The latest version of our image analysis software is out!

Pixcavator was initially designed primarily for counting: cells, objects, and other features. Everything is designed around this task: the clickable contours, the spreadsheet, the averages of the measurements, etc. Now, more and more often we see Pixcavator used for measuring. The reason is simple. Manually measuring the area, or perimeter, of a complex object is close to impossible even if the image is clear and the object is has well defined borders.  A medical example is here and another one here.

Pixcavator captures contours of all objects – light and dark – and displays all their measurements. If, however, there is just one object but with a few holes, it is important to see that this data gives you the area of what’s inside the contour. What you frequently need instead is the area of the object,  which is

the area of what’s inside the contour – the areas of the holes.

The main new feature in version 3.2 is a step in that direction. Pixcavator now displays the two numbers above – the total area of dark and the total area of light – as percentages of the total size of the image (under Review summary, second row). So, to find the area of a dark object with light holes in it, one has to subtract these two numbers. (Caution: You have to make sure however that the holes are in the object not the background).

Download Pixcavator 3.2 here.