Users Guide

RasEditTake control of your raster reference files!

Version 4.0 for MicroStation/J

Axiom1805 Drew StreetClearwater, Florida 33765727-442-7774 voice727-442-8344 faxAxiomInt@AxiomInt.comwww.AxiomInt.com

Page 2 RasEdit

Copyright 2008 Axiom.All rights reserved.

This document was last modified on 14 May 2008 2:51 PM.

This software and manual are provided as is without warranty of any kind, eitherexpressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of

merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality andperformance of this program is with you. You are advised to test the program thoroughly

before you rely on it. Should the program prove defective, you (and not the seller normanufacturer) assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction. Anyliability of seller or manufacturer of this software will be limited exclusively to product

replacement or refund of the purchase price. Venue for the resolution of any disputerelated to this license or the use of this product shall be Pinellas County, Florida.

MicroStation is a registered trademark of Bentley Systems, Incorporated.RasEdit is a trademark of Axiom.

Table of Contents Page 3

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------- 5Introducing RasEdit----------------------------------------------------------------------------------5

Chapter 2 Installation----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6Before You Install ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6Typical Installation from CD -----------------------------------------------------------------------6Congratulations------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12

Chapter 3 Uninstalling --------------------------------------------------------------------13Uninstalling Axiom products --------------------------------------------------------------------- 13

Chapter 4 Quick Start ---------------------------------------------------------------------14RasEdit basics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14Demonstration versions --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14Quick Start 1 Copy Raster Area by Rectangle---------------------------------------------- 14Quick Start 2 Deskew-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15Quick Start 3 Despeckle ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 16

Chapter 5 Using RasEdit -----------------------------------------------------------------18Raster Reference File Types ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 18Loading RasEdit------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18

MicroStation versions------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18RasEdit works with MicroStation/J The RasEdit menu--------------------------------------- 18

RasEdit Toolbar------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19Select Active Raster-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19Deskew ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19Despeckle-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20Delete ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 21Move ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21Copy-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22Stamp Vector ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23Help | Contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24Help | About-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24Exit --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24

Support for MicroStations Undo or ------------------------------------------------- 24

Chapter 6 Troubleshooting--------------------------------------------------------------25Stamping CIT files --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25Still using MicroStation SE?---------------------------------------------------------------------- 25

Chapter 7 Well Make (Almost) Any Enhancements You Want---------------26

Page 4 RasEdit

Chapter 8 New Features and Fixes ---------------------------------------------------274.0a 15 May 2008 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 27

Chapter 1 Introduction Page 5

Chapter 1 Introduction

Introducing RasEditAxiom is proud to announce the release of RasEdit the easiest way to edit your rasterreference files. RasEdit keeps MicroStation users in control of their raster reference fileswith almost no training.

RasEdits features include:

Copy/Move raster data by fence or user-defined area Edit raster reference filesdirectly from within MicroStation!

Delete raster data by fence, user-defined area or brush. Stamp Vector Rasterize vector data, writing it to an attached raster reference file. Deskew Easily and automatically rotate referenced raster files to make them level. Despeckle Instantly remove speckling from your attached raster reference files.Note: New users can get started with RasEdit with little or no training!

Page 6 RasEdit

Chapter 2 Installation

Installation of RasEdit is quick and easy. Just follow the instructions below for theoperating system on which RasEdit is being installed.

Your computer must have MicroStation up and running. The plotting system should alsobe installed, configured and running.

Before You InstallThis chapter will walk you through a typical Axiom product installation. Theseinstructions apply to both MicroStation V7 and V8. V7 products are used in theexamples.

To install one or more Axiom products, you need:

The latest Axiom product CD; and A license file on floppy disk for the product(s) you are about to install.Please shut down all MicroStation sessions on your computer before continuing.

Typical Installation from CD1. Insert the Axiom product CD into your CD drive.

2. The dialog box below should come up automatically. This may take a few momentsdepending on computer and CD drive speed.

CONDITIONAL: In some cases Windows is set to suppress auto-running executables.If the installation process does not begin automatically when you insert the CD, you willneed to start the process manually. From the Windows Start Menu, choose Run andtype in the following:D:\Setup.exewhere D is your CD drive letter.

Chapter 2 Installation Page 7

3. Click the button and the first installation dialog box (below) will appear.

4. Select MicroStation V7 or MicroStation V8 and click .

5. Choose which type of installation you want to perform. The Typical installation isbest for most situations and asks the user to make very few decisions.

6. These instructions will describe only the Typical installation path. ChooseTypical and click .

Page 8 RasEdit

7. Choose the license file for this installation. Place the floppy disk that came with thisinstallation CD into your floppy drive now.

