Copying Images to the Clipboard

Any image can be copied to the clipboard: The clipboard image format is a device-independent bitmap, and is compatible with most applications that support pasting operations.

You have two options when copying images to the clipboard. You can copy them with or without annotations.

To copy images without annotations, choose Copy Image from the Edit menu, then choose Copy Image Only as Bitmap.

To copy images with annotations (including bitmaps), choose, Copy Image from the Edit menu, then choose, Copy Image Plus Annotations as Bitmap. Note that this will copy any annotations and other graphics that are normally viewed on the image, including micron markers, line scans, point, and area scans.

Image Sizing When Pasting

When pasting images, the bitmap size is determined by the resolution of the image. A 256x256 resolution image is copied to the clipboard as a 256x256 pixel bitmap. Normally, when pasting bitmaps into other applications, the image size will be determined by mapping the bitmap pixels one-to-one with the display pixels. This will not always result in the desired size for display in the target application. Most applications, however, provide a means to resize the bitmap image. One side-affect of this is pixelization (whereby individual pixels appear as squares). The only solution is to acquire images at higher resolutions.

An additional issue occurs when annotations are copied with the image. In AugerMap, annotations (including micron markers and other overlayed graphics) are drawn as vector graphics – they retain their proper size in relation to the image. So a 12 point font appears the same size regardless of the image size (which changes when resizing the display window). However, when copying the image to the clipboard, annotations are merged into the bitmap. If you paste the image, but retain it’s “natural” size by not resizing it, annotations will appear the correct size. However, if you resize the image, all graphics are resized with the image.

The most noticeable side affect of this is the resizing of text characters, and the resizing of line widths, which can cause unwanted distortions. Note, however, that the relative position of lines, points, areas, etc., will still be correct. The only solution to this is to copy the image without annotations and graphics, and to apply these using tools provided by the application you are pasting to.