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Image Document

The Image Document is the central workspace in MIB3 where datasets are displayed and interacted with. Each open dataset occupies its own document — a dockable, tabbed window within the MIB application frame.

MIB2 comparison

In MIB2 the equivalent component was the fixed Image View Panel. MIB3 replaces it with a multi-document (MDI-style) design: each dataset lives in its own document tab that can be docked, floated, or arranged in a split-panel layout side by side.

Overview

Image document view

An Image Document showing multiple overlaid layers. Navigation controls run along the bottom.

Each Image Document consists of:

  • Image view axes — the main viewing area, rendering the current slice with all visible layers.
  • Z navigation — slice controls on the left side (hidden for single-slice datasets).
  • T navigation — time-frame controls on the bottom of the panel (hidden for single-frame datasets).

The document title bar shows the set name while additionally informs about the dataset index and its filename in a tooltip upon hovering with mouse

MIB organises open datasets in a two-level hierarchy
  • A set is a named group that holds up to 10 datasets (buffers). Sets are created and managed in the Dataset panel.
  • A buffer is one of the up to 10 dataset slots inside a set. Switching between buffers within the same set is fast and does not reload data from disk.

Image document view

A context menu at the right top corner gives access to variety of options to arrange the sets including a possibility to completely undock the set from the main MIB window.

Documents can be:

  • Tabbed — stacked behind each other and selected by tab.
  • Split — tiled side by side to compare two datasets simultaneously.
  • Floating — undocked into a separate window.

Image layers

The image axes display multiple layers simultaneously:

MIB layers

  • Image — the raw grayscale or multichannel data.
  • Labels (model) — segmented materials or a difference map for correlation analysis. See Image Layers for details.
  • Mask — a binary support layer that extends operations on the Labels layer: it can be combined with materials via union, intersection, and subtraction, and it can be used to limit segmentation tools to the masked area only. The Mask is also used as a seed region for local thresholding with the BW Thresholding tool.
  • Selection — a temporary layer modified during segmentation before being committed to Mask or Labels.
  • ROI — Regions of Interest overlaid when ROI mode is active.

Adjust layer colors and transparency with sliders in the View Settings panel or via Ribbon → Home → Preferences → Colors and styles.

Z navigation (slices)

Controls for scrolling through Z-slices appear at the panel left side. They are hidden when the dataset has only one slice.

Control Action
|< First Jump to slice 1
< Prev Go to the previous slice
Z slider Drag to scrub through slices
> Next Go to the next slice
>| Last Jump to the last slice
1 Type a slice number and press Enter

Slider step size

Set step

the Z slider to open its context menu:

  • Default — reset step to 1 (normal) and 10 (Shift).
  • Set step… — enter custom step values for normal and Shift scrolling.

The same step is used by the mouse wheel and keyboard arrow keys.

T navigation (time frames)

Time slider

Controls for stepping through time points appear at the bottom right. They are hidden for single-frame datasets.

the T slider opens the same context menu as the Z slider.

Control Action
1 Type a frame number and press Enter
|< First Jump to frame 1
< Prev Go to the previous frame
T slider Drag to scrub through frames
> Next Go to the next frame
>| Last Jump to the last frame

Mouse actions

Action Effect
Move mouse Pixel coordinates and intensity shown in the Status Bar
Segmentation action for the active tool in the Segmentation panel
+ drag Pan the image
Ctrl + Erase from the current selection
Mouse wheel Change slices (scroll mode) or zoom in/out centred on cursor (zoom mode)
Shift + Mouse wheel Navigate 10 slices at a time (adjustable via slider context menu)
Alt + Mouse wheel Navigate time frames (requires Preferences → User interface → Alt with scroll wheel)
Ctrl + Mouse wheel Adjust brush / tool size by ±1
Ctrl+Shift + Mouse wheel Adjust brush with bigger increments / tool size by ±5

Mouse wheel behavior (slice scroll vs. zoom) is set in Ribbon → Home → Preferences → User interface.

Left/right mouse button swap

Pan and select operations can be swapped in Preferences → User interface → Left mouse button — setting it to Pan makes pan and select.

Important key actions

Key Action
W Zoom in towards cursor
Q Zoom out from cursor
Up Next slice
Down Previous slice
Right Next time frame
Left Previous time frame
Ctrl + F Find material index under the cursor

Customize shortcuts in Ribbon → Home → Preferences → Keyboard shortcuts.
Full list: Key and Mouse Shortcuts.

Drag and drop

Files can be loaded by dragging them directly from a file explorer onto the Image Document:

File Result
Image files A dialog asks whether to load the file as a new image dataset or as a labels model
.model files Loaded as a labels model
.mask files Loaded as the mask layer
.ann files Loaded as annotations

Back to MIB | User interface