8. Choose I have a floppy disk from Axiom. and click .

Although you have already selected the MicroStation family (V7 or V8) for whichyou want to install Axiom tools, it is common for one computer to have more thanone instance of MicroStation installed on it. For example, you might have twoversions of MicroStation/J installed (07.01.04.16 and 07.02.04.20). You must choosewhich of the two you want to associate your Axiom tools with.

Chapter 2 Installation Page 9

9. Highlight the version of MicroStation you want to associate the Axiom tools with andclick .

Since this is a Typical installation, all programs for which an Axiom license wasfound will already be checked-on to be installed. Other items that are alsoautomatically checked-on for installation are the product Users Guides, individualproduct sample files and Axioms MicroStation pull-down menu.

Page 10 RasEdit

10. To proceed with default selections click .

Youve now completed the Pre-Setup.

11. Click to proceed with the installation.

Chapter 2 Installation Page 11

12. The button is grayed-out unless you accept the agreement.

If you accept the license and click , the installation will begin. You can click at any time to abort the installation.

Page 12 RasEdit

13. This is the final dialog box. It shows that the installation is complete. By default theView Readme.pdf option is toggled on and will display the Readme.pdf documentwhen you click .

CongratulationsThats it! You have successfully completed the installation of your Axiom tools.

Chapter 3 Uninstalling Page 13

Chapter 3 Uninstalling

Uninstalling Axiom productsAxiom products can be uninstalled easily through the Windows Start Menu.

1. Go to , Programs | Axiom.

2. Select Uninstall V7 products or Uninstall V8 products depending on the productsyou want to uninstall.

3. Choose Select all. or Select components to uninstall. If you choose Selectcomponents to uninstall. then each product in the list can be manually checked orunchecked. This allows for any combination of products to be uninstalled. Onlyinstalled products will be shown in the list.

Note: At the bottom of the list of products you also have the option to uninstall sampledesign files, users guides and even the Axiom pull-down menu.

4. Once youve made your selections, click the button to complete theuninstall process.

Page 14 RasEdit

Chapter 4 Quick Start

RasEdit basicsOnce RasEdit has been installed as described above, you can run it from your Axiommenu in MicroStation.

Demonstration versionsThe demonstration version of RasEdit:

Expires after 30 days. Only runs for five minutes at a time. Displays an button that you must click after a delay. The delay gets longer

each time you run RasEdit.

Only runs on design files that are 200KB or smaller.Needless to say, your permanent version of RasEdit will not have these restrictions.

Quick Start 1 Copy Raster Area by RectangleIf you can use one of RasEdits features, you can use them all. Its really quite simple.

Well get you started by showing you how to copy part of a raster reference file toanother part of that raster reference file and then undo it.

1. Open MicroStation.

2. Open the rasedit\sample\rasedit.dgn file installed with RasEdit. This is usuallyc:\Program Files\Axiom\V7\rasedit\sample\rasedit.dgn.

3. Load RasEdit from your Axiom menu. The RasEdit menu will appear onMicroStations menu bar.

4. From the RasEdit menu, choose Copy | Rectangle.

5. Using your mouse, define two corners of a rectangle in the raster reference fileattached to your design file.

6. Now choose a data point as your from location and another datapoint as your tolocation.

7. Observe that the raster data is immediately copied. RasEdit modified the attachedraster reference file.

Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 15

8. Now choose Edit | Undo copy rectangle in MicroStation or just type toundo the copy. Observe that the copy is immediately undone.

Thats all there is to copying one area of your raster file to another with RasEdit!

Quick Start 2 DeskewNow well show you how to automatically deskew (rotate) a raster reference file to makeit level.

Well start from the beginning in case youre not doing these quick starts in order.

1. Open MicroStation.

2. Open the rasedit\sample\rasedit.dgn file installed with RasEdit. This is usuallyc:\Program Files\Axiom\ V7\rasedit\sample\rasedit.dgn.

3. Notice that the attached raster file is not level. It needs to be deskewed.

4. Load RasEdit from your Axiom menu. The RasEdit menu will appear onMicroStations menu bar.

5. From the RasEdit menu, choose Deskew. A box will display suggesting a rotationthat will deskew the raster reference file.

6. Click to accept the suggested rotation angle. Now a box will display so youcan confirm the change before the raster file is modified permanently. This actioncannot be undone. Click .

7. Notice that the raster file has now been automatically deskewed!

Thats all it takes to deskew a raster reference file with RasEdit.

Page 16 RasEdit

Quick Start 3 DespeckleRasEdit can clean up stray pixel noise in your raster reference files. This ability iscalled Despeckle.

