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how can select a region in image?

Asked by nadia naji on 2 Feb 2013

hi i need to select a region in image and then save the value of those pixels by using impixel i can choose some pixel by clicking on picture but it is bothersome and i need to select a lot of pixels some function such as imrect dose not get me the value of pixel can you help me please?


nadia naji


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2 Answers

Answer by Image Analyst on 2 Feb 2013
Accepted answer

I've posted this demo many times before, but here it is again for you. You don't really say what "save the value of those pixels" means to you. They are in a rectangular array - you can use imcrop and imwrite to save out the rectangular array or subarray, or you can get only those pixels selected in some arbitrary region into a 1D list of pixel values and then just leave it saved in the array, or save the 1D list out to a text file or a mat file. You need to be more specific in what "save" means to you.

% Demo to have the user freehand draw an irregular shape over
% a gray scale image, have it extract only that part to a new image,
% and to calculate the mean intensity value of the image within that shape.
% Also calculates the perimeter, centroid, and center of mass (weighted centroid).
% Change the current folder to the folder of this m-file.
clc;	% Clear command window.
clear;	% Delete all variables.
close all;	% Close all figure windows except those created by imtool.
imtool close all;	% Close all figure windows created by imtool.
workspace;	% Make sure the workspace panel is showing.
fontSize = 16;
% Read in a standard MATLAB gray scale demo image.
folder = fullfile(matlabroot, '\toolbox\images\imdemos');
baseFileName = 'cameraman.tif';
% Get the full filename, with path prepended.
fullFileName = fullfile(folder, baseFileName);
% Check if file exists.
if ~exist(fullFileName, 'file')
	% File doesn't exist -- didn't find it there.  Check the search path for it.
	fullFileName = baseFileName; % No path this time.
	if ~exist(fullFileName, 'file')
		% Still didn't find it.  Alert user.
		errorMessage = sprintf('Error: %s does not exist in the search path folders.', fullFileName);
grayImage = imread(fullFileName);
imshow(grayImage, []);
axis on;
title('Original Grayscale Image', 'FontSize', fontSize);
set(gcf, 'Position', get(0,'Screensize')); % Maximize figure.
message = sprintf('Left click and hold to begin drawing.\nSimply lift the mouse button to finish');
hFH = imfreehand();
% Create a binary image ("mask") from the ROI object.
binaryImage = hFH.createMask();
xy = hFH.getPosition;
% Now make it smaller so we can show more images.
subplot(2, 3, 1);
imshow(grayImage, []);
axis on;
% Display the freehand mask.
subplot(2, 3, 2);
axis on;
title('Binary mask of the region', 'FontSize', fontSize);
% Label the binary image and computer the centroid and center of mass.
labeledImage = bwlabel(binaryImage);
measurements = regionprops(binaryImage, grayImage, ...
    'area', 'Centroid', 'WeightedCentroid', 'Perimeter');
area = measurements.Area
centroid = measurements.Centroid
centerOfMass = measurements.WeightedCentroid
perimeter = measurements.Perimeter
% Calculate the area, in pixels, that they drew.
numberOfPixels1 = sum(binaryImage(:))
% Another way to calculate it that takes fractional pixels into account.
numberOfPixels2 = bwarea(binaryImage)
% Get coordinates of the boundary of the freehand drawn region.
structBoundaries = bwboundaries(binaryImage);
xy=structBoundaries{1}; % Get n by 2 array of x,y coordinates.
x = xy(:, 2); % Columns.
y = xy(:, 1); % Rows.
subplot(2, 3, 1); % Plot over original image.
hold on; % Don't blow away the image.
plot(x, y, 'LineWidth', 2);
drawnow; % Force it to draw immediately.
% Burn line into image by setting it to 255 wherever the mask is true.
burnedImage = grayImage;
burnedImage(binaryImage) = 255;
% Display the image with the mask "burned in."
subplot(2, 3, 3);
axis on;
caption = sprintf('New image with\nmask burned into image');
title(caption, 'FontSize', fontSize);
% Mask the image and display it.
% Will keep only the part of the image that's inside the mask, zero outside mask.
blackMaskedImage = grayImage;
blackMaskedImage(~binaryImage) = 0;
subplot(2, 3, 4);
axis on;
title('Masked Outside Region', 'FontSize', fontSize);
% Calculate the mean
meanGL = mean(blackMaskedImage(binaryImage));
% Put up crosses at the centriod and center of mass
hold on;
plot(centroid(1), centroid(2), 'r+', 'MarkerSize', 30, 'LineWidth', 2);
plot(centerOfMass(1), centerOfMass(2), 'g+', 'MarkerSize', 20, 'LineWidth', 2);
% Now do the same but blacken inside the region.
insideMasked = grayImage;
insideMasked(binaryImage) = 0;
subplot(2, 3, 5);
axis on;
title('Masked Inside Region', 'FontSize', fontSize);
% Now crop the image.
leftColumn = min(x);
rightColumn = max(x);
topLine = min(y);
bottomLine = max(y);
width = rightColumn - leftColumn + 1;
height = bottomLine - topLine + 1;
croppedImage = imcrop(blackMaskedImage, [leftColumn, topLine, width, height]);
% Display cropped image.
subplot(2, 3, 6);
axis on;
title('Cropped Image', 'FontSize', fontSize);
% Put up crosses at the centriod and center of mass
hold on;
plot(centroid(1)-leftColumn, centroid(2)-topLine, 'r+', 'MarkerSize', 30, 'LineWidth', 2);
plot(centerOfMass(1)-leftColumn, centerOfMass(2)-topLine, 'g+', 'MarkerSize', 20, 'LineWidth', 2);
% Report results.
message = sprintf('Mean value within drawn area = %.3f\nNumber of pixels = %d\nArea in pixels = %.2f\nperimeter = %.2f\nCentroid at (x,y) = (%.1f, %.1f)\nCenter of Mass at (x,y) = (%.1f, %.1f)\nRed crosshairs at centroid.\nGreen crosshairs at center of mass.', ...
meanGL, numberOfPixels1, numberOfPixels2, perimeter, ...
centroid(1), centroid(2), centerOfMass(1), centerOfMass(2));


nadia naji on 2 Feb 2013

i need to save the intensity of pixels in rectangle or each shape.before i use impixel function that return the intensity and position of pixels which are selected but i don't want to click for selecting the pixels because i have a lot of pixels which i should sample them is there any way to solve this problem? if i use function such as imrect or imfreehand, they give me the coordinate of rectangle not intensity of pixels in rectangle. my image are rgb.

nadia naji on 2 Feb 2013

thanks a lot i use your first idea and use imcrop function.

Image Analyst
Answer by Daniell Algar on 2 Feb 2013
Edited by Daniell Algar on 2 Feb 2013

Sounds like you want the function imfreehand.

Steve has posted about this befor, see e.g.

So has Brett,

1 Comment

nadia naji on 2 Feb 2013

no these function only return position of rectangle but i need the value of pixels in the rectangle.if i also use impixelregion i can not save the value? i need a method that can select an special area in image and save the value of pixels in it

Daniell Algar

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