Autodesk Raster Design 2006

Getting Started

34006-010000-5000A April 2005

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Contents
Chapter 1 Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006 ....................... 1
New Features of Autodesk Raster Design 2006 ....................................... 2
Raster Design Documentation ................................................................ 2
About This Guide ............................................................................... 2
Online Documentation ...................................................................... 2
Raster Design Home Page ....................................................................... 4
Raster Design Basics ................................................................................ 4
When to Use Raster Design ..................................................................... 6
Who Should Use Raster Design? ........................................................ 6
Image Types and Color Maps ................................................................. 8
Minimum Requirements ......................................................................... 9
Software Requirements ...................................................................... 9
Hardware Requirements ..................................................................... 9
Network Installation of Autodesk Raster Design ............................... 9
Starting Raster Design ........................................................................... 10
Exiting Raster Design ............................................................................ 10
Configuring Raster Design .................................................................... 11
Using Raster Design Commands ........................................................... 12
Image Menu ..................................................................................... 12
Toolbars ............................................................................................ 15
Command Line ................................................................................ 16
Image Manager ................................................................................. 16
Using AutoCAD Commands ................................................................. 18
Imaging Commands ........................................................................ 18

Chapter 2 General Concepts ................................................................ 23

Inserting Images .................................................................................... 24
Using Color Maps ................................................................................. 26
Correlating Images ................................................................................ 27
Selecting Images .................................................................................... 28
Rubbersheeting an Image ..................................................................... 29
Transforming the Coordinate System .................................................. 30
Saving Images ........................................................................................ 30
Exporting Images .................................................................................. 31
Creating A New Image .......................................................................... 32
Setting Image Properties ....................................................................... 33
AutoCAD Properties ......................................................................... 33
Raster Design Properties ................................................................... 33
Setting Transparency ............................................................................ 34
Masking Images ..................................................................................... 35

i
 Correcting Images ................................................................................. 36
Managing the Image Palette ................................................................. 38
Snapping to Raster Entities ................................................................... 39
Vectorizing Raster Entities .................................................................... 40
The Follower Tools ........................................................................... 41
Using Vector Separation .................................................................. 41
Converting Raster Text .................................................................... 42
Manipulating Raster Entities ................................................................. 43
Primitives ......................................................................................... 44
Regions ............................................................................................. 44
Enhanced Bitonal Regions ............................................................... 46
Using AutoCAD Commands on REM Objects ................................. 48

Chapter 3 Task-Specific Concepts ....................................................... 51

Despeckling an Image ........................................................................... 52
LiveView Exercise: Image Despeckling ............................................ 52
Rubbing and Cropping Images ............................................................. 54
LiveView Exercise: Rubbing and Cropping an Image ...................... 56
Editing Raster Using REM ..................................................................... 58
LiveView Exercise: Editing with REM .............................................. 58
Editing Color Maps ............................................................................... 60
DEM Display .................................................................................... 60
Multispectral Data Display .............................................................. 61
LiveView Exercise: Editing a Palette Color Map .............................. 62
LiveView Exercise: Editing a Band Assignment Color Map ............ 64
Editing Indexed Color Images .............................................................. 66
LiveView Exercise: Highlighting Image Details ............................... 66
Merging Vectors into Raster .................................................................. 68
LiveView Exercise: Merging Vectors ................................................ 68
Using Histogram Editing Filters ............................................................ 70
LiveView Exercise: Using Histogram Filters ..................................... 72
Using Vector Follower Tools ................................................................. 74
LiveView Exercise: Vectorizing Contours ........................................ 76

Chapter 4 Appendix A: Supported Image Formats ........................... 79

Understanding Image Formats ............................................................. 80

Chapter 5 Appendix B: Autodesk Raster Design Command

Summary ........................................................................... 83
Command Summary ............................................................................. 84

Glossary ......................................................................................................... 93

Index ............................................................................................................. 113

ii | Contents
 1
 
Welcome to Autodesk
Raster Design 2006

Autodesk Raster Design 2006 allows you to effectively In this chapter

■ New Features of Autodesk Raster
use scanned paper drawings, aerial photographs, digital
Design 2006
elevation models (DEM) and satellite data inside your ■ Raster Design Documentation

® ■ Raster Design Home Page

AutoCAD drawings. You can insert bitonal, grayscale,
■ Raster Design Basics
and color raster images into your AutoCAD drawings, ■ When to Use Raster Design

then correlate, edit, analyze, and export the results. ■ Image Types and Color Maps
■ Minimum Requirements
Autodesk Raster Design can analyze and display image ■ Starting Raster Design
■ Exiting Raster Design
data from a wide range of sources, including satellite
■ Configuring Raster Design
imagery, wavelet compressed images, and digital elevation
■ Using Raster Design Commands
models (DEM). Raster Design also provides efficient tools ■ Using AutoCAD Commands

for cleaning up and archiving paper-based drawings in

digital form.

1
New Features of Autodesk Raster Design 2006
Autodesk Raster Design 2006 includes the following improvements:

■ Touchup tools can edit bitonal images at the pixel level.

■ REM Operations tools support faster editing of bitonal linework, letting
you automatically trim lines, extend lines, insert offsets and add corner
fillets.
■ Capture command can save a “snapshot” of color-mapped data at the same
insertion point and scale as the original.
■ Multispectral and digital elevation model (DEM) data can be transformed
and edited when Raster Design is running on Autodesk Map 3D.
■ Edited DEM images can be saved in GeoTIFF or DEM format.
■ Multispectral and other image types can be saved in GeoTIFF format to
preserve correlation and coordinate system data.
■ Image files can be saved in JPG2000 image format.
■ Raster Data Query dialog box interactively displays data about the pixel
under the cursor, such as color values and elevation (subject to image type).
■ Default names for new images now reflect the source and sequence number
of the image to help you keep track of them.

Raster Design Documentation

About This Guide
This guide provides the information you need to get started with Raster Design.
The first two chapters present the fundamentals of Raster Design 2006. The
third chapter, Task-Specific Concepts (page 52), explains how to do common
image management tasks, and includes short LiveView exercises you can follow
to get working with the application. Appendixes cover the supported image
formats and Raster Design commands. The glossary provides definitions of
terms used with the software.

Online Documentation
In addition to this Getting Started guide, the following documentation is
provided on the Raster Design CD or installed with the software:

■ Installation, licensing, and general product information is provided on

the Raster Design CD ROM and is accessible from the built-in browser.

2 | Chapter 1  Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006

■ Online tutorials introduce you to the most common Raster Design
operations. The lessons include actual drawing files for you to work on.
Access the tutorials by selecting Help on the Image menu and selecting
Autodesk Raster Design Tutorials.
■ Online Help contains all the information you need to work with raster
images and vector geometry.

Installation and General Product Information

The Raster Design CD has a built-in browser, which guides you through the
installation and registration process, providing links to product documentation
and other relevant information along the way.

Online Help
The Help files can provide you with detailed reference information about
options, commands and dialog boxes. You can access Raster Design Help files
by using several different methods. Each method takes you to a different place
in the Help file, and each method has its own benefits.

Accessing Help

If you use this method... This is the result.

From the program group, select the Raster Displays a help window with two panes.
Design Help Files icon. The navigation pane on the left includes
or Contents, Index, and Search tabs. Use
Click Image menu ➤  Help. these tabs to display information in the
topic pane on the right side of the Help
window.

Click the Help button in a dialog box. Displays the Help topic that describes the
options in the dialog box.

Press F1 when you are in the middle of Displays the Help topic that describes the
running a command and the command command.
line prompts you for input.

 
Many topics in Help feature three tabs that separate the information into three
content types: Concept, Procedure, and Reference. To move between tabs,
simply click the tab.

Raster Design Documentation | 3

 When a Help topic is displayed, you can print the topic by clicking
Options ➤ Print Topic. Related topics appear as blue, underlined links. Glossary
definitions of terms appear as green links.

Raster Design Home Page

If you have an Internet connection, then you can find additional information
about Raster Design on the Raster Design home page. The home page includes
information about technical support, purchasing information, and how to
access the Raster Design news group.

To access the Raster Design home page

Step

1 Select Image menu ➤ Raster Design Home Page.

or Click the icon on the Raster Design toolbar, or open ht-

tp://www.autodesk.com/rasterdesignuser from your Web browser.

Raster Design Basics

You can use Raster Design to edit and manage raster data. Raster data is a series
of dots or pixels that form an image. This type of data is produced when you
scan a paper drawing, blueprint, or photograph.
There are three main types of raster images:

Bitonal Two-color line drawings, usually black and white, also called binary

Gray- Images with several different shades of gray, such as scanned black and
scale white photographs

Color Images with multiple colors, such as color aerial photographs

4 | Chapter 1  Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006

Vector data, on the other hand, is created by mathematical equations that
generate lines, arcs, and other AutoCAD objects. Vector data typically consists
of points that define precise geometric shapes. This type of data is produced
when you draw objects in AutoCAD.

Raster Vector

 
If you use AutoCAD without Raster Design, you can insert raster images into
a drawing and modify their position, scale, and display values such as
brightness and contrast. However, you need a raster editing program like Raster
Design to do any of the following:

■ Permanently edit the raster data of your images

■ Insert images that include correlation data into a drawing
■ Save images to another format
■ Export images to create external correlation files

In Raster Design, image frames are defined as AutoCAD objects, which means
you can assign a frame to a layer and change its color.
In this documentation, the term raster entities refers to the lines, arcs, and
circles, including text, that make up a bitonal raster image.

Raster entities

Raster Design Basics | 5

 Converting raster entities to vector makes it easier to modify a drawing and
can reduce the total file size of your project. After conversion, you can edit
the vector entities using AutoCAD commands. To convert raster to vector,
you can use the Raster Design vectorization tools (VTools).
With raster entity manipulation (REM) commands, you can edit raster entities
and regions with vector-like precision. You can create a selection set of a raster
area or raster entities, then move, copy, or delete the selection set using native
AutoCAD commands.

When to Use Raster Design

You can use Raster Design for the following tasks:

■ Insert images that respect correlation information from various sources

■ Process images to permanently adjust brightness and contrast, convert
color images to grayscale, and convert color and grayscale images to bitonal
format
■ Compose an image from several bands of satellite data or from a digital
elevation model (DEM) to display particular features of the terrain, such
as the degree of slope or the presence of vegetation
■ Trace the raster lines, arcs, circles, or contours on a bitonal raster image,
converting the raster geometry to vectors interactively or semi-automatically
■ Modify the display order of images
■ Merge two or more raster images
■ Remove parts of images
■ Merge vectors into a raster image
■ Read, save, and export images to different names, locations, and formats
■ Move, delete, and copy bitonal raster entities and areas on raster images
using the REM (raster entity manipulation) commands
■ Make vector additions to raster entities by using raster snap modes to snap
the new vectors to existing raster entities
■ Select a color in an image and make it transparent
■ Clean up speckles and other visual defects in raster images such as
blueprints and floor plans
■ Correct distortions in images

Who Should Use Raster Design?

Anyone who wants to edit, manage, and correlate raster images with AutoCAD
can benefit from the capabilities of Raster Design.

6 | Chapter 1  Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006

 Architects To incorporate photographs and old hand-drawn plans into new
vector data for planning and presentation purposes before remod-
eling, renovating, or doing historic reconstruction.
To show a project in context with its terrain using DEM imagery.

Cartographers To take advantage of real-world coordinate support. When run-

ning on the AutoCAD GIS-based desktops, such as Autodesk Land
Desktop 3, and Autodesk Map, Raster Design gives you the ability
to perform coordinate transformations.

Environmental To generate groundwater contours, locate wells, display the

specialists health of vegetation, plot contamination values, and use geo-
referenced data for support of risk assessment.

Geo-exploration To use remote sensing data for exploration planning, strata

specialists and mapping, and geotechnical applications.
engineers

Land planners To analyze land drainage or to integrate imagery, maps, and

terrain models into base maps that depict change analysis and
land use.

Mechanical en- To easily update scanned drawings using REM commands and
gineers Vtools.

Photogrammet- To use many image formats, including GeoTIFF and GeoSPOT.

ric and Remote To use correlation commands to integrate images into base maps.
Sensing Firms

Resource man- To use multispectral remote sensing data, scanned forest cover-
agers type maps and soil maps, and georeferenced data and images
for impact studies in forestry, soil science, hydrology, and wildlife
management.

Surveyors To perform deed analysis using images for photogrammetric

control by using the vectorization tools to convert raster to vector.

Municipal and To use scanned tax maps and ordinance surveys as references
state mapping for detailing city systems and GIS tasks.
agencies To display land use from multispectral remote sensing data.

When to Use Raster Design | 7

Image Types and Color Maps
With Raster Design, you can insert several types of images into a drawing, and
display them in various ways. The color map provides the main source of
display control. Raster Design recognizes the inserted image type and provides
a default color map. Later, you can edit the color map, or with some image
types, create a new insertion with a different type of color map.

Image data attributes

File Type Data Structure Default Color Insertion Type

(bits/pixel) Map

Bitonal 1 bit Bitonal Bitonal

Grayscale 4 or 8 bit Image Adjust Grayscale

Index Color 8 bit (256 colors) Image Adjust Index Color

True Color 24 or 32 bit Image Adjust True Color

Digital Elevation Floating Point Palette Palette Color

Model

Single-Band In- 16 or 32 bit Image Adjust Palette Color,

teger Grayscale

Multispectral Multiple 8-bit or Band Assignment Palette Color,

16-bit bands Grayscale, False
Color

 
The different color maps have the following attributes:

■ Bitonal color map controls the color assigned to the linework (foreground
color) and background of a bitonal image.
■ Image adjust color map uses the AutoCAD Image Adjust dialog box to
control values for brightness, contrast, and fade.
■ Palette color map has many options available for interpreting and
displaying the data. For example, you can display surface elevation, slope,
or aspect, choose the number of data ranges, and assign a color to each
range.

8 | Chapter 1  Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006

 ■ Band assignment color map specifies which data bands to display and
which color channel (red, green, or blue) to use for each one. By assigning
bands to channels in particular ways, you can create false color images for
analytic purposes, such as the display of vegetation or water features.

For related information, see Editing Color Maps (page 60), and Appendix A:
Supported Image Formats (page 80).

Minimum Requirements
NOTE For complete instructions about installing Autodesk Raster Design, see the
Software Installation Guide.

To run properly, Autodesk Raster Design 2006 requires a minimum of the

following hardware and software.

