hit Esc to return to the main view.
Fit to Screen Adjusts the zoom factor to view exactly the whole image as big as possible.
Zoom 1:1 Adjusts the zoom factor so that one pixel of the image matches one pixel of your monitor.
Select a zoom factor from the drop-down menu.
Show Tiles Opens a panel with all currently opened images shown as thumbnails. Click on an image thumbnail to activate the image.