Well start from the beginning in case youre not doing these quick starts in order.

1. Open MicroStation.

2. Open the rasedit\sample\rasedit.dgn file installed with RasEdit. This is usuallyc:\Program Files\Axiom\ V7\rasedit\sample\rasedit.dgn.

3. Notice that the attached raster file is very noisy. Well fix that.

4. Load RasEdit from your Axiom menu. The RasEdit menu will appear onMicroStations menu bar.

5. From the RasEdit menu, choose Despeckle. A box will display asking you howmany contiguous stray pixels to remove from your raster file.

6. There is no right or wrong answer here. It depends on how noisy your file is. 4 (x) by4 (y) is generally considered a moderate degree of despeckling. Enter 4 in each ofthe two boxes as in the picture above.

7. Click to start the despeckling.

8. A box will display telling you how many pixels will be removed. In this case, its92,922 pixels because this file is so noisy! This action cannot be undone. Click.

Chapter 4 Quick Start Page 17

9. Notice that the raster file is now very clean!

Thats all there is to despeckling with RasEdit.

The rest of RasEdit is just as easy to use.

Enjoy!

Page 18 RasEdit

Chapter 5 Using RasEdit

Raster Reference File TypesRasEdit is certified for use with TIF and CIT* raster reference files.

While RasEdit may work well with some other types of raster reference file types, theyare not officially supported.

* An exception to RasEdits support for CIT files is Stamp, which is not designed towork with CIT files. See the Troubleshooting section of this guide for more about this.

Loading RasEditRasEdit can be loaded from the Axiom menu in your MicroStation menu bar.

MicroStation versions

RasEdit works with MicroStation/J The RasEdit menuAs soon as RasEdit is loaded, its menu appears on the MicroStation menu bar. All ofRasEdits features are available through its menu.

Chapter 5 Using RasEdit Page 19

RasEdit ToolbarThis opens the RasEdit toolbar, from which you can perform many of RasEdits mainfeatures. This guide does not describe the toolbar specifically as it is only a subset of theitems available from the RasEdit menu.

Tip: Use the menu for the more exotic RasEdit features, like Stamp Vector, as they arenot available on the toolbar.

Select Active Raster

SelectWhen your active design file has more than one raster reference file, RasEdit needs toknow which of them you want to work on at any given time. In this case, use RasEdit |Select Active Raster | Select to choose the raster reference file you want to work on.

Tip: If your active design file has only one raster reference attachment, you dont need toselect it before working on it with RasEdit.

Save AsMake a copy of RasEdits active raster reference file with this feature. This will notcreate a new raster reference file attachment, it will just create a new raster file.

[x] Also rename the reference file attachment.

If you want the existing raster reference file attachment to be modified to point at the newraster file, check on the Also rename the reference file attachment. option. If you leavethis option off, you are just creating a copy of your active raster reference file withoutchanging anything inside of your design file. Your existing raster reference file will stillpoint at the old raster file.

DeskewIf your raster reference file is not level, use Deskew to fix it.

You will be asked to choose the raster reference file you want to deskew from a list if youhave more than one raster reference file attached.

Page 20 RasEdit

RasEdit will automatically recommend a rotation angle for you. You can either useRasEdits suggestion or enter your own rotation angle.

RasEdit analyzed the raster reference file and suggested the above deskewvalue.Warning: Deskew operations cannot be undone.

DespeckleUse Despeckle to remove unwanted speckling from your raster reference files. Specklesare stray pixels or noise in a raster file.

You define a speckle as an area up to 10x10 pixels.

Before the raster reference file is actually changed, RasEdit will tell you howmany pixels will be removed.

Warning: Despeckle operations cannot be undone.

Chapter 5 Using RasEdit Page 21

DeleteUse Delete to delete pixels in your raster reference file by

User-defined rectangle Fenced area (inside of fence is used regardless of fence mode)

A rectangular brush whose size you define in this box:

Technical Note: Deleting pixels in the raster file really means turning them fromon to off in the raster reference file.

MoveUse Move to move raster data from one area in a raster reference file to another area,either in the same or another raster reference attachment.

Undo Tip: Use Undo twice to undo a Move operation.

Page 22 RasEdit

Move Rectangle

Transparent

Use Transparent if you dont want to overwrite pixels in the destination area. Think ofthis as merging the from and to raster areas.

Move Fence

In addition to having the Transparent option just like Move Rectangle above, RasEditsMove Fence can include vector data in your raster move operation.