Software Requirements
One of the following AutoCAD 2006-based products:

■ AutoCAD® 2006
■ AutoCAD Mechanical 2006
■ Autodesk® Architectural Desktop 2006
■ Autodesk Building Systems 2006
■ Autodesk Civil 3D 2006
■ Autodesk Land Desktop 2006
■ Autodesk Map™ 2006
■ Autodesk Mechanical Desktop 2006

Hardware Requirements
You should have 200 MB of disk space available in addition to the minimum
system requirements of AutoCAD 2006, or the AutoCAD 2006-based product
upon which Autodesk Raster Design is installed.

Network Installation of Autodesk Raster Design

System administrators planning to install Autodesk Raster Design on a network
must have TCP/IP installed and functioning on the computers that are running
Autodesk Raster Design.

Minimum Requirements | 9
 For more information about installing Raster Design on a network, see the
Network Administration Guide, which is available from the Network Deployment
tab of the Raster Design CD Browser.

Starting Raster Design

Raster Design runs seamlessly with AutoCAD. The Raster Design setup program
automatically creates an icon that you can use to start both programs.

To start the Raster Design programs

Steps

1 To initialize AutoCAD and Raster Design, select the Raster Design icon. If Raster
Design is correctly installed, an Image menu appears in the host product.

2 Click Image menu  ➤ Insert to insert an image, or Image menu ➤ Options to

configure Raster Design.

Exiting Raster Design

When you have completed your editing session, either exit AutoCAD and
Raster Design, or start a new editing session by opening an existing drawing
or creating a new drawing.
Exit AutoCAD and Raster Design by using any of the following methods:

■ Select File menu  ➤ Exit.

■ Type exit or quit.
■ Click the close box in the upper-right corner of the AutoCAD window.

When you exit, you are prompted to save your drawing and any edits you
have made to the images. Any image correlation data, such as insertion point,
scale, and rotation, is saved in the drawing file. Any edits you have made to
the images are saved in the image files.

NOTE Use the Export (iexport) command if you want to save the correlation
information along with the image file.

10 | Chapter 1  Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006

 You can either save edits you made to your images, or discard unsaved edits
by skipping over a specific image you edited. When you save or exit a drawing,
the Save Image dialog box is displayed with images you have edited. You can
use these options to save all edited images, skip all edited images, or save
selected images before exiting.

Configuring Raster Design

The options in the Raster Design Options dialog box control the major settings
for Raster Design, such as image paths, memory, and the default correlation
information for new images. These settings affect the entire drawing and all
images that are inserted into the drawing.

To access the Raster Design Options dialog box, click Image menu ➤ Options,
or type ioptions on the command line.

The Raster Design Options dialog box has the following tabs. For more
information about any of these settings, click the tab, then click Help.

■ Paths sets the path for correlation files and the AutoPaste feature.

Configuring Raster Design | 11

 ■ User Preferences controls image detachment, message display options,
and the mouse settings. This tab also allows you to set default Startup
options.
■ Feature Settings sets the option to save a thumbnail with your image.
This tab also controls locking settings, Remove Under settings, and the
rub/crop line width.
■ Image Defaults sets the default correlation information for an image,
such as insertion point, scale, rotation, and density value.
■ Memory specifies a temporary swap file for Raster Design to use if it runs
out of RAM. This tab also allocates the amount of system RAM to be used
for images.
■ New Image sets the default values for the creation of a new image,
including image properties and default color type.
■ Vector Merge sets the default behavior for future vector merge operations,
including expanding an image and respecting the display order.
■ REM sets the default properties for REM Objects, including clipboard
settings and REM Object color.
■ Raster Entity Detection sets the default values for detecting various
types of raster geometry using either single-pick or multi-pick methods.
■ Image Mask sets the default property values for future image masks,
including turning the mask on and off, showing how the mask affects the
images in the drawing, and defining the mask boundary.
■ VTools General sets the default options for most of the vectorization
tools. In the vector separation table here you can assign layers and polyline
widths based on the width of the raster being traced.
■ VTools Follower sets the default options for the follower tools. These
tools can follow raster contours or polylines and vectorize them using a
semi-automatic process.

Using Raster Design Commands

You can access the Raster Design commands from the Image menu, the
shortcut menu, the toolbar, or the command line. We suggest that you
experiment with all options to determine which you prefer.

Image Menu
All Raster Design menu options are located on the Image menu. The following
chart outlines the functions you can access through this menu, and provides
cross-references to sections in this book for more information.

12 | Chapter 1  Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006

Image menu options

This option... Performs this function.

New Displays the New Image dialog box, where you can define the
frame and properties for an image you want to create.
In this manual, see Creating A New Image (page 32).

Insert Displays the Insert Image dialog box that is used to insert images
into your current AutoCAD drawing. Also provides access to the
Correlation Function for precise placement of an image.
In this manual, see Inserting Images (page 24).

Save, Save As, Ex- Saves an image to another file name, location, or file type, saves
port, and Capture an image without saving the drawing, exports an image to a
different file format, or exports correlation data associated with
the image.
In this manual, see Saving Images (page 30) and Exporting Im-
ages (page 31).

Correlate Correlates your image by matching, moving, scaling, or rubber-

sheeting.
In this manual, see Correlating Images (page 27).

Manage Displays the Image Manager, which shows information about

insertions, images, and color maps. You can do many tasks here,
such as insert new images, change the display order of insertions,
erase an image, zoom to an image, assign a different color map,
and review metadata.
In this manual, see Image Manager (page 16).

Cleanup Fixes problems with documents that have been damaged or

distorted by reproduction processes. You can deskew, despeckle,
invert, mirror, touchup, or adjust the bias of an image.
In this manual, see Correcting Images (page 36).

Image Processing Enhances the appearance of your image, removes defects, con-
verts an image to a different type, adjusts colors, and assigns
color palettes.
In this manual, see Correcting Images (page 36).

Using Raster Design Commands | 13

 Image menu options

This option... Performs this function.

Raster Entity Ma- Edits bitonal, color, and grayscale raster data. Options are
nipulation provided to select raster entities and then vectorize, edit, or re-
move them.
In this manual, see Manipulating Raster Entities (page 43).

Mask Creates a mask, which is a selected area within the image.

In this manual, see Masking Images (page 35).

Crop Crops an image to remove unwanted areas. Options are provided

for cropping a line or regions of various shapes.
In this manual, see Rubbing and Cropping Images (page 54).

Remove Erases or rubs raster entities, such as lines, circles, arcs, or rect-
angles.
In this manual, see Rubbing and Cropping Images (page 54).

Merge Merges images or vector data, and selects raster pen widths.
In this manual, see Merging Vectors into Raster (page 68).

Vectorization Tools Converts raster arcs, circles, texts, lines, polylines, rectangles, or
contours to vector format.
In this manual, Vectorizing Raster Entities (page 40).

Text Recognition Converts raster text to AutoCAD text.

In this manual, see Converting Raster Text (page 42).

Raster Snap Sets the snapping mode, which controls whether your cursor
moving within an image automatically jumps to raster entity
endpoints, intersections, or other significant points.
In this manual, see Snapping to Raster Entities (page 39).

Toggle Frames Changes the visibility of the image frame.

Toggle Quick Bar Changes the visibility of the Quick Bar.

Raster Data Query Displays the Raster Data Query dialog box, which interactively
displays data about the pixel under the cursor.

14 | Chapter 1  Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006

 Image menu options

This option... Performs this function.

Options Displays the Raster Design Options dialog box where you can
configure Raster Design.
In this manual, see Configuring Raster Design (page 11).

Help Displays the Raster Design User Guide in Help.

Raster Design Opens the Raster Design home page on the Internet, if you have
Home Page an internet connection and browser:
http://www.autodesk.com/rasterdesignuser

About Raster Displays Raster Design licensing information.

Design

Toolbars
Raster Design provides more than a dozen toolbars that you can use to access
commands quickly while you work. The Raster Design Toolbar is the largest
one, and includes several submenus that can be displayed as separate toolbars.
When you pass the cursor over a tool icon, a tooltip shows the name of the
tool. More detailed information about a tool, such as the equivalent
command-line command, is displayed on the AutoCAD status bar at the
bottom of the screen.

Raster Design Toolbar with open submenu and tooltip

To display the menu of available toolbars, right-click an open AutoCAD toolbar.

You can open any other toolbar from the shortcut menu.

Using Raster Design Commands | 15

 Menu of toolbars

Command Line
You can run most Raster Design commands by entering their names on the
command line. Many Raster Design commands start with the letter i. For
example, to run the histogram command, enter ihistogram on the command
line.
For a detailed list of all the Raster Design commands, see Appendix C,
Command Summary in this manual.
For each topic described in Help, the menu path for the command is listed as
well as the command line equivalent.

Image Manager
The Image Manager toolspace displays the structure of image data associated
with a drawing. Within this dialog you can manage image files, change their
display order or their active path, edit color maps, and export images to other
locations. To access the Image Manage dialog box, click Image
menu ➤ Manage, or enter imanage.
The Image Manager toolspace has two views that allow you to separately
control attributes for image insertions and image data. In each view, you can

16 | Chapter 1  Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006

select objects and right-click to inspect their properties and choose various
editing tasks.
The Image Insertions view is display oriented. It is ideal for managing image
insertions and their color maps. If your drawing contains more than one
insertion of an image, the Image Manager dialog box numbers the insertions.
For example, if there are two insertions of cadplot.tif in your drawing, then
you would see cadplot and cadplot:1 listed.

The Image Data view is more data-centric, as shown in the figure. Here we see
two image data definitions on the left (Airport and Contour), with their
subordinate band groups (Truecolor and Bitonal) and color maps (RGB and
BIN). The image insertions are shown subordinate to their color maps. In this
example, each insertion uses the same name as its parent data definition. This
view is ideal for creating new insertions and working with image data. If the
drawing contained multiple insertions of the Airport image, the Airport branch
of this tree view would show a separate color map and insertion object for
each one. The image listed at the top of the Image Manager toolspace is at the
top of the display order. The image listed last is underneath all the others. To
modify this order, drag the names of the images up or down in the list.
You can also use the AutoCAD DRAWORDER command to modify the display
order.
Because images are also AutoCAD entities, an image that you edit appears to
be placed on top of other images and vectors, even though the image display
order has not actually been changed. Use the AutoCAD REGEN command to
restore the images and vectors to their correct order.

Using Raster Design Commands | 17

Using AutoCAD Commands
AutoCAD imaging commands and Raster Design commands are fully
compatible with each other. The primary differences are their image editing
capabilities and the methods they provide to insert, manage, and correlate
images.

Imaging Commands
AutoCAD has basic imaging commands you can use to insert images, clip
images, and adjust image appearance.

Use this AutoCAD command Do this.

to...

IMAGE Attach, detach, load, reload, and unload images.

IMAGEADJUST Adjust the brightness and contrast of an image, and

fade the image (display-only adjustments).

IMAGEATTACH Attach (or insert) images.

IMAGECLIP Clip an image so that only a selected polygonal area of

the image is displayed.

IMAGEQUALITY Change between high and draft display modes.

IMAGEFRAME Turn frames on and off.

TRANSPARENCY Turn transparency on and off.

 
NOTE AutoCAD commands are shown in UPPERCASE. Raster Design commands
have an initial capital letter, for example, Histogram. When you enter a Raster
Design command on the command line, the letter ‘i’ precedes the command
name.

The next sections describe the differences between AutoCAD imaging

commands and Raster Design commands.

18 | Chapter 1  Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006

Image Editing
Using the AutoCAD imaging commands, you can modify image display values
such as brightness and contrast, and you can clip an image so that only part
of the image is displayed in the drawing. However, these adjustments affect
only how the image appears in your drawing. You cannot use AutoCAD by
itself to permanently edit the image pixels.
Raster Design was designed to work with AutoCAD so that you can
permanently edit your images. For example, if you make adjustments to the
brightness and contrast of an image using the Raster Design Histogram
(ihistogram) command, you can save the edits to the image file itself. Then,
whenever you open a drawing that contains that image file, the image appears
with the correct brightness and contrast values.
If, on the other hand, you use the AutoCAD IMAGEADJUST command to edit
the Image Adjust color map and you have the same image inserted into other
drawings, you must repeat the same changes to each insertion of the image
in all drawings.

Image Insertion and Correlation

Images you insert using the AutoCAD IMAGE command are completely
compatible with images you insert using the Raster Design Insert (iinsert)
command. For example, if you insert images using the Raster Design Insert
command and then save the drawing, the images are displayed and correlated
if you open the drawing using AutoCAD without Raster Design.
AutoCAD stores only one definition of each image you insert into a drawing,
even if you have multiple copies of the same image in the drawing. The
definition is referred to as the image data definition, while each copy is referred
to as an image insertion. You can manage the data definitions and insertions
in your drawing with the Image Manager toolspace. For more information,
see Image Manager (page 16).
Unlike AutoCAD, Raster Design respects correlation from various sources.
Whenever you insert an image using Insert, Raster Design searches for
correlation data associated with that image. Then, you can decide which source
to use. These correlation sources include correlation that was saved in the
image file, resource files, world files, and the defaults that you specify in the
Raster Design Options dialog box. For more information, see Correlating
Images (page 27).

Using AutoCAD Commands | 19

 Using Other AutoCAD Commands on Your Images
Because image frames are treated as AutoCAD objects, you can modify your
images using standard AutoCAD commands, such as MOVE, COPY, ROTATE,
and SCALE.
Using AutoCAD grips, you can select image frames and vectors and then
choose an editing command. You can edit both raster images and vector
objects at the same time by including both in your selection set.

NOTE You can use the AutoCAD UNDO command for up to ten Raster Design
image edits. This limit applies to edits that actually change raster data, not to
display-only changes. Some of the operations affected by this limit are REM,
Histogram, Rub, Crop, Palette Manager, and Rubbersheet.

Some frequently used AutoCAD commands:

Use this AutoCAD Do this.

command to...

REGEN Restore the correct display order of images. When you edit
an image, the image is placed on top of any other images
or vectors in your drawing. Use the AutoCAD REGEN com-
mand to restore the images to their correct order.

LAYER Control the display of images. You can insert each image
on a different layer and then use the LAYER options to turn
the image layers on or off, freeze them, change their colors,
or lock them to prevent the images on them from being
edited.

ZOOM and PAN Zoom to images and pan across images.

UNDO Undo the effects of a Raster Design command.

DVIEW Rotate the UCS to any degree to view the images at a dif-
ferent angle.

