Acquiring an image of your sample in INCA and being able to save it with your analysis results is invaluable, but did you know that there is a set of powerful tools linked to your image?

1.

Within the INCA software there is a set of controls for the images, that can aid both your analysis and reporting of the data collected. These controls are available in the 'Image Menu' which is accessed by right clicking on ANY of the image displays in INCA.

The 'Image Menu' gives access to the Contrast/brightness control, and the display of the Scale bar, Label and Colour scale bar on the image. The default label for an image is 'Electron Image 1'. The name can be changed by opening the INCA Project data tree and right clicking on the Electron Image Icon and selecting 'Rename'. The new image label can be displayed under the image by checking the Label item in the 'Image Menu'.

2.

The image can be exported or copied to the Clipboard from the 'Image Menu' using the export options. The file formats supported for these exports are bitmap, TIF and JPG.

3.

The image zoom is one of the extra controls that can be used either to aid data collection or enhance the reports you create. The image can be zoomed by the Zoom In and Zoom Out options on the 'Image Menu'. Alternatively, the image can be zoomed by using the wheel on top of the mouse. Simply left click on the image, to put the focus on the image, then move the wheel on the mouse to zoom the image in and out.

You can explore the rest of your image at this zoomed state by placing the cursor in the image and then holding the Crtl Key + left mouse button. The cursor icon will then change from an arrow to a hand, and the image view will then mimic your mouse movements.

Zooming in on your image in the 'Acquire Spectrum' step in the Point&ID navigator, provides a larger view of the areas and/or features of interest, this allows you to select the exact areas for analysis more precisely. The zoomed view removes the guesswork in finding the position of the centres of small particles and helps in accurately selecting the perimeters for scanning whole features. Locating the areas for analysis more precisely improves the quality of data collected, so leading to greater confidence in the results obtained.

To see more on this tip, please click here»