Tiled images ============ Storing tiled images in an OME file. .. note:: This approach is still valid but has been **superseded** by the :doc:`/developers/6d-7d-and-8d-storage` solution. When you are looking at a sample that is larger than the available field of the microscope, one approach is to acquire a number of images, moving across the sample. These individual image pieces can then be joined together at a later date to form an image of the entire sample. There are two structures in the model that support the joining process: - **StageLabel** - part of Image - **Position** - part of Plane The mainstay of the OME format is the 5-dimensional pixel array. In order to maintain the integrity of this structure, the Tiling process has to be external to the Image structure. This means that you represent the Tiled image as a collection of Image elements. It is up to the software loading the OME file to interpret these individual Image elements as Tiles. Each Image element can have a StageLabel. This is a named point in the co-ordinates of the microscope reference frame. The StageLabel has a Name attribute, that can store a human-readable description of the point, as well as X, Y, and Z values for the co-ordinates. Each co-ordinate is optional so an (X,Y) position or (X,Z) position can be recorded if required. This is probably best thought of as the target location for the individual tile. During the acquisition process, the field is moved to capture each set of pixels making up a plane of an image of the tiled image. The exact location of the plane is recorded in the PositionX, PositionY, PositionZ on Plane. The Position values in Plane should correspond to the values in StageLabel but, depending on the instrument and capture method, there may be small discrepancies. .. note:: Some systems in the past have used the Time value as a place to store the tile number of an image. This not the correct approach in the OME model. .. figure:: /images/Sample2x2Images.png :align: center :alt: Tile Samples Image Tile Samples Image A sample file showing the structure is: :: 2008-03-01T18:13:51.0Z 2008-03-01T18:13:51.0Z An alternative valid form would have ``TiffData`` blocks instead of the ``BinData`` blocks. This would be used in the header of an OME-TIFF file.