NOTE You cannot edit an image if you use the VPOINT

command to change the drawing viewpoint to anything
other than 0,0,1.

PLOT Plot an image.

20 | Chapter 1  Welcome to Autodesk Raster Design 2006

 Use this AutoCAD Do this.
command to...

GRIP EDIT Edit an image using grip editing commands.

SCALE Scale a REM object or insertion.

OSNAP(s) Snap to image frames and REM objects.

Using AutoCAD Commands | 21

22
 2
 
General Concepts

This chapter explains how to work creatively and In this chapter

■ Inserting Images
efficiently with raster image data in your drawings. The
■ Using Color Maps
process begins with inserting one or more images, at ■ Correlating Images

which time you can modify some essential display ■ Selecting Images
■ Rubbersheeting an Image
characteristics. Later, you can clean up or edit the images
■ Transforming the Coordinate
to suit your needs. When you save the images, you can System
■ Saving Images
choose whether to modify the original versions and
■ Exporting Images
whether to link the images to your drawing. ■ Creating A New Image
■ Setting Image Properties
■ Setting Transparency
■ Masking Images
■ Correcting Images
■ Managing the Image Palette
■ Snapping to Raster Entities
■ Vectorizing Raster Entities
■ Manipulating Raster Entities

23
Inserting Images
You can insert any number of raster images into an AutoCAD drawing. Each
image is placed in a frame, and a link is created between the drawing and the
image file.

When you click Image menu ➤ Insert (or enter iinsert on the command line),
the Insert Image dialog box is displayed. Here you can preview the image and
information such as file type, color depth, and density. The column of folders
along the left side of the Insert Images dialog box is called the Places List. It
contains shortcuts to local folders, such as your Favorites folder or My
Documents folder.

You can open image files from the Internet in several ways:

■ Click the Search The Web icon at the top of the dialog box to display the
AutoCAD Web browser, with which you can specify an Internet location
and select an image to insert.
■ Click the Buzzsaw icon in the Places List to access projects hosted on
Buzzsaw.com.
■ Click the FTP icon to browse FTP sites and select an image to insert.

An inserted image must be correlated in the drawing. Correlation is simply a

means of positioning the image using known coordinates. If you want to
display the image, you must also assign it a color map, which specifies how
to use the available colors to show image data.

24 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

You can configure your inserted image in three different ways during the
insertion process:

■ Quick Insert applies automatic correlation and color mapping during image
insertion. No additional options are required with this choice.
■ Insertion Wizard is recommended for the new Raster Design user, as it
proceeds through the insertion process step by step.
■ Insertion dialog is intended for intermediate and experienced users, as it
presents the insertion options on separate tabs.

During insertion, you can change some attributes, such as the image scale,
the color of the image frame, and the foreground color of bitonal images.
The following sections explain the additional concepts involved in image
insertion.

Inserting Images | 25
Using Color Maps
Use a color map to assign colors to an image for display purposes. With a
traditional single-image file such as a photo or drawing, Raster Design assigns
a default color map and adds the image to the display. With a digital elevation
model (DEM) or multispectral file, you can choose which data to display and
how to display it.
A DEM file uses a palette color map. If you choose to edit an existing color
map definition or create a new one, you use the Palette Color Map Definition
dialog box.

Using Raster Design, you can display a DEM land surface, color coded by
elevation, degree of slope, or aspect (direction of slope). Specify which of these
attributes to display, then set the number of value ranges, the color for each
range, and the strategy for distributing the ranges across the full extent of the
data values.

26 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

 When you insert a multispectral image, you create a color map by assigning
an image band to each color channel (red, green, and blue). Some combinations
of bands and channels create special-purpose images for highlighting
vegetation, water temperature, and other land features. You can also turn off
individual channels.

For more information, see Editing Color Maps (page 60).

Correlating Images
You correlate an image by positioning it within the AutoCAD coordinate
system with correct scale, rotation, and coordinates. You can specify correlation
details for an image at the time of insertion or later. You can also use
commands such as Scale, Displace, and Rubbersheet to correct distortions in
the image.
One way to correlate an image on insertion is to use an existing correlation
source. Depending on the type of image you are inserting and whether or not
a resource file or a world file exists for it, you may see the following sources
listed:

■ Image File: For certain types of images, correlation data can be saved as
part of an image file. These file types include RLC, IG4, IGS, GeoTags in
GeoTIFF, or HDR File in SPOT.
■ Resource File: Created by the Raster Design Export command or previous
versions of Raster Design. Resource files have a .res file extension.
■ World File: Created by the Raster Design Export command for a variety
of image formats. World file extensions vary according to file type, but all
end in the letter w. Examples: BMP - .bpw, TIFF - .tfw.
■ Image Defaults: The values you set in the Raster Design Options dialog
box.

Correlating Images | 27
 The information displayed on the Pick Correlation Source page reflects the
values stored in the correlation source you have chosen.
With Raster Design, you can insert several images at the same time. When
you select more than one image to insert, the default correlation information
is used to automatically position the images. This option is very useful when
you have a group of images, such as tiled quadrant sheets, that have correlation
data stored with the images.

Selecting Images
The following table explains two methods for selecting images:

Image Selection Methods

Frame Selection Shift + Left-Click Method

Method

Action Click the frame. Press Shift while clicking the image(s)
Use an AutoCAD cross- with the left button of your mouse.
ing window to select the
frame edge.

Result AutoCAD grips appear at If you click more than one image, the
the corners of the image Image Select dialog box is displayed,
frame. where you can select the images to
include.
AutoCAD grips appear at the corners
of the selected image frame.

Advantages You can do this either You can do this when image frames
before or after selecting are turned off, or when the image
a command. frame is outside your active window.

Disadvantages The frame must be vis- You must do this before selecting a
ible in the drawing. command.

28 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

Rubbersheeting an Image
You can use the Rubbersheet command to

■ Fix distortions in aerial photography caused by aircraft tilt, camera

distortion, and unevenness of terrain.
■ Save money on orthophotography when absolute accuracy is not required.
■ Correct most of the distortions in an image resulting from parallax.

Rubbersheeting works by transforming an image so that points you specify

in the image match corresponding points in the drawing as closely as possible.
These matched points, consisting of a source point in the image, and a
destination point in the drawing, are known collectively as control points.
Enter control points by picking them from the image, or use the Grid tool to
make a grid of destination points that you match to their corresponding source
points.

NOTE If you are using Autodesk Land Desktop, you can substitute COGO points
by entering .p, .g, or .n when Raster Design prompts you to enter destination
points. For more information see the Help topic “Snapping to COGO Points.”

Raster Design provides two methods for transforming the image:

■ Triangular method uses the control points you enter to triangulate the
image, then performs a series of small transformations on those triangular
areas. The area to be transformed is called the convex hull, and is defined
by the outermost destination points. Image data outside the convex hull
is discarded.
■ Polynomial method uses the control points to perform a single
transformation based on the entire image. However, the Polynomial
method does not always result in perfectly matched control points.

NOTE Rubbersheeting is best suited for making minor transformations to an image.

For best results, start with an accurate network of survey control points, then use
match and scale before rubbersheeting to get the image as close to the desired
results as possible. You should have a good spread of control points over the entire
image. Where you do not want the image to move, you can set anchor points.

Rubbersheeting an Image | 29
 In the Rubbersheet dialog box, add control points to your image or import a
control point file to apply to your image. After the points are added to your
image, click Export to save the control point set.

Transforming the Coordinate System

If Raster Design is installed on a geographic application, such as Autodesk
Map or Civil 3D, you can transform the coordinate system of an inserted
image to match the coordinate system of the drawing. Coordinate
transformation applies to each pixel in the image, creating a very accurate
representation of the surface.

Saving Images
You can save an image in several ways, depending on your needs:

■ File menu ➤ Save. Saves the drawing and prompts you to save any images
you have edited. Because of the link between the drawing and the image
files, the image data is not stored in the drawing file, but in a separate file.
You have the option of either saving each edited image individually, or
saving all of the edited images in your drawing. You can skip over an image
if you do not want to save the changes you made.

30 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

 ■ Image menu ➤ Save. Saves an image without saving the drawing file.
You can use this command to save more than one image at a time.
■ Image menu ➤ Save As. Saves an image and lets you change the name,
file type, or location. Using this command, you can convert a read-only
image to a file that can be edited.
■ Image menu ➤ Capture. Saves a “snapshot” of a displayed image,
including the effects of color maps, clips, masks, and rotation. This
command is ideal for saving an image created from a multispectral data
set or digital elevation model (DEM).

Exporting Images
Export an image either for use in another graphics application, or to save the
image correlation data for later use.
When you save an AutoCAD drawing file that contains a raster image, the
image correlation data is saved in the drawing file, not in the image file itself.
If you want to insert the image into another drawing and use the same
correlation data, save correlation data with the image.

When you export an image (Image menu ➤ Export), you can save correlation
data in one of three locations:

■ a resource file, for use with Raster Design

■ a world file, for use with other image formats
■ the image file itself

Saving correlation data to the image file is possible only with some image
types. You can export correlation data to a world file without exporting the
associated image. For more information on file types, see Correlating Images
(page 27).
When you export an image, using a different image name, file format, or file
location, you can maintain the link between the drawing and the exported
image if you want the new image file to replace the one that is currently linked
to the drawing.
You can insert a read-only image into a drawing and then save it to a read-write
format using the Export, Capture, or Save As command. However, only the
Export command saves the image correlation information.
When you export rotated images, Raster Design gives you the option to “burn
in” the rotation, which means that the image retains its rotated position, but
the rotation value is set to zero.

Exporting Images | 31
Creating A New Image
You can create a new blank image to contain an image created by editing
another image or merging two or more images. To create a new image, you
first define an image frame, then set properties in the New Image dialog box.

After you have created a new image, you must save it to establish a link
between the drawing and the image file. To define the properties for more
than one new image, use the New Image configuration tab in the Raster Design
Options dialog box.

32 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

Setting Image Properties
You can control many aspects of image appearance by setting properties. These
include AutoCAD properties and Raster Design properties.

AutoCAD Properties
View the AutoCAD properties of an image either by right-clicking the image
or right-clicking the image object in the Image Insertions view of Image
Manager. The main AutoCAD property types are as follows:

■ General. Color, layer, and line settings. The color setting controls the
foreground color of a bitonal image or the frame color of a color or grayscale
image.
■ Image adjust. Settings for brightness, contrast, and fade values.
■ Geometry. Correlation settings, including scale, rotation, and X, Y, Z
values for the origin.

For more information, see AutoCAD Help.

Raster Design Properties

View the Raster Design properties of an image in the item view of Image
Manager. The properties shown vary somewhat, depending on image type,
what is selected (image data or insertion), and the location (Image Insertions
view or the Image Data view) in Image Manager. The main Raster Design
property types are as follows:

■ Information. Image name, type, specifications, and whether the image

can be edited and saved.
■ Display Settings. Image layer, transparency settings, and whether the
image is visible.
■ Correlation. Scale, rotation, and X, Y, Z values for the origin.
■ Paths. Include the active path, from where the image was inserted, and
the saved path where it is currently being saved.

Setting Image Properties | 33

Setting Transparency
You can assign transparency to a particular color, then turn transparency on
or off. In bitonal images, the transparency color is always the background
color. In color and grayscale images, you can choose any available color or
shade for the transparency color. When transparency is on, all image pixels
drawn in the transparency color become transparent. When transparency is
off, these pixels assume their normal opaque color.
The following illustration shows how to use transparency settings to control
the visibility of an underlying image.

Transparency is on for the parcel Transparency is off for the parcel

map. map.
The aerial photograph is visible. The aerial photograph is covered.

 
The transparency color has three uses:

■ You can make all pixels of a specified color transparent when you turn on
transparency.
■ When you use Rub or Crop, the rubbed (erased) or cropped areas are
displayed in the transparency color. For example, if you choose blue as
the transparency color, all rubs are displayed in blue. If you turn on
transparency for that image, the rubbed areas become transparent. For
more information, see Rubbing and Cropping Images (page 54).
■ When you merge two images together, any blank space is filled with the
transparency color of the destination image.

34 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

Masking Images
You can use an image mask to display and plot a subset of the images in your
drawing. An image mask conceals parts of the images that are outside the
mask boundary. The mask boundary is a rectangular or polygonal AutoCAD
object that you can move, stretch, scale, and erase like any other AutoCAD
object.
In the following illustration, a polygonal mask was created with the Hide
Image(s) option.
The third illustration shows the results of using the Show Image Frame(s)
option.

Tiled quad sheets, with im- Polygonal mask Polygonal mask with image
age frames visible frames visible

 
A Raster Design mask affects all the images in a drawing, but it does not
permanently modify the images. You can resize the mask or turn it off to
redisplay all the images. The AutoCAD IMAGECLIP command works like a
mask, but affects only one image. You can convert a mask to individual image
clips.

Masking Images | 35
Correcting Images
You can use several commands on the Image menu to permanently edit your
images.
Use the Cleanup submenu tools to correct image errors. You can deskew
(rotate), invert (reverse the colors), or mirror (flip) an image. You can also
despeckle an image to remove spots, touch up linework, or change the bias,
stretching the image into the correct shape.
Use the Image Processing submenu to improve the visual quality of an image.
You can change pixel density or color depth, and apply filters. Convolving
filters can either smooth or sharpen image details in grayscale images. The
Histogram can adjust brightness, contrast, and image tone for color or grayscale
images. Use it to change a limited range of tones, leaving others unaffected,
and to change an image to grayscale or bitonal.
For bitonal images, you can use bitonal filters in conjunction with cleanup
commands, such as Despeckle and Deskew.
The following bitonal filter types are available:

■ Smooth removes unwanted pixels from the edges of raster objects and fills
holes in raster lines.

■ Thin trims raster objects by one pixel per pass in the direction you specify.

■ Thicken widens the edges of raster objects by one pixel per pass in the
direction you specify.

36 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

■ Separate works when raster lines are partially merged, converting them
into two distinct lines.

■ Skeletonize thins all raster data to one pixel in thickness. After you thin
your raster data to a one pixel width, you can run the Thicken filter to
achieve a uniform width.

Correcting Images | 37
Managing the Image Palette
For eight-bit images (256 colors or shades of gray), you can use the Palette
Manager to change, condense, or combine colors, assign transparency, or
convert grayscale images to paletted color images. You can also use it to analyze
the image palette and display it in different ways, such as by color frequency
or luminance. Apply standards by importing and exporting palettes.
The Palette Manager displays the image palette in two ways:

■ The color table displays the palette as an array of color buttons. Pausing
the cursor over a color button displays data for that entry. Click a single
color to select it, or select multiple colors for tasks such as combining
colors.
■ The list view provides numeric data for each entry in the palette, such as
RGB color values, frequency, and transparency.

