INTRODUCTION TO THE

ERDAS IMAGINE
WORKSPACE
eTRAINING

Introduction
Understand the basic layout of the ERDAS IMAGINE interface and commonly used tools.

Software
ERDAS IMAGINE

Transcript

0:09
Thank you for watching Introduction the IMAGINE Workspace from Hexagon Geospatial. In this
module you will become familiar with the basic layout of the ERDAS IMAGINE interface and see where
to find commonly used tools.

0:21
This is the ERDAS IMAGINE interface. Designed with the user experience in mind, tools are
organized in dynamic tabs along an easy to use ribbon interface. Lets take a closer look.

0:33
First lets understand the basic layout of the workspace. In the upper right is the Quick Access
Toolbar. This toolbar is easily customized to contain the tools you use most often. Youll see later that
these tools will remain available as you click though other tabs on the ribbon.

0:48
Below the Quick Access Toolbar is the File tab. The File tab contains functions that allow you to open
layers, save layers, set user preferences and several other tools.

0:58
Along the top of the interface is the Ribbon. All major functionality available in ERDAS IMAGINE can
be found along the ribbon. Tools are organized in tabs and as you click on a tab, new tools become
available. The tabs are dynamic and will change based on the active layer in the Contents pane. Well
look at this in more detail in a minute.

1:18
The Contents pane shows you all viewers and data you have open in the Workspace. It will report the
type of viewers open and the order the data is displayed within each viewer.
 Introduction To The IMAGINE Workspace

1:28
Below this is the Retriever pane. This pane is use to create a shoebox file that provides quick access
to project specific data. Once a shoebox is created and displayed in the Retriever pane, you can use a
simple drag-and-drop to load data from the retriever to the viewer.

1:45
Along the bottom is the Status bar. In the left and center of the Status bar, youll see coordinates
reported based on the cursor location over data displayed in the viewer. You can also use this to
define an elevation source and report an elevation value with your coordinate display. Finally, use the
far right to change the rotation of the data in the viewer.

2:05
In the upper right of the viewer is a Pushpin button. Any pane that contains a pushpin can be
undocked from the main workspace and arranged on your computer desktop to your preference.

2:15
Finally, this large area is the viewer. There are several view types available in ERDAS IMAGINE. The
viewer displayed here is a 2D viewer. Its currently open, but empty, ready to load data. Lets take a
minute to understand the ribbon in more detail.

2:31
The ribbon provides access to all major functionally available in ERDAS IMAGINE. Tools are
organized in dynamic tabs. The tabs are organized into groups. Each group contains a set of related
tools with the group name underneath. This highlighted group is the Edit group.

2:48
Groups can be displayed in two ways depending on the amount of space available. Groups can be
expanded as you see here, with all tools in the group visible. Or, groups maybe collapsed. A
collapsed group with only show the group name with an icon and an arrow indicating there are more
tools available. Click on the collapsed group to display the tools.

3:08
Some tools and commands have menus. A small arrow indicates a menu is available. Click the tool or
command to open the menu. Now lets open the software and see some common tools and functions.

3:21
First, lets load an image into the viewer.

1. From the file tab, select Open > Raster Layer.

2. This opens the Select Layers to Add dialog box.

3:32
Use this dialog to navigate to the directory containing your data and select the file to load. Here well
use tm_00.img.

3. Before clicking OK, click the second icon from the right along the top.

3:45
This icon, Set Default Data directory, will set the current data directory as the default. Each time you
open the Select Layers to Add dialog, it will automatically take you to this location. You can use the
icon to the right of this in the same way, to set the default output directory.
 Introduction To The IMAGINE Workspace

4:03
There are two other tabs in this dialog. The Multiple tab defines how the software will treat multiple
files loaded in the viewer. By default theyre treated as independent files. You can also set Virtual
Mosaic so the software treats them as if they are a single, mosaicked image. You can also choose
virtual stack. Here well leave the default.

4:23
Well see more about the Raster tab a little later.

4. For now, click OK to load the image in the viewer.

4:29
The image is loaded in the viewer using the settings defined in the Preference editor. This image, a
Landsat image with 7 bands and 30 meter resolution, has been loaded at a 1:1 viewing ratio with a
near infrared band combination. With this display, vegetation is various shades of red, bare ground is
cyan and water is black.

5. Right click in the viewer to open the Quick Access menu.

4:51
This menu puts common function at your fingertips.

6. Select Fit to Frame to see the full extent of the image in the viewer.

5:00
Now lets work with the zoom and pan tools.

7. From the Quick Access menu click the Open Layer icon.

8. Select a high resolution image from the data directory.

9. For our example use seattle_wv-2.img and click OK to load it in the viewer.

5:15
This image is a WorldView 2 image with 8 multispectral bands having a resolution of 1.66 meters and a
panchromatic band with .5 meter resolution. This has a much higher resolution than the Landsat image
so we can see much more detail.

10. From the Extent group on the Home tab, click Fit to Frame to see the full extent of the image.

5:35
Easily zoom in and out of the image using your mouse wheel. Scroll forward to zoom in and backward
to zoom out. There are also zoom tools available in the Extent group on the Home tab.

11. Activate the Zoom In tool and move the cursor to the viewer.

12. Draw a box around an area to zoom in.

13. Activate the Zoom Out tool and draw another box in the viewer to zoom out.

6:02
The zoom in and out tools each have drop down arrow with additional options, including zoom in or out
by 2 or zoom in or out by a defined amount. The Previous Extent button will step you backwards to the
last zoom level and view extent.
 Introduction To The IMAGINE Workspace

14. Use the zoom thumbwheel in the Scale and Angle group to interactively zoom in and out of the
image.

6:29
You can also Pan the image in multiple ways. Select the Pan tool from the Extent group. You can use