Copy

Copy Rectangle

In addition to the Transparent and Invert options that Copy Rectangle has in commonwith many other RasEdit features, Copy Rectangle has a unique option: Copy Multiple.

Set Copy: to Multiple (not Single) to create multiple copies of the raster data inside your rectangle. A new copy will be created at every coordinate you click yourmouse. Make as many copies as you like.

Chapter 5 Using RasEdit Page 23

Copy Fence

Just like Move Fence, Copy Fence can include raster or raster and vector data. And it canrotate and scale that data during the copy operation.

Stamp VectorStamping is the process of turning vector elements drawn with MicroStation into rasterpixels in a raster reference file. This is powerful feature can significantly extend the lifeof your raster files.

Stamp Vector works on a fence that includes vector elements overlapping the rasterreference file.

The conversion from MicroStation line weight to pixel weight is controlled from theRasEdit configuration file, rasedit.ini, much like MicroStation plot drivers.

Stamp Vector prompts you with the count of vector elements it is about to stamp and letsyou choose whether to delete the vector elements after they are stamped.

Warning: Stamp Vector operations cannot be undone.

Backup Note: The original read-only raster file is saved for redundancy purposes in thelocation pointed to by the MicroStation MS_TMP configuration variable and can bemanually deleted when no longer needed.

Page 24 RasEdit

Help | ContentsThis opens RasEdits online help file, which contains the full product documentation inWindows help file format.

Help | AboutThis opens your default web browser and displays an HTML page with information aboutyour current RasEdit version.

ExitThis unloads RasEdit.

Support for MicroStations Undo or Most of RasEdits operations support MicroStations Undo. The following RasEditoperations, however, cannot be undone:

Despeckle Deskew Stamp (However, Undo will undelete any deleted vector elements that were

stamped.)

Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Page 25

Chapter 6 Troubleshooting

Stamping CIT filesRasEdits Stamp feature does not currently support CIT files. Stamp only supports TIFfiles. If you need to Stamp CIT files, contact Axiom Support for help.

Still using MicroStation SE?If you need RasEdit for MicroStation SE, please let us know. While not formallyreleased, there is a version available upon request.

Page 26 RasEdit

Chapter 7 We ll Make (Almost) AnyEnhancements You Want

RasEdit is a very powerful program. Nonetheless, we realize that you, a skilled andcreative MicroStation user, will think of ways in which it can be improved. We invite youto tell us your ideas.

For ten years weve listened to you, the skilled MicroStation professional, and haveimplemented the features youve requested. Every widely acclaimed product weve everdeveloped, including FileFixer, evolved in this manner.

Wed like to make RasEdit perform every function you could ever imagine such aproduct being able to do. We intend to make you such a satisfied RasEdit customer thatyou cant wait for the next user group meeting so you can tell your friends and associateshow much you like RasEdit and how strongly you recommend it.

Your suggestions on how to improve RasEdit are most welcome. You may email yoursuggestions to support@AxiomInt.com, or call us.

Chapter 8 New Features and Fixes Page 27

Chapter 8 New Features and Fixes

4.0a 15 May 2008Product acquired by Axiom.

Initial Axiom RasEdit for V7 release.

Important upgrade information for users of RasEdit 2.2.6 and earlier:

RasEdit now uses Axioms licensing system. This system does not include concurrent uselicensing.

RasEdit 4.0a does not support PowerDraft. This is planned for a future release.

RasEdit 4.0a installs in the Axiom directory system. It no longer installs its files inc:\rasedit\ and the MicroStation mdlapps\ directory.

RasEdit 4.0a executable files (rasedit.ma and rasedit.dll) were renamed to includeMicroStation family version in their name so they can be installed to the same directorysimultaneously. New file names are raseditj.ma and raseditj.dll.

IntroductionIntroducing RasEdit

InstallationBefore You InstallTypical Installation from CDCongratulations

UninstallingUninstalling Axiom products

Quick StartRasEdit basicsDemonstration versionsQuick Start 1 Copy Raster Area by RectangleQuick Start 2 DeskewQuick Start 3 Despeckle

Using RasEditRaster Reference File TypesLoading RasEditMicroStation versions

RasEdit works with MicroStation/J The RasEdit menuRasEdit ToolbarSelect Active RasterSelectSave As[x] Also rename the reference file attachment.

DeskewDespeckleDeleteMoveMove RectangleTransparent

Move Fence

CopyCopy RectangleCopy Fence

Stamp VectorHelp | ContentsHelp | AboutExit

Support for MicroStations Undo or

TroubleshootingStamping CIT filesStill using MicroStation SE?

Well Make (Almost) Any Enhancements You Want New Features and Fixes4.0a 15 May 2008