38 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

Snapping to Raster Entities
Raster snap modes make it easy to select exact positions on bitonal raster
entities. Raster snap modes work like AutoCAD Object Snap modes, except
that they snap to raster entities instead of to vector objects.
Raster snaps are useful when you want to

■ Trace a raster entity with vectorization tools (VTools)

■ Select a raster entity to rub or crop
■ Select a raster entity to edit with raster entity manipulation (REM)
commands

NOTE Raster snapping works only with bitonal images.

When raster snapping is on (active), a snap window is displayed around the

AutoCAD cursor. The snap window displays the crosshairs over points to
which you can snap. You can select one or more snap modes to control
whether the cursor snaps to endpoints, corners, and other points.
You can toggle Raster Snap on and off by using the Toggle Quick Bar command
from the Image menu.

To access the Raster Snap options, click Tools menu ➤ Drafting Settings (or
use the AutoCAD DSETTINGS command), then click the Raster Snap tab.

Snapping to Raster Entities | 39

Vectorizing Raster Entities
Raster Design provides tools to partially automate the process of vectorizing
raster entities. Each tool is designed to vectorize a raster geometry type,
converting it to the corresponding AutoCAD entity. In many cases, you can
convert a raster entity to a vector one with a single pick.
Since vectorizing an image can be time consuming, you should consider your
plans for the image before deciding whether or not to vectorize it. If you want
to simply archive the image, you do not need to vectorize it. If you want to
remove portions of the raster image, you can use the Rub, Crop, and raster
entity manipulation (REM) editing commands instead of vectorizing it. If you
cannot easily change the image using the above suggestions, or if you need
to use the vector data in AutoCAD or another program, you should vectorize
the entities.
Vectorization tools work best on bitonal images. In particular, one-pick
selection and follower tools do not work with grayscale or color photographs.
There are seven vectorization tools:

■ Line tool. Converts raster lines to vector lines. This tool uses two basic
selection methods: one-pick, which vectorizes a raster line with a single
pick, and multi-pick, in which you enter the start and endpoint of the
raster line.
■ Poly tool. Converts connected raster lines to polylines. Like the line tool,
you can use one-pick or multi-pick selection methods.
■ Rectangle tool. Converts raster rectangles to vector. Select points to
define the corners and baseline angle of the rectangle, then Raster Design
creates a closed polyline.
■ Circle tool. Converts raster circles to vector. Select the raster circle using
several methods, including one pick.
■ Arc tool. Converts raster arcs to vector. Select the raster arc using several
methods, including one-pick.
■ Text and Mtext tools. Replace raster text with AutoCAD text or multiline
text (Mtext).

Vectorization tools can verify and adjust the dimensions of the vector entities
you draw, which is important if the raster image you are vectorizing is not
completely accurate. For example, after you vectorize a line segment, you can
check the line length and angle. If they are incorrect, change the dimensions
before you create the next line.

40 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

Before using vectorization tools, adjust the settings in the Raster Design
Options dialog box. Use the options on the VTools General and VTools
Follower tabs to customize the behavior and precision of the tools. Optionally,
use Vector Separation Options to automatically assign a layer and polyline
width to the vectors you create with vectorization tools. You can assign these
values based on either raster line width or the elevation of the resulting vectors.

The Follower Tools

A follower VTool can follow raster geometry to vectorize it, but prompts you
for input when it reaches a decision point, where it can no longer proceed on
its own (for instance, at a raster endpoint or a label). At each decision point,
you can provide more information, change course, return to a previous vertex,
or stop the follower. Raster Design provides separate follower tools for
vectorizing contour lines, polylines, and three-dimensional polylines. For
more information, see Using Vector Follower Tools (page 74).

Using Vector Separation

You can use vector separation options to automatically assign line widths and
layers to the vector lines created in the vectorization process. The vector
separation options are available on the VTools General tab of the Raster Design
Options dialog box.
There are two ways to use vector separation:

■ Separate vectors based on the width of the raster lines by using the General
tab of the Vector Separation Options dialog box. For example, you can
assign thin dimension lines to a separate layer from the thicker object
lines. Simply specify two or more ranges of line widths for the raster
entities, then assign a layer and polyline width value to each range.

Vectorizing Raster Entities | 41

 ■ Assign layer and polyline widths to contours based on their elevation
interval using the Contour tab of the Vector Separation Options dialog
box. For example, you can set the elevation interval for major contours to
50, and the elevation interval for minor contours to 10. Then if you follow
a contour and set the elevation to 450, the resulting vector contour is
assigned to the major layer. If you set the elevation value to 440, the
contour is assigned to the minor layer.

Converting Raster Text

The text recognition commands enable you to convert raster text into AutoCAD
text or Mtext. These commands are useful for correcting text and making it
more legible, or extracting the text for use in other documents. The text
recognition engine displays its findings in a verification window where you
can make corrections, then insert the new text into the drawing.
Use the Recognize Text command to convert text that is in paragraph form,
and use the Recognize Table command to convert text in a table.

42 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

Manipulating Raster Entities
Raster entity manipulation (REM) enables you to edit raster entities more
easily and accurately by temporarily converting them to vector-like objects.
After the edit session, you can merge the REM objects back into the raster
drawing or move them to a new drawing.
There are three types of REM objects: primitives, regions, and enhanced bitonal
regions. You can use each of these object types differently as you edit raster
data.

REM object Description Image type(s)

Primitive object Contains a single raster line, arc, or circle. Bitonal

Region object Contains all pixels within a selected region, Bitonal, grayscale,
including parts of entities. color

Enhanced biton- Contains complete raster entities within a Bitonal

al region object selected region.

 
The following sections show how different selection methods produce different
REM objects.

Manipulating Raster Entities | 43

 Primitives
This object type is available only in bitonal images. The following example
was defined using the Smart selection method for primitive objects. Raster
Design detects the circle and defines the entity as a circle primitive object.

Entity selected using Smart selection Primitive object defined from the selec-
tion

 
After you have defined a REM object, you can use AutoCAD commands to
modify it. For more information, see Using AutoCAD Commands on REM
Objects (page 48).

Regions
Regions operate on all image types: bitonal, grayscale, and color. On grayscale
and color images, regions are hatched to distinguish them from the raster
image.
For example, you could select a housing development within an aerial photo
as a region object, then use the object to create a street drawing.

44 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

Each vertex of a polygonal, rectangular, or diagonal REM region object has a
grip. If you move a grip, the entire object moves. If you stretch the grip, the
object is scaled.
The following region object includes all the pixels within the selection
rectangle: the circle, the portions of the intersecting lines, and the leader line.

Rectangular region selected Region object defined from the selection

Manipulating Raster Entities | 45

 Enhanced Bitonal Regions
Use this type of REM object to select several complete raster entities at once.
Several selection methods are available to define enhanced bitonal region
objects:

■ Windows and crossing windows

■ Polygons and crossing polygons
■ Fences
■ Connected entities

You can also choose whether the object includes all the connected pixels
within the enhanced bitonal region (connected method) or only the pixels
that define a line, a circle, or an arc (smart method).
After you define the enhanced bitonal region object, you can modify the
object using AutoCAD commands and REM commands.
The following examples show some of the smart and connected options in
use. In these examples, thin dotted lines show the region that is selected, and
the thick black areas show the resulting enhanced bitonal region object.

46 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

The complete set of enhanced bitonal region objects is illustrated and defined
in the Glossary. See entries under “connected” and “smart”.

Enhanced bitonal region objects

Smart Window Connected Window

A Smart Window selects the raster A Connected Window selects the raster
entities that are entirely within the entities that are entirely within the win-
window. Entities that extend outside dow and not connected to entities ex-
the window are not included in the tending outside the window. In this ex-
selection. In this example, the leader ample, the text is selected. The leader
lines and text are selected. The dimen- lines are not selected because they are
sion lines extend outside the window connected to the dimension lines that
and are not included. extend outside the window.

Smart Crossing Window Connected Crossing Window

A Smart Crossing Window selects the A Connected Crossing Window selects

raster entities that are within the the raster entities that are within the
window or touch the window. In this window, touch the window, or are con-
example, the leader lines, the text, nected to entities that touch the window.
and the dimension lines are selected. In this example, all entities except the
text in the upper right are selected. This
text is not connected to any entities.

Manipulating Raster Entities | 47

 Enhanced bitonal region objects

Smart Fence Connected Fence

A Smart Fence selects the raster entit- A Connected Fence selects the raster en-
ies that touch the fence. In this ex- tities that touch the fence or are connec-
ample, the leader lines and the dimen- ted to entities that touch the fence. In
sion lines are included in the selec- this example, all entities except the two
tion. The text, which is enclosed by areas of text are selected. The text does
the fence but does not touch the not touch the fence and is not connected
fence, is not included. to any entities.

Using AutoCAD Commands on REM Objects

After you create custom REM objects, you can edit them with any of the
following AutoCAD commands:

■ MOVE
■ STRETCH
■ ROTATE
■ SCALE
■ COPY
■ MIRROR
■ ERASE
■ UNDO
■ MODIFY

NOTE AutoCAD commands that cannot be used on REM objects are TRIM,

EXTEND, and EXPLODE.

When you run an AutoCAD command that causes a REM object to become
out of sync with the original image, Raster Design erases the corresponding

48 | Chapter 2  General Concepts

raster data from the source image. For example, after you use the AutoCAD
MOVE command on a REM object, the original raster entities are deleted from
the image. If you want to immediately delete a REM object after defining it,
use the AutoCAD ERASE command. See AutoCAD Help for more information
about AutoCAD commands.

Manipulating Raster Entities | 49

50
 3
 
Task-Specific Concepts

This chapter explains how to do some common image In this chapter

■ Despeckling an Image
management tasks. Each section includes a short LiveView
■ Rubbing and Cropping Images
exercise. Use these explanations and exercises to begin ■ Editing Raster Using REM

working with Autodesk Raster Design. ■ Editing Color Maps

■ Editing Indexed Color Images
The drawings and images used in the LiveView exercises ■ Merging Vectors into Raster
■ Using Histogram Editing Filters
are located in the folder Program Files\Raster Design
■ Using Vector Follower Tools
2006\Getting Started Guide.

51
Despeckling an Image
You can despeckle an image to remove small spots that were created in the
scanning process. To start the process, specify the largest size of speckle to
delete. Raster Design then deletes all speckles of that size or smaller. Before
you despeckle an image, you should examine it to identify any small points
that must not be deleted. Then you can specify a speckle size that is smaller
than the marked points to be retained in the drawing.

LiveView Exercise: Image Despeckling

In this exercise, you clean up a drawing by removing speckles.

To remove speckles from an image

1 Open the file C:\Program Files\Raster

Design 2006\Getting Started\
LiveView_Clean.dwg
This drawing includes a red vector
triangle around one of the largest
speckles in the image.

2 Zoom your display in to clearly see

the speckle inside the red triangle.

52 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

3 Click Image
menu ➤ Cleanup ➤ Despeckle.
Press Enter to process the entire im-
age.

4 Enter p, then click the speckle inside

the red triangle.
The system reports the size of the
speckle (0.025 drawing units or 5
pixels), and will remove any speckles
smaller than this size.

5 Press Enter to continue.

The system highlights all speckles that
it proposes to remove.

6 Pan and zoom around the image to

review the speckles. Click to deselect
any speckles that you do not want
removed, such as the period in A.C.
SLEEVE in the upper left.
Press Enter to remove the highlighted
speckles.

7 In the upper left, note several speckles

that were not removed because they
are larger than the one you picked
inside the red triangle. You should
manually delete these.

Despeckling an Image | 53
Rubbing and Cropping Images
You can use the Rub and Crop commands to remove selected areas of bitonal,
grayscale, and color images. Rubs and crops permanently alter an image.

■ Rub changes the removed pixels to the current transparency color for the
image. The rubbed areas become transparent if transparency is enabled for
the image.
■ Crop deletes pixel data outside the selected boundary area. If a crop
boundary is not rectangular, the area between the crop boundary and the
rectangular image frame is filled with the transparency color.

Rub and crop boundaries can be composed from many different shapes: circles,
rectangles, lines, arcs, and polygons. The boundaries can encompass more
than one image at a time. In the cropped floorplan illustration, note that the
size of the image frame is automatically adjusted when you crop an image.

Original floorplan image Areas rubbed from floor- Cropped floorplan

plan

 
Some key points about rubs and crops are as follows:

■ When two images are on top of each other and you rub or crop the visible
image, both images are modified. Lock the layer an image frame is on to
prevent the image from being modified.
■ Rubs and crops do not affect vectors in the rub or crop area. The commands
affect only raster data.

54 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

■ Rubs create either transparent or solid regions, depending on the state of
transparency in the image.
■ A crop affects only the images you touch with the crop boundary. No
images outside this boundary are affected.
■ You can use the AUTORUB command to set the rub/crop line width, as
well as to turn autorub on or off.

Rubbing and Cropping Images | 55

 LiveView Exercise: Rubbing and Cropping an
Image
In this exercise, you rub some small entities from an image and crop around
another entity.

To rub and crop objects

1 Open the file C:\Program Files\Raster

Design 2006\Getting Started
Guide\LiveView_Rub.dwg
You see a number of separate entities
in a scanned image.

2 Zoom your display in to clearly see

the Mandrel Rib Plate object.
In the next few steps, you will remove
this object from the image.

3 Click Image menu ➤ Remove

 ➤ Rectangular Region.
Click and draw a rectangle around
the Mandrel Rib Plate and its title
block, right-click, then click Enter to
rub the region.
Further exploration: Rub other
objects, except the Jig Bracket in the
lower left corner. Use some of the
other region types on the Remove
menu to do this.

56 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

4 Zoom your display in to clearly see
the Jig Bracket in the lower left
corner.
In the next step you will create a crop
region around this object.

5 Click Image menu ➤ Crop  ➤ Rectan-

gular Region.
Click and draw a rectangle around
the Jig Bracket and its title block, then
click.
All of the image lying outside the crop
region is deleted. If desired, you can
save this Jig Bracket image with a new
name.

