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Quick Start

Freeview can be started by invoking it from the command line. This can be done by simply typing:

freeview

You should see the freeview GUI open with a blank black box.
To load a volume, go to File>Load Volume or you can press Ctrl+O for the keyboard shortcut. Browse for the desired volume by clicking on the folder icon file_open.png and hitting "Open" once you have clicked on the volume's file name and then "OK" to load it in freeview.

You can load several other volumes the same way or you can create a new volume file by going to File>New Volume or clicking the new volume icon autofs/homes/011/cagnazzi/newvolumeicon.gif on the toolbar. Enter the name of the new volume (Note: Although this name will appear in the Volumes panel, the new volume has not yet been saved) and choose a template volume.

If you prefer to load a volume or multiple volumes from the command line, this could be done by doing:

freeview -v volumename1.mgz volumename2.mgz volumename3.mgz ...


You can explore data in a number of different viewing fields, and orientations. To see all orientations at once, including the 3D representation, choose from the toolbar on the top either 2x2 layout_2x2.gif, 1&3 layout_1n3.gif, or 1&3 horizontal layout_1n3_h.gif. To have one orientation as full screen, choose the 1x1 option layout_1x1.gif. To the right of these buttons are the buttons with which you can change the orientation: sagittal view_sagittal.gif, coronal view_coronal.gif, axial view_axial.gif, and 3D view_3d.gif.

Clicking on the volume at a certain point will move the red crosshair to that point, the coordinates of which will be given on the bottom of the window. To scroll through slices, use Page Up and Page Down on the keyboard. To zoom in and out, use the scroll button on the mouse. Or hold down the Ctrl button and left click on the volume. This will zoom into the point where you clicked. Holding Ctrl and right clicking will zoom out. To move the whole image, either click and drag using the scroll button on the mouse, or use the arrow keys on the keyboard.

In the top, left corner of the window, directly beneath the File and Edit menus you can switch between Navigate navigate.gif and Voxel Edit voxel_edit.gif modes. While in Navigate mode, you can use the mouse to move the red crosshair but not while in Voxel Edit Mode. Click on the Voxel Edit icon and a drawing toolbox appears. You can draw on the volume but in order to see what you draw, you'll want to change the Color Map option in the Volumes panel from Grayscale to Lookup Table. In this panel, you can also adjust the opacity of the drawing when its file name is highlighted or selected (useful when working with multiple volumes in the same window) and adjust the contrast of a scan volume (Window, Level, Min and Max sliding bars) as long as that volume is highlighted/selected in the Volumes Panel.

To save changes made to a volume, click on that volumes name so it is highlighted and go to File>Save Volume or click the save icon savevolumeicon.gif. If it was a new volume, never before saved, it will ask you to again enter the desired volume name. Do so (including the extension, i.e. mgz), and click OK. If it was a previously saved volume that you made changes to, it will continue saving under that original volume name. There is a blue activity bar in the bottom right corner of freeview. This shows the progress of loading and/or saving volumes. Be sure to wait until it is done saving before exiting freeview. You can also check in the terminal window for a message stating that your volume has saved successfully. Note: You can continue working and making changes while it is saving, but again, be sure to save the most updated version before exiting!

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