Rubbing and Cropping Images | 57

Editing Raster Using REM
You can use raster entity manipulation (REM) to edit bitonal raster data with
precise control. For example, you can adjust the radius of a raster circle, remove
some dimension lines from a mechanical drawing, or copy electrical symbols
from one image to another.
By creating REM objects from selected raster lines and other entities, you can
edit raster entities as you would vector objects. For example, AutoCAD
commands, such as MOVE, SCALE, COPY, and ROTATE, can operate on REM
objects.
Some common uses of REM are as follows:

■ Make simple changes in raster entities

■ Erase a portion of a drawing
■ Move or clip some details
■ Store raster-only drawings (rather than hybrid drawings)

LiveView Exercise: Editing with REM

In this exercise you use REM commands to clean up a drawing.

To edit a drawing by using a REM object

1 Open the file C:\Program Files\Raster

Design 2006\Getting Started
Guide\LiveView_REM.dwg
Zoom in to the upper left corner of
the building. You will use window 1
on the upper left as a template to re-
place window 2.

58 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

2 Click Image menu ➤ Raster Entity
Manipulation ➤ Create Enhanced
Bitonal Region ➤ Connected Fence.
Draw the fence across the bottom half
of window 2, right-click, and click
Enter.
The complete outline of the window
is converted to a REM region because
all the lines are connected to the two
lines that crossed the fence.

3 Right-click the border of the REM re-

gion, and click Cut.
The window outline is deleted, leav-
ing a red X to mark its bottom left
corner.

4 Use another connected fence to cre-

ate an enhanced bitonal region for
window 1.
Right-click the REM region, and click
Copy With Base Point.

5 Click the bottom left corner of win-

dow 1 to specify the base point, right-
click, and click Paste.
Align the cursor with the red X for
window 2, then click to paste the
REM window in the right location.

6 Click the REM window, then click Im-

age menu ➤ Raster Entity Manipula-
tion ➤ Merge To Raster Image.
REM window 1 is converted to raster.
Further exploration: Copy the REM
window and replace the two windows
below windows 1 and 2.

Editing Raster Using REM | 59

Editing Color Maps
The color map for an image defines how the image data appears in the display.
Color maps are especially important for digital elevation models (DEM) and
multispectral images. These file types offer you a range of data to display,
depending on your needs.

DEM Display
Using Raster Design, you can display a DEM land surface, color coded by
elevation, degree of slope, or aspect (direction of slope). In the Palette Color
Map Definition dialog box, specify which of these attributes to display, then
set the number of value ranges, the color for each range, and the strategy for
distributing the ranges across the full extent of data values.

60 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

When determining value distribution, you can select equal, quantile, or
standard deviation. For a traditional map style, select an equal distribution of
ranges. If your data points are clustered around a particular value and you
want to show greater detail in that subset of ranges, choose a quantile
distribution, which places an equal number of data points in each range. The
third choice is a standard deviation distribution, which divides the ranges
symmetrically above and below the arithmetic mean data value. This
distribution is especially useful for showing the average range or dominant
trends in the surface slope and elevation.

Multispectral Data Display

Satellite imagery and other multispectral data includes a separate image for
each data band within the file set. For example, the set can include images
for red, green, blue, and infrared data bands. Using a band assignment color
map in Raster Design, you can combine different bands to highlight particular
features of the image data.
You simply use the Image Insertion dialog box to assign a data band to each
color channel and decide which channels to include in the display. At any
time, you can change the band assignment and view the results on the screen.

Editing Color Maps | 61

 LiveView Exercise: Editing a Palette Color Map
In this exercise you see how different palette color maps assist the visual
analysis of a DEM.

To edit a palette color map

1 Open the file C:\Program Files\Raster

Design 2006\Getting Started
Guide\LiveView_ColorMap.dwg
A terrain map is displayed that shows
several different colors. In the next
few steps you will see the color map
that shows how to interpret these
colors.

2 If the Image Manager toolspace is not

open, click Image menu ➤ Manage.
In Image Manager, select the Image
Insertions view.

3 In the Image Insertions view, right-

click the drawing name and click Edit
Color Map.

4 In the Palette Assignment Color Map

dialog box, click to edit the color

map.

62 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

5 In the Palette Color Map Definition
dialog box, in the Range Table, note
that each color on the map represents
an elevation range of 26.387 m.
Click OK to close the dialog box.

6 In the Palette Assignment Color Map

dialog box, select the Slope color
map, then click Apply.
The colors on the map now show
ranges of ground slope values.

7
Click to see the Range Table for
this color map. Note that each color
represents a slope range of 7 degrees.
Further exploration: In the Palette
Color Map Definition dialog box for
a color map, change the Value Distri-
bution from Equal to Quantile, click
OK, then click Apply.

Editing Color Maps | 63

 LiveView Exercise: Editing a Band Assignment
Color Map
In this exercise you see how different band assignment color maps assist the
visual analysis of a multispectral data set.

To edit a band assignment color map

1 Open the file C:\Program Files\Raster

Design 2006\Getting Started
Guide\LiveView_ColorMap2.dwg
A satellite image is displayed that
shows some urban terrain in normal
colors.

2 If the Image Manager toolspace is not

open, click Image menu ➤ Manage.
In Image Manager, select the Image
Insertions view.

3 In the Image Insertions view, right-

click the drawing name and click Edit
Color Map.

4 In the Band Assignment Color Map

dialog box, note that the red, green,
and blue channels on the left are as-
signed to the corresponding red,
green, and blue data bands.

5 In the Band Assignment Color Map

dialog box, use the three drop-down
lists to assign the color channels as
follows:
■ Red channel to the Near Infrared
(NIR) band

64 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

 ■ Green channel to the Red band
■ Blue channel to the Green band
Click Apply to see the change imme-
diately, and click OK to close the dia-
log box.

6 This color map shows vegetation as

red. Vegetation that is healthy or
more dense appears darker red. This
type of display is known as a false
color image, and this particular band
assignment is commonly used for
analyzing vegetation.

Editing Color Maps | 65

Editing Indexed Color Images
Using the Palette Manager, you can control the 256 colors or shades of gray
in any indexed image. For example, you can combine similar shades to reduce
the palette, or highlight some details in the image by blanking out the rest.
The array of 256 squares at the top of the dialog box is known as the color
table. The display at the bottom is an interactive list view. Using the Sort By
drop-down list in the upper right, you can sort a palette by index number,
frequency, transparency, color, saturation, or luminance.

LiveView Exercise: Highlighting Image Details

In this exercise you use the Palette Manager to prepare a contour map from
a map image that contains many other details.

To extract contours from a detailed map

1 Open the file C:\Program Files\Raster

Design 2006\Getting Started
Guide\Live_View_Palette.dwg
A map of Pinedale is displayed,
showing roads, rivers, buildings, and
other details.

2 Zoom in to the map so you can

clearly pick the color of the contour
lines.

66 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

3 Click Image menu ➤ Image Pro-
cessing ➤ Palette Manager.
The Palette Manager dialog box dis-
plays the color palette for the map.

4 Click Select Color, then click one of

the contour lines in the drawing.
The brown color (index 8) is high-
lighted in the Palette Manager,
showing numeric values.

5 Right-click the selected color square

on the top row of the Palette Man-
ager. Click Invert Selection.
All colors except brown are selected.
To isolate the contour lines, you can
turn all the selected colors to white.

6 Click Combine. In the Target Color

dialog box, click the white square,
then click OK.
All colors except brown will appear
as white. Note the change in the Fre-
quency column of the table.

7 Click OK.
The change is applied to the drawing.
The resulting image could be used to
prepare a contour map of the region.

Editing Indexed Color Images | 67

Merging Vectors into Raster
You can use the vector merge command to merge vectors into either an existing
or new raster image. Vector merge allows you to make precise changes to your
raster image using AutoCAD vectors, while keeping your data in a raster format.
When you merge vectors, you can select Raster Pen widths for the merge by
specifying pen thickness in the Raster Pen Settings dialog box.

Raster pens apply a specified line width to vector entities when you merge
them into the image. Line widths are assigned according to entity color.

LiveView Exercise: Merging Vectors

In this exercise, you update a drawing and merge new vector data with existing
raster data.

To merge vectors into raster data

1 Open the file C:\Program Files\Raster

Design 2006\Getting Started
Guide\LiveView_Merge.dwg
You see a drawing of a school. The
white raster data indicates the original
building, and the colored vector data
indicates the additional classrooms.

68 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

2 Click Image menu ➤ Merge  ➤ Con-
figure Raster Pens to open the Raster
Pen Settings dialog box.

3 Select the Red pen color, set its pen

width to 1 pixel, then click OK.
With this setting, the doors will be
drawn in thinner raster lines than the
walls.

4 Click Image menu ➤ Merge  ➤ Vector

Into Raster. Click the vector block of
new classrooms, then right-click to
end the selection. Press Enter to ac-
cept the default setting of deleting
the vectors after the merge.
The vector data is merged with the
raster data.

Merging Vectors into Raster | 69

Using Histogram Editing Filters
The Histogram dialog box provides a set of multi-purpose editing filters you
can use to permanently change the appearance of grayscale and color images.
A histogram is a bar graph that represents the number of pixels per pixel shade
in a selected image or images. Dark pixels are shown on the left, grays or
mid-tones are in the middle, and lighter shades are on the right. The number
of pixels per pixel shade is represented by the height of the corresponding
bar.
When you use the Histogram (ihistogram) command on an image, the
Histogram dialog box displays a histogram and a preview of the image.

Some of the ways you can use the Histogram dialog box to modify an image
are as follows:

■ Adjust the brightness and contrast of one or more images using the
Brightness/Contrast tab.
■ Maximize the image detail using the Equalize tab.

70 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

■ Convert grayscale and color images to bitonal images using the Threshold
tab.
■ Convert color images to grayscale using the Color To Grayscale tab.
■ Adjust the contrast in a non-linear fashion using the Tonal Adjustment
tab.

The Image Adjust color map (or AutoCAD IMAGEADJUST command) makes
display-only adjustments, but the edits you make to an image using the
Histogram command are permanent and saved with the image.
You can limit the effect of brightness, contrast, equalizing, or tonal adjustments
to a portion of the image called a subregion. You can define a subregion using
one of four methods:

■ Use an existing closed vector entity to define the region.

■ Use an existing image clip.
■ Define a rectangular subregion by clicking two points.
■ Define a polygonal subregion by clicking several points.

Other points to note:

■ The histogram adjustments affect all images that are currently selected,
not only the image displayed in the preview. You can preview how the
histogram adjustments will affect an image in the selection set by clicking
its name in the list of images.
■ For color images, you can modify all channels (Red, Green, and Blue)
together or separately.
■ If you make changes to the display of the image using the Image Adjust
color map or AutoCAD IMAGEADJUST command, then the image saved
to disk is displayed in the Histogram Preview area. If you make changes to
the image with the ihistogram command, then the Image Adjust controls
are reset.

Using Histogram Editing Filters | 71

 LiveView Exercise: Using Histogram Filters
In this exercise, you explore the effects of different histogram filters on a
grayscale image.

To make tonal adjustments to an image

1 Open the file C:\Program Files\Raster

Design 2006\Getting Started
Guide\LiveView_Histogram.dwg.
You see three numbered copies of a
grayscale aerial photo in which some
areas are too light and others too
dark.

2 Select one of the images and zoom

in on it. Click Image menu ➤  Image
Processing ➤  Histogram.
Press Enter to process the entire im-
age.

3 In the Histogram dialog box, click the

Brightness/Contrast tab. Adjust the
Brightness and Contrast sliders, not-
ing the effects in the Preview. Choose
a setting that improves the image
visibility. Click Apply, then click Close.

4 Select a different image, and repeat

Step 2 to open the Histogram dialog
box. This time, click the Equalize tab.
Click Apply to equalize the image.

72 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

5 Select a different image, and repeat
Step 2 to open the Histogram dialog
box. This time, click the Tonal Adjust-
ment tab.
In the graph window for the fitted
curve, click on the diagonal line above
and below the midpoint to add two
more control points.
Adjust the position of the control
points to lighten the dark areas and
darken the light areas. Click Apply,
then click Close.

6 If you want to try using different his-

togram controls to edit the image,
insert additional copies of the image.
To do this, ensure that Image Man-
ager is open (if necessary, click Image
menu ➤ Manage). In the Image Data
view, right-click the image name and
click New Insertion.

Using Histogram Editing Filters | 73

Using Vector Follower Tools
Vectorization tools (VTools) partially automate the process of vectorizing
raster entities. Each tool is designed to follow and vectorize a particular raster
geometry type.
Vectorization tools include three followers:

■ Polyline follower. Converts raster polylines to AutoCAD polylines.

■ Contour follower. Converts raster contours to AutoCAD contour objects
or to polylines with elevation. When a contour is completed, the contour
follower prompts you to enter elevation data.
■ 3D polyline follower. Traces a defined fence or existing vector polyline,
stopping at each point where it intersects a raster entity (raster impact
point) to prompt for elevation data. The resulting AutoCAD 3D polyline
represents the elevation of the raster contours it intersects.

74 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

 You can use the contour follower to vectorize a contour and the VText
command to convert the text label associated with it.

Contour follower vectorizes Magnified view of new vector VText vectorizes text
contours

Using Vector Follower Tools | 75

 LiveView Exercise: Vectorizing Contours
In this exercise you use the contour follower to vectorize raster contours and
record their elevation.

To convert a raster contour to a vector polyline

1 Open the file C:\Program Files\Raster

Design 2006\Getting Started
Guide\LiveView_Contour.dwg
You see a small contour map of
rugged terrain.

2 Click Image menu ➤ Options to open

the Raster Design Options dialog box.
Click the VTools General tab. In the
Removal Method area, click Rub.
Click the VTools Follower tab. In the
Contour Settings area, select Contour
Creates Polyline and set Elevation In-
terval to 20. Click OK.
These settings ensure that when you
trace a raster contour, it is replaced
by a vector polyline and the original
raster is erased.

3 Zoom your display in to see the 7200

contour.
Click Image menu ➤  Vectorization
Tools ➤ Contour Follower, then click
anywhere along the 7200 contour. A
polyline is created from the edge of
the drawing to the decision point at
the label. Now the application needs
direction from you on whether to end
or continue.

76 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts

4 Click one or two points across the la-
bel gap. Enter o to continue the line
to the end. Right-click and click Enter.
On the command line, enter 7200
for the elevation.

5 Click the contour line to the left of

7200, then right-click and click Enter.
Because it has no label gap, this line
is vectorized completely with one
click.
On the command line, you are
prompted with 7220, the correct elev-
ation for this line. This occurs because
you set Raster Design Options to
match the elevation interval in the
drawing.

Using Vector Follower Tools | 77

78 | Chapter 3  Task-Specific Concepts
 4
 
Appendix A: Supported
Image Formats

Raster Design can use many common bitonal, grayscale, In this chapter
■ Understanding Image Formats
and color image formats, including multispectral GeoTIFF

data and digital elevation models (DEM). Raster Design

also supports all the image formats that AutoCAD 2006

supports.

79
Understanding Image Formats
If you open a drawing containing an image format that is not supported,
Raster Design does not load the image. If you attempt to insert an image that
uses an unsupported format, you are warned that the format is not supported.
Similarly, if you select several files and select the Treat As Multispectral option,
Raster Design checks whether the files share the same coordinate system,
projection, color depth, extents, and units. If these criteria are not met, the
files cannot be used as a multispectral dataset. However, they may be
displayable individually, and you may be able to edit them to resolve the
differences.
Raster Design can both read and write TIFF files that are compressed with the
LZW algorithm. It can also read LZW GIF files, but cannot write to this format.
If you insert a read-only image into your drawing, you can configure a color
map for it and save it in a drawing. You can use the Image menu ➤ Capture
command to save a displayable image for use in other applications. If you
want to edit the image, you can use the Image menu ➤  Save As command to
save the image to a read-write format before or after you edit it.
Raster Design can read and write world files for any image type. World files
contain correlation information for images, such as scale, rotation, and
insertion point.
Raster Design can write or save images in 1-, 8-, 16-, 24-, or 32-bit format, but
it can read more image formats than it can write. The following table provides
details about how the various formats are supported:

Supported Image Formats

Format File extension Description Read (bits Write

per pixel) (bits per
pixel)

BMP BMP, RLE, DIB Windows Bitmap 1, 8, 24, 1, 8, 32

32

CALS CAL, GP4, RST, MIL, Computer-Aided 1 1

CG4 Acquisition and
Logistics Sup-
port

80 | Chapter 4  Appendix A: Supported Image Formats

Supported Image Formats

Format File extension Description Read (bits Write

per pixel) (bits per
pixel)

DEM DEM Digital Elevation 32 32

Model

DOQ DOQ, NWS, NES, SES, Digital Ortho- 8, 24 read only

SWS photo Quad-
rangle

ECW ECW Enhanced Com- 8, 24, 32 read only

pressed Wavelet

FLIC FLC, FLI Animator FLIC 8 read only

GeoSPOT BIL SPOT Image 8, 24 read only

Corporation’s
raster format
with georeferen-
cing format

GeoTIFF TIF, TIFF Geo-referenced 1, 4, 8, 1, 8, 16,

TIFF 16, 24, 32 32

GIF GIF Compuserve 8 read only

Graphics Inter-
change Format

IG4 IG4 Image Systems 1 read only

Group 4

JFIF- JPEG JPG Joint Photograph- 8, 24, 32 8, 24

ics Expert
Group, best
suited for 24-bit
images

JPG2000 JP2, J2K JPEG 2000 8, 24 8, 24

Understanding Image Formats | 81

 Supported Image Formats

Format File extension Description Read (bits Write

per pixel) (bits per
pixel)

MrSID SID Multiresolution 8, 24, 32 read only

Seamless Image
Database

PCX PCX A simple run- 1, 4, 8, 24 1, 8

length encoded
format

PICT PCT, PICT Apple Computer 8, 24, 32 read only

format

PNG PNG Portable Net- 1, 4, 8, 1, 8, 24,

work Graphics 24, 32 32

RLC1 RLC Run-Length 1 read only

Coding with no
header

RLC2 RLC RLC with IST 1 read only

headers

TARGA TGA Format de- 8, 16, 24, 8, 32

veloped by True- 32
vision Inc. Usu-
ally 24-bit true
color; can be 8-
bit grayscale or
simple run
length encoded

TIFF TIF, TIFF Tagged Image 1, 4, 8, 1, 8, 16,

File Format, de- 16, 24, 32 32
veloped by Al-
dus Corporation

82 | Chapter 4  Appendix A: Supported Image Formats

 5
 
Appendix B: Autodesk
Raster Design Command
Summary

You can access Raster Design commands on the Image In this chapter
■ Command Summary
menu or by entering a command on the command line.

The table in this appendix lists the menu options and

their corresponding command line names according to

their groupings on the Image menu.

83
Command Summary
The following table shows each Image menu option and its corresponding
command line name.

Image Command line access

menu

New inew

Insert iinsert

Save isave

Save As isaveas

Export submenu

Image iexport

World File iworldout

Capture icapture

Correlate submenu

Match imatch

Displace idisplace

Scale iscale

Rubbersheet irsheet

Manage imanage

Cleanup submenu

Deskew ideskew

84 | Chapter 5  Appendix B: Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary

Image Command line access
menu

Despeckle idespeckle

Bias ibias

Invert iinvert

Mirror imirror

Touchup itouchup

Image Processing submenu

Histogram ihistogram

Convolve iconvolve

Bitonal Filters ibfilter

Change Density idensity

Change Color idepth

Depth

Palette Manager ipal

Raster Entity Manipulation (REM) submenus

REM ➤ Create Region

Polygonal ispolyreg

Rectangular isrectreg

Diagonal isdiagreb

Circular iscircreg

Command Summary | 85
 Image Command line access
menu

From Existing iregfromvec

Vector

REM ➤ Create Enhanced Bitonal Region

Smart Window isebrsmart /w

Smart Crossing isebrsmart /c

Smart Window isebrsmart /wp

Polygon

Smart Crossing isebrsmart /cp

Polygon

Smart Fence isebrsmart /f

Connected En- isebrcon /e

tity

Connected Win- isebrcon /w

dow

Connected isebrcon /c
Crossing

Connected Win- isebrcon /wp

dow Polygon

Connected isebrcon /cp

Crossing Poly-
gon

Connected isebrcon /f
Fence

REM ➤  Create Primitive

86 | Chapter 5  Appendix B: Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary

Image Command line access
menu

Smart Pick issmart

Line isline

Circle iscircle

Arc isarc

From Existing iprimfromvec

Vector

Raster Entity Manipulation

Clear Selected iclear

Clear All iclearall

Select All iselectall

Refine Mode irefinemode

Remove Data iremove

from Region

Merge To Raster imergetoimg

Image

Convert To Ras- iconvtoimg

ter Image

Transparency itransparent

REM ➤  REM Operations

Smooth ismooth

Trim itrim

Command Summary | 87
 Image Command line access
menu

Extend iextend

Fillet ifillet

Offset ioffset

Raster Entity Manipulation

Copy to Clip- icopyss

board

Knife iknife

Mask submenu

Create imask

Convert to Im- imaskconvert

age Clip

Redefine imaskedit

Crop submenu

Line icropline

Circular Region icropcirc

Rectangular Re- icroprect

gion

Rectangular Re- icropalign

gion

Diagonal Region icropdiag

88 | Chapter 5  Appendix B: Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary

Image Command line access
menu

Polygonal Re- icroppoly

gion

Remove submenu

Line irubline

Circle irubdonut

Arc irubarc

Polyline irubpline

Circular Region irubcirc

Rectangular Re- irubrect

gion

Diagonal Region irubdiag

Polygonal Re- irubpoly

gion

Remove Under irmvexisting

Vector

Smart Pick idelsmart

Line Entity idelline

Circle Entity idelcircle

Arc Entity idelarc

Merge submenu

Images iimerge

Command Summary | 89
 Image Command line access
menu

Vector Into Ras- ivmerge

ter

Configure Raster rpens

Pens

Vectorization Tools (VTools) submenu

Line vline

Pline vpoly

Rectangle vrect

Circle vcircle

Arc varc

Text vtext

Multiline Text vmtext

Polyline Follower vfpoly

Contour Follow- vfcontour

er

3D Polyline Fol- vf3dpoly

lower

Text Recognition submenu

Recognize Text irectext

Recognize Table irectable

Recognize Setup irecsetup

90 | Chapter 5  Appendix B: Autodesk Raster Design Command Summary

 Image Command line access
menu

Raster isnap
Snap

Toggle Frames iframe

Toggle Quick Bar iqbar

Raster Data Query iquery

Options ioptions

Raster Design Home Page http://www.autodesk.com/rasterdesignuser

Help ihelp

About Raster Design iabout

Command Summary | 91
92
Glossary
access key The key that corresponds to an underlined letter on a menu,
command, or dialog box.

active path The location from which the current image file is actually being
loaded. It can be a local path, a network path, or an Internet address.

Always Detach An option in the Raster Design Options dialog box. If you
erase the image frames, this option automatically detaches the images.

aperture The square region, centered on the cursor crosshairs, where entity
selection can occur when raster snap mode is active; also known as the snap
window. You can also specify minimum and maximum pixel widths to snap
to. See also snap window.

apparent intersection The point where two entities would intersect if one,
or both, were extended.

aspect ratio The ratio of an image height to its width. See also bias.

attach When you insert an image into a frame, the image is attached to the
drawing. You can use the AutoCAD IMAGEATTACH command to attach an
image, or you can use the Raster Design iinsert command to attach an image.
Attaching and inserting refer to the same process.

AutoInsert A Raster Design option for automatically inserting images in a

drawing created with CAD Overlay ESP or GSX, which are earlier versions of
Raster Design.

AutoReplace A Raster Design option that replaces the image path of a

previously inserted image by matching the drawing name.

AutoRub A Raster Design option that removes raster objects as you trace
them with the vectorization tools. This option uses the Rub/Crop line width
to determine the width of the raster that is removed.

base point A point used for relative distance and angle when moving,
copying, or rotating objects. Example: On the image, select the base point
that you want to move to the destination point.

bias The ratio of image width to image height, also called aspect ratio. You
can change the bias of an image by using the Raster Design ibias command.

Glossary | 93
 bicubic A pixel resampling method that computes the value for a new pixel
based on interpolation of the values in a 4x4 block of surrounding pixels. This
method provides a good compromise between accuracy and speed for most
images.

bilinear A pixel resampling method that computes the value for a new pixel
based on linear interpolation of the values in a 2x2 block of surrounding
pixels.

binary image See bitonal image.

bitmap (BMP) An image format. It can be compressed or uncompressed.

Uncompressed BMP files contain raw data on a boundary of 4 bytes per raster.
Compressed files are similar to the run length encoded PCX files, with minor
variations. Only 4- and 8-bit files can be compressed.

bitonal image A two-color, 1-bit image, usually a line drawing such as a

floorplan or parcel map. This image type is also called binary. The background
color of a bitonal image can be transparent or solid. The foreground color can
be any color.

blank distance The distance between dashes in a dashed line.

blurring In Raster Design, a method for evenly weighing all pixels in the
kernel, including the target. This filter, while similar to Low Pass #2, gives
slightly brighter results.

blurring artifacts A loss of image detail that can occur with image
compression and resampling techniques. The symptoms include excessive
smoothness where different colors meet, color bleeding, and a loss of color
texture.

boundary See frame, image frame.

bounding outline The visible element (usually a dotted rectangle) that is

displayed when you select a region. Also called bounding box.

brightness The luminance of pixels in an image. A higher brightness value

makes all the pixels lighter.

CAD Overlay GSX and CAD Overlay ESP Previous releases of Raster Design.

CALS Acronym for the raster image format Computer Aided Acquisition
Logistics and Support. CALS files are black and white images used by the US
Government as part of the transition to electronic media. CALS images are

94 | Glossary
Fax Group IV compressed and are therefore a good way to store black and
white line drawings and scans.

channel A red, green, or blue color signal. Each Raster Design color image
is composed of one or more color channels. In a single-band 8-bit image, the
color palette translates the index triplet for each color into a value for each
color channel, with a limit of 256 total colors for any pixel. In a true color,
or 24-bit image, separate red, green, and blue data bands provide color values
to each channel, and each pixel can represent a value from 0 through 255 in
each of the three channels. The Band Assignment color map for multispectral
images assigns image bands to color channels.

clipped image An image that has been cropped or reduced in area. The
regions of the image that are outside the clip boundary are hidden from view.
You can turn off the clip or you can delete the clip to redisplay all of the image.
Unlike a crop, a clip is a display-only feature that you can use for viewing and
plotting purposes. It does not permanently change image data.

color depth The amount of information stored with each pixel to define its
color or shade. Common color depths are as follows:

Color Depth Type of Image Available Color(s)

1 bit Bitonal 1 color

8 bit Grayscale 256 shades of gray

4 bit Color 16 colors

8 bit Color 256 colors

16 bit Grayscale 65,536 shades of gray

24 bit Color 16,777,216 colors

32 bit Color 16,777,216 colors

 
color map An assignment of colors to data values for the purpose of
displaying the contents of a file in a meaningful way. Users work with two
main types of color maps. A palette color map is used with digital elevation
models (DEM) to specify whether to display surface elevations or slopes, and
how to distribute the set of colors across the range of data values. A band

Glossary | 95
 assignment color map is used with multispectral data to select the data bands
to display and to assign each band to a color channel (red, blue, or green).
Raster Design automatically assigns a color map to image files that are
inherently displayable, such as aerial photos and bitonal images.

connected crossing polygon A selection method for enhanced bitonal region

objects. This method selects all raster entities that are within the polygon,
crossing the polygon, or connected to entities that cross the polygon boundary.
In the following example, note that the text in the upper right is not selected
because it is the only entity not connected to entities that cross the polygon
boundary.

connected crossing window A selection method for enhanced bitonal region

objects. This method selects all raster entities that are within the window,
crossing the window, or connected to entities that cross the window boundary.
In the following example, note that the text in the upper right is not selected
because it is the only entity not connected to entities that cross the window
boundary.

connected entity 1. An entity that is connected to an entity that is selected

or otherwise referenced.2. A selection method for enhanced bitonal region
objects. This method selects a specified entity and all other entities connected
to it. In the following example, note that a single click on the arrow in the
upper right selects the entire connected structure except the two text entities,
which are not connected to any other entity.

96 | Glossary
connected fence A selection method for enhanced bitonal region objects.
This method selects all raster entities that are connected to any entity that
touches the selection line (fence) you draw. Entities enclosed by the fence but
not touching it are not selected. In the following example, the two text blocks
are not selected because they do not touch the fence and are not connected
to any entities that touch the fence.

connected window A selection method for enhanced bitonal region objects.

This method selects only those raster entities that are entirely within the
window you define and are not connected to any entity that extends outside
the window. In the following example, note that the arrows are not selected
because they are connected to lines that extend outside the window.

connected window polygon A selection method for enhanced bitonal region

objects. This method selects only those raster entities that are entirely within
the polygon you define and are not connected to any entity that extends
outside the polygon. In the following example, note that the arrows are not
selected because they are connected to lines that extend outside the polygon.

Glossary | 97
 continuous tone A shaded image, sometimes called halftone in traditional
printing.

convolve filter A type of image processing filter that can be used with
grayscale images for various operations, such as smoothing or sharpening the
image details.

copylast Displays the VText Edit dialog box, which contains the last text
string you placed in the drawing. You can edit the text string if needed, and
then click OK and pick an insertion point for the copy.

correlate The process of positioning an image within the AutoCAD coordinate

system so that the image dimensions and coordinates match AutoCAD units
and coordinates.

crop A selected area of a raster image. Pixel data outside the crop is deleted.
The image frame size is adjusted automatically. A crop permanently alters an
image.

data organization The method of organizing the image data when the image
is saved. The data organization can be stripped, tiled, or monolithic.

datum A reference point, line, or surface.

decrement To decrease by one.

DEM Digital elevation model. A format for recording land elevations in a

digital file. A regular grid of survey points is created over the surface, and the
elevation of each point is recorded as a floating-point number.

density The number of dots per linear unit at which an image is scanned or
created. The more dots per unit, the higher the density and clarity of detail.
Also called resolution or pixel density. See also DPI.

density units The linear units on which the image density is based. Example:
Inches are the density units of an image that was scanned at 300 dots per
inch.

98 | Glossary
density value The number of dots per unit that make up the image density.
Example: An image scanned at 300 dots per inch has a density value of 300.

deskew To rotate a raster image, usually for the purpose of aligning it

orthogonally with the AutoCAD coordinate system.

destination point The location to which you move an image. To move an

image, you must pick a source point and a destination point.

detach To completely remove an image from a drawing. To reverse a detach

operation, you must insert the image from its source. Operations similar to
detach but less permanent are erase, unload, and hide.

displace To move an image from a source point to a destination point.

display The visual output device and its technology, such as a CRT-based
display, a flat-panel display, or the graphics portion of your monitor.

display order The order in which images are displayed in AutoCAD. This
sequence determines which images are above or below other images, and
affects image visibility.

dither The process of using a pattern of solid dots to simulate more colors
than are actually available.

donut A circle with a specified linewidth.

DOQ Digital orthophoto quadrangle raster image format, used for aerial
photos that are processed to remove distortion. A typical DOQ represents one
quarter of a USGS topographic map at 1:24 000 scale.

DPI Dots per inch. A measure of image density. See also resolution, density,
PPI.

Draft An option in the Raster Design Options dialog box that does not dither
the pixels. This setting is recommended for bitonal images.

drawing image A raster file of a drawing, a photograph, a map, or a satellite

image that you can edit, manipulate, and manage using Raster Design.

drawing unit The unit on which an AutoCAD drawing is based. Example:

A common Imperial drawing unit is inches. A common Metric drawing unit
is meters.

ECW Enhanced Compressed Wavelet. A highly-compressed image format

from ER Mapper, Inc.

Glossary | 99
 edge enhancement filters Filters that improve the quality of an image by
extracting individual elements, such as boundaries and property lines. You
can also use these filters for object extraction or object recognition by
higher-level algorithms.

EISA Extended Industry Standard Architecture

Enable Mask A Raster Design option on the Image Mask Properties tab that
enables an existing mask for display. Enabling allows you to view the image
clip as defined by the image mask.

encoding Compression method that is applied to an image when the image

is saved. An encoding method can compress the image file to save disk space.

enhanced bitonal region object A type of raster entity manipulation (REM)

object that includes several lines, arcs, or circles within a bitonal raster image.
For illustrated definitions of the types of enhanced bitonal region objects, see
“connected” and “smart” in this Glossary.

equalization A function that brings out details in an image. Equalization

changes the darkest pixels in an image to black and the lightest pixels to white,
then reassigns the remaining pixels to use all of the colors in between. Also
called non-linear contrast stretch.

erase To remove an image insertion from a drawing. This operation removes

the image and frame from the drawing, removes the insertion object and its
color map from the toolspace, but leaves an unreferenced data definition in
the image data view. The color map is not erased from the image data view if
it is used by other insertions. To reverse an erase operation, do a new insertion
from the data definition object. Whether an erased image is also detached
depends on how the Image Detach Options are set on the User Preferences
tab of the Raster Design Options dialog box. See also detach.

Export A Raster Design command for saving an image to another file format
and writing out correlation for the image. The correlation stores insertion
point, scale, rotation, and density information for the image. When you export
an image, you can choose what type of correlation to create. You can save the
correlation data to a resource file, a world file, or to the image file. The type
of correlation you can create depends on the type of image being exported.

fillet A rounded corner where two lines meet. Raster Design can apply fillets
of specified radius to line intersections in bitonal images.

100 | Glossary
filter An editing tool that can be used to adjust the appearance of an image.
Example: The Invert filter reverses light and dark areas on an image. Also
called editing filter.

FLIC Acronym for the image format Animator FLIC.

follower A vectorization tool that traces raster lines in a bitonal image and
creates vectors that AutoCAD recognizes as individual objects.

foreground color The color of the raster objects in a bitonal image. The other
color in the image is the background color.

frame A rectangular vector object that encloses an image. You can select the
image frame by clicking it, or by using any AutoCAD selection method. The
image frame is an AutoCAD object that you can assign to a layer, reposition,
or scale, using standard AutoCAD methods. A frame can become an irregular
shape if the image is cropped or clipped. See also image frame.

freq value In a histogram image, the frequency value of a color or shade of

gray: the number of pixels that use the indicated tone.

Gap Width A setting that defines the maximum gap (from 0 to 10 pixels)
that Raster Design can ignore as it follows a raster line, polyline, or contour.
Raster Design ignores any gap that is equal to or smaller than the Gap Width.
This setting is useful for scanned images that have many disconnected raster
lines or in which pixels are missing as a result of imperfect scans.

geo-referenced image An image that references real-world coordinates in its

correlation source. Example: Geo-referenced images include GeoSPOT, GeoTIFF,
and images that use world files as their correlation source.

GeoSPOT An image format from SPOT Image Corporation that supports

georeferencing information.

GeoTIFF A type of tagged image file format (TIFF) that supports

geo-referencing information.

GIF Graphics Interchange Format. A raster image format created by

Compuserve.

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Computerized decision support

systems that integrate spatially referenced data. These systems capture, store,
retrieve, analyze, and display such data.

Glossary | 101
 global coordinate system A method for defining points on the earth in a
Cartesian coordinate system, taking into account the curvature of the earth's
surface.

gradient directional edge enhancement filters Filters that improve the

quality of the line where an object begins or ends by extracting individual
elements. These filters use the vector sum of the three coordinate variables X,
Y, and Z, taking into account their direction in space. You can use the gradient
directional edge enhancements filters in any one of the eight compass
directions. Use of these filters results in a black background with white outlines
of the objects in the image.

grayscale image An image usually created by a scanner in which continuous

tones are represented as uniform shades of gray. Each pixel uses eight bits of
information, producing 256 shades of gray.

grip(s) Small boxes displayed at various points on a selected object that can
be used to edit the object. Select a grip and then specify a grip editing function.

hide To remove an image from the display while retaining it in active

memory. The image frame remains visible. To reverse a hide operation, select
the image frame or the toolspace object, then right-click and select Show. See
also detach.

high pass filters A means for enhancing the edges of images. Images that
do not appear clear may also be sharpened by high pass filtering.

histogram A bar graph that shows the number of pixels for each color in the
selected image or images. An aid for image editing operations.

hybrid A type of drawing that includes both raster and vector data.

IG4 Acronym for the image format Group 4 data with IST headers.

IGS Acronym for the image format Image Systems Gray Scale.

image A graphic that is composed of raster data. See also drawing image.

image format The method in which an image was created and saved, such
as bitmap, CALS, RLC, or GIF. Some image formats, such as PICT, are read-only.

image frame A frame that encloses each image you insert (also called a
boundary). If you select an image frame, grips appear and hatch marks are
drawn over the image to indicate that you have selected it. See also frame.

102 | Glossary
Image Properties The properties of color, layer, and frame linetype settings
of each image.

image selection A collection of data treated by Raster Design as a unit.

Example: When you select an image by clicking its frame, the image moves
to the top of the display order, obscuring any vectors that intersect with it.

image unit The unit at which an image was scanned or created. Example: If
you scan an image at 300 dots per inch, the image unit is inches.

Index Color (8-bit) An image type that contains up to 256 colors.

index value The numeric identifier (0 to 255) of a color or shade of gray.

These values are used in the Histogram and the Palette Manager.

invert A filter used to reverse position, order, or relationship. Example: You

can invert the image to create a positive image. Use the Invert filter to reverse
the dark and light areas of an image.

JFIF - JPEG Acronyms for image formats created by Joint Photographics

Expert Group. JFIF is JPEG File Interchange Format. It uses a compression
scheme that gives preference to compression rather than data preservation.
Best suited for 24 bit images.

JPG2000 An advanced raster image format from Joint Photographics Expert

Group, featuring options for lossless compression, wavelet compression,
incremental decompression, and support for up to 48-bit color.

Lanczos A pixel resampling method that computes the value for a new pixel
by interpolating the value of a 6x6 block of surrounding pixels.

layout Management of images, to determine how they are displayed and in

what order they are listed in the Image Management dialog box.

linetype The display style of a line, such as continuous or dashed.

low pass filter A means of extracting individual elements in areas where

pixel intensities change rapidly, thereby reducing high-frequency detail. The
effect is a slightly blurred image.

LZW A file compression algorithm, commonly used with TIFF and GIF files.

Maintain Drawing Link A Raster Design export option that, if selected,

overrides the image you selected to export.

Glossary | 103
 mask An object used to display and plot a subset of the images in your
drawing. A mask clips the images inside the mask boundary and hides or
unloads the images completely outside the mask boundary. The mask boundary
is an AutoCAD object that you can move, stretch, scale, and erase, like any
other AutoCAD object.

median filter (Convolve Command) A filter that removes random visual

speckles from an image by changing each pixel value to match the average
value of the neighboring pixels.

merge commands Raster Design commands used to merge images, merge

vectors into raster images, and select raster pen widths.

merge images (Merge Command) To group two or more images into a single
image file.

mirror To create a new version of an existing object by reflecting it in relation

to a line or plane. Example: Scanning software might mirror a drawing, or
you might scan the back of a drawing by mistake. You can correct these
problems by mirroring the image.

Mitchell A pixel resampling method that uses a cubic spline technique. It is

widely considered to provide a good compromise between ringing and blurring
artifacts on most images. See also blurring artifacts, ringing artifacts.

monolithic Encoding method for TIFF files. Saves image data in one piece,
and may result in slower processing time. See also data organization.

multispectral image data Data recorded in the form of multiple bands. Each
band records the values in a specific range of the spectrum, such as infrared,
visible, or ultraviolet. Data gathered by satellites is typically provided in
multispectral format. A band assignment color map is used to create false color
images from these bands. The color map can be configured to highlight surface
features, such as vegetation and water.

native capture Copies a REM object using the image data directly from the
image file, ignoring display scale and rotation of objects. Used only for the
REM Copy To Clipboard command.

nearest neighbor A pixel resampling method that assigns to a new pixel the
value of the closest pixel in the original image. This is the fastest resampling
method, but it produces the crudest results.

Never Detach An option in the Raster Design Options dialog box that does
not detach an image even if all image frames that reference the image are
erased from the drawing.

104 | Glossary
node In Raster Design, a link end point that can be represented as a block
or point object. Example: You can force the line follower to ignore the
intermediate nodes and draw a single straight line between the start and end
points of a line.

noise Random pixels that can result from poorly scanned images.

non-georeferenced image An image that does not include real-world

coordinate information.

non-linear contrast stretch See equalization.

non-orthogonal image A graphic representation that intersects or lies at

angles other than right angles. Also called non-ortho image.

ortho-corrected image An image that is corrected so all pixels represent their

true locations on the face of the earth, making directions and distances
accurate. Errors resulting from parallax, lens distortion, and other causes are
corrected.

orthogonal Intersecting or lying at right angles (0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees).

palette The range of up to 256 colors used in an 8-bit image.

parallax The apparent displacement of position of an object, caused by a

shift in the point of observation.

PCX A simple run-length encoded image format.

pick < A Raster Design device for selecting points on the screen.

PICT An image format created by Apple Computer.

pixel A single dot on the screen. Pixels are the building blocks of raster
images, and are individually assigned different colors or shades of gray. Image
pixel size varies depending on the resolution of the image. A 2X2 pixel in a
400 dpi image is one quarter the area of a 2X2 pixel in a 200 dpi image.

pixel size Image density expressed as the area of a pixel, typically used with
aerial photography and satellite imagery.

PNG Portable Network Graphics. A raster image format.

positive image An image in which the light and shade areas correspond to
the original image.

PPI Pixels per inch. Also called dpi, or dots per inch. See also DPI.

Glossary | 105
 projection Data devised by cartographers and mathematicians to depict
three-dimensional shapes (like the earth) on two-dimensional surfaces with
known distortion.

quad sheet A device for reducing image file size. Many maps are broken up
into quadrants, which are square and are called quad sheets. When a group
of quad sheets is inserted into a drawing, the drawing is considered to be tiled.

raster data A series of dots, or pixels that form an image. This type of data
is produced when you scan a paper drawing, a blueprint, or a photograph. A
raster image is composed of pixels.

raster entity A series of contiguous pixels that form a single entity such as
a line, rectangle, or circle. Raster Design can recognize such entities and create
vector entities or regions that can be more easily edited than the raster
originals.

raster entity manipulation (REM) An object-oriented method of editing

raster entities in bitonal, color, and grayscale images. REM handles raster
entities much like vector objects. There are three types of REM objects: region
objects, enhanced bitonal region objects, and primitive objects.

raster impact point The point where a vector polyline intersects a raster
entity.

raster object A distinct line, circle, or arc in a bitonal raster image. Raster
objects can be vectorized or edited using raster entity manipulation.

raster pen A Raster Design tool that allows thickening of vector objects when
you merge them into the image. Thicknesses are assigned according to the
specified entity color.

raster snap (Snap Command) A setting that automatically places the cursor
at the end, center, corner, intersection, or edge points on a bitonal raster
entity. If you choose more than one snap mode, then the crosshairs snap to
the closest of the possible snap points.

resolution The number of dots per unit at which an image is scanned or

created. Example: An image scanned at 600 dots/inch (dpi) has a higher
resolution than one scanned at 300 dpi.

resource file A file used by Raster Design to store image correlation data such
as insertion point location, scale, and rotation. Resource files have a .res
extension. They can be created by the Export command and can be read only
by Raster Design. See also world file.

106 | Glossary
RFT Revisable form text.

RGB Red-green-blue color channels.

ringing artifacts A loss of image detail that can occur with image compression
and resampling techniques. The symptoms include ripples or similar
interference along edges where two dissimilar colors meet. The sharpness of
the edges is degraded.

RLC Run-Length Coding raster image format. Raster Design can read RLC1
and RLC2. RLC 1 is a plain RLC with no header. RLC2 is an RLC1 with IST
headers. See also run-length coding.

RLC2 Run-Length Coding raster image format with IST headers. See also
run-length coding.

rotation angle The angle at which an image is being revolved about its axis.

RTF Rich text format

rub To remove a line or area from an image with the Raster Design Rub
command. A rub changes the pixels in a selected area to the transparency
color. When transparency is turned on for the image, the rubbed area becomes
transparent. Rub permanently alters your image.

rubbersheet To match points in an image to known reference points in a

coordinate system by warping the image using a triangular or polynomial
transformation.

run-length coding A data compression method that replaces a run or

sequence of identical data units (such as pixels) with a single unit and the
length of the run.

saved path The image file name saved in the drawing. It can be a local path,
a network path, or an Internet address.

scale The defined dimensional relationship between units of linear

measurement on the earth’s surface and those on a map or aerial photo.

scaling A method of proportionally changing the size of a raster image in

reference to existing raster or vector entities without rotating it.

shading The use of marking made within outlines to suggest

three-dimensionality, shadow, or degrees of light and dark in a picture or
drawing. Example: You can use the sharpening filters on grayscale images to
make differences in shading more distinct. It may be necessary to use

Glossary | 107
 sharpening filters to extract the highest amount of useful data from a low-
resolution scan.

sharpening filters A device for enhancing details in images. Sharpening

filters, with the exception of the matched filters, use spatial filtering with a
3x3-pixel kernel.

Show Image Frame(s) A Raster Design option on the Image Mask Properties
tab. Shows the frames of the images that are hidden or unloaded.

SID (MrSID) Multiresolution Seamless Image Database. A highly-compressed

image format from LizardTech, Inc.

Single Image Optimization A Raster Design feature that automatically selects

your image when you run a Raster Design command that requires an image
to be selected. You are prompted to select an image only if you are working
with multiple images.

smart crossing polygon A selection method for enhanced bitonal region

objects. This method selects all raster entities that lie within or cross into the
polygon you draw. If any part of the entity crosses the polygon boundary, the
entire entity is selected. In the following example, note that the horizontal
lines and the circle are selected because they cross the polygon boundary.

smart crossing window A selection method for enhanced bitonal region

objects. This method selects all raster entities that lie within or cross into the
rectangular window that you draw. If any part of the entity crosses the window
boundary, the entire entity is selected. In the following example, note that
two horizontal lines that cross the window boundary are selected.

108 | Glossary
smart fence A selection method for enhanced bitonal region objects. This
method selects all raster entities that touch a selection polyline (fence) that
you draw. Entities enclosed by the fence but not touching it are not selected.
In the following example, the text 8.94 is not selected because it does not
touch the fence.

smart window A selection method for enhanced bitonal region objects. This
method selects only the raster entities that lie entirely within the rectangular
selection window. In the following example, the arrow and number within
the window are selected, but the horizontal lines that cross the window
boundary are not selected.

smart window polygon A selection method for enhanced bitonal region

objects. This method selects only the raster entities that lie entirely within a
polygon that you draw. In the following example, the circle and horizontal
lines that cross the polygon boundary are not selected.

Glossary | 109
 smoothing filters A device for removing details or unwanted speckles in
images. Smoothing filters use spatial filtering with a 3x3-pixel kernel.

snap window The square region, centered on the cursor crosshairs, where
entity selection can occur when raster snap mode is active; also known as the
aperture.

You can also specify minimum and maximum pixel widths to snap to. The
snap window snaps only to the bitonal objects that are between the minimum
and maximum pixel widths.

source point The location from which you move an image. To move an
image, you must select a source point and a destination point.

spatial resolution Image density expressed in pixels per unit, typically used
with scanned images.

speckle An unwanted random spot in an image. Speckles or stray pixels can

often appear in an image when you scan drawings or blueprints that are dirty
or wrinkled. You can remove speckles from your bitonal images by using the
Despeckle filter.

stripped Encoding method for TIFF files. Breaks up image data into strips for
quicker processing. See also data organization.

supported image types Raster Design supports bitonal, grayscale, and up to

24-bit color images, along with digital elevation models (DEM), multispectral
imagery, and generic integer data in 16- and 32-bit format.

TARGA A raster image format created by Truevision Inc. Usually 16-bit or

24-bit true color. Can be 8-bit grayscale or simple run-length coded.

110 | Glossary
Threshold A Raster Design operation for converting color or grayscale images
to bitonal format. Within the range of grayscale values in an image, the
threshold marks the upper limit of black pixel values and the lower limit of
white pixel values. Raster Design can set the threshold value automatically,
but you can manually adjust it before conversion, using the Threshold tab of
the Histogram dialog box.

thumbnail A miniature representation or preview of an image. Thumbnails

are used in the Raster Design Insert Image dialog box, the Histogram dialog
box, and the AutoCAD Image Adjust dialog box.

TIFF Acronym for the tagged image file format.

tiled Encoding method for TIFF files. Breaks the image data into rectangular,
tiled regions for quicker processing. See also data organization, quad sheet.

toggle To switch between two options of an electronic device, usually by

pressing a single button. Example: The Raster Design Toggle command changes
the visibility of the image frame.

transparency color A selected color that is transparent in a grayscale or color

image. If transparency is turned on for the image, all pixels of the transparency
color become transparent. Any time you use a Rub command, the color of the
rubbed area is changed to the transparency color.

true color (24-bit) image An image that can contain up to 16.7 million
colors. This image type is composed from three 8-bit data bands: red, green,
and blue.

unload To remove image data from the display and the working memory of
a drawing. The image frame remains visible, and the image object remains in
the Image Manager Toolspace tree. To reverse an unload operation, do a reload.
See also detach.

vector A mathematical object with precise direction and length, but without
specific location. Vector data is stored as XYZ coordinates that form points,
lines, areas, and volumes.

vectorize Converting a bitonal raster image to vector data. You can use the
Raster Design vectorization tools to vectorize a raster image. See also follower,
VTools.

VTools Raster Design vectorization tools used to manually convert bitonal

raster arcs, circles, lines, or rectangles to equivalent vector objects.

Glossary | 111
 VTools Removal A setting that controls what happens to the underlying
raster entity when vectorization tools are used to vectorize the raster entity.
Depending on the setting you choose, the raster entity can be rubbed or REM
deleted.

wavelet Multiple resolution image files compressed to a small fraction of

their original size.

world file A file that stores correlation information for an image, consisting
of scale, rotation, and insertion point. World files can be created by the Export
command to correlate an image in another graphics application. The world
file is in ASCII format that you can view using Notepad. World files are saved
in the folder where the image is located. Their extensions vary, depending on
file type, but always end in w. Examples:

■ BMP - bpw
■ GIF - gfw
■ IG4 - i4w
■ TIFF - tfw

X Y and Z coordinates Any of a set of numbers used to specify the location

of a point on a line, on a surface, or in space.

112 | Glossary
Index
3D Polyline Follower, vectorization tool... editing.....60
74 multispectral.....61
commands.....12, 15–16, 18, 20, 83–84
AutoCAD imaging commands.....18,
A 20
active image.....16 command line.....16, 84
AutoCAD.....18–20, 27, 42 Image menu.....12
coordinate system, correlating images Raster Design commands.....83
within.....27 Raster Design toolbar.....15
editing commands.....19 configuration of Raster Design.....11
imaging commands.....18, 20 Contour Follower, vectorization tool....74
text or Mtext, converting raster text contrast in images.....18–19, 70
to.....42 converting.....31, 40, 42, 70
AutoRub.....54 color and grayscale to binary.....70
color to grayscale.....70
image to a different format.....31
B raster text to AutoCAD text or
Mtext.....42
binary images. See bitonal images.....4 raster to vector.....40
bitonal images.....4, 34, 39–40 convolving filters.....36
making transparent.....34 correlating images.....25, 27, 29, 31
snapping to.....39 Correlation Wizard.....25
vectorizing with VTools.....40 creating correlation files.....31
boundary. See frame.....5 rubbersheeting.....29
brightness and contrast.....18, 70 using Quick Insert.....25
using the Correlation dialog box....25
C correlation files.....19, 27
inserting images.....19
capturing images.....13 cropping.....54
color.....12, 34, 36, 38, 54 transparency color.....54
changing color depth.....36
displaying in Palette Manager.....38
REM selection.....12
D
rub and crop.....54 DEM color map.....60
transparency.....34 deskew.....36
color images.....34, 70 despeckle.....52
adjusting appearance with despeckling images.....36
histogram.....70 digital elevation model (DEM) display.....
making a color transparent.....34 60
color map.....8, 26, 60–61 DVIEW command.....20
assigning.....26
DEM.....60

Index | 113
E I
editing images.....19, 36, 54, 58, 70 image.....52
AutoCAD commands.....19 despeckle.....52
color depth.....36 IMAGE command, AutoCAD.....19
filters.....36, 70 Image Manager dialog.....16
histogram.....70 Image menu commands.....12, 84
histogram editing filters.....70 image types supported.....80
image editing commands.....36 images...11, 16, 18–20, 25, 27–33, 35–36,
REM.....58 40, 54, 70, 80
rubbing and cropping.....54 attaching.....19
enhanced bitonal region object, REM..... brightness and contrast.....70
46–48 changing properties.....33
fence selection.....48 converting.....31, 40, 70
window selection.....47 correlating.....25, 27, 31
enhancing images.....36 See also correlating images.....
exporting images.....13, 31 creating new.....32
display order.....16
displaying data about.....16
F editing. See editing images.....
files.....27, 31 enhancing.....36, 70
correlation.....27, 31 exporting.....31
filters for editing images.....36, 70 inserting. See inserting images.....
histogram.....70 managing.....16, 19–20
follower tools. See VTools See also managing images.....
frame.....5, 28 masking.....35
assigning color and layer.....5 moving.....27
selecting.....28 removing raster areas.....54
rubbersheeting.....29
saving.....11, 30
G selecting.....28
selecting active image.....16
grayscale images.....4, 34, 70 supported formats.....80
adjusting appearance with tonal adjustments.....18–19
histogram.....70 vectorizing with VTools.....40
making a color transparent.....34 See also VTools.....
zooming to.....16
H imaging commands, AutoCAD.....18
inserting images.....13, 19, 24–25
Help.....3 Correlation dialog box.....25
accessing online Help.....3 correlation files.....19
histogram.....36, 70 Correlation Wizard.....25
filter.....70 from Internet.....24
tonal adjustments.....70 Insert command.....13
Quick Insert.....25
Internet.....24

114 | Index
 inserting images from.....24 pixels.....4, 34, 54, 70
inverting images.....36 changing values.....70
making transparent.....34
removing.....54
L Polyline Follower, vectorization tool.....74
Line Follower Extension (LFX) tools...41, Polynomial method, rubbersheeting.....29
74 preferences.....11
LZW compression.....80 settings in Raster Design.....11

M Q
maintaining link to image.....31 quantile distribution.....61
managing images.....16, 19–20 Quick Insert, automatic correlation
Image Manage dialog box.....16 with.....25
using AutoCAD commands.....20
managing images. See images.....16 R
mask, creating.....35
matching images.....27 raster.....4, 39, 54, 68, 70
menus, accessing commands.....12 editing.....54, 70
merging.....68 pens.....68
vector.....68 raster data definition.....4
mirroring images.....36 snapping to.....39
mouse button function, Raster Design..... text. See text recognition.....
12 Raster Design.....2, 4, 9, 11–12, 15–16, 84
moving images.....27 accessing menu commands.....12
multiline text (Mtext), converting raster Image menu commands.....84
text to.....42 new features.....2
multispectral data.....61 news group.....4
color map.....61 preference settings.....11
system requirements.....9
toolbar commands.....15
N using command line .....16
New command.....13 Web home page.....4
raster entity manipulation. See REM
objects.....58
O raster images.....48, 68
editing with REM objects.....48
Object Snaps.....21 merging vectors into.....68
online Help. See Help raster pens.....68
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) raster snap modes.....39
See also text recognition raster text, converting. See text recognition
option settings in Raster Design.....11 read-only formats.....31
Recognize Text command.....42
P See also text recognition.....42
REGEN.....20
Palette Manager.....38 region objects, REM.....44–45

Index | 115
REM objects.....43–46, 48 toolbars, Raster Design.....15
editing raster images.....48 transforming images, rubbersheeting....29
enhanced bitonal region.....46 transparency color.....34
primitive.....44 bitonal images.....34
region.....44–45 Triangular method, rubbersheeting.....29
resource files, Raster Design.....27, 31
rotating images.....27
rubbersheeting.....27, 29
U
methods for transforming image....29 UCS, rotating.....20
rubbing.....54 UNDO command.....20
transparency color.....54 limits.....20

S V
saving images.....13, 30 vector data.....5
scaling images.....27 vectorization.....6, 40
selecting images.....28 vectors.....68
separating vectors.....41 merging.....68
Shift + Left-click Image Select.....28 using raster pen widths.....68
snap modes.....21, 39 VTools.....6, 12, 40–41, 74
object.....21 configuring settings.....12
raster.....39 follower tools.....41, 74
snap window.....39 3D Polyline Follower.....74
standard deviation distribution.....61 Contour Follower.....74
system requirements, Raster Design.....9 Polyline Follower.....74
rub setting.....12
T vector separation.....41
vectorizing raster entities.....40
tables, converting text to AutoCAD text... verifying and adjusting vector entity
42 dimensions.....40
technical support.....4
text recognition.....42
converting text in tables.....42
W
tonal adjustment.....18–19, 70 Web home page, Raster Design.....4
brightness and contrast.....19 world files.....31
histogram editing filters.....70

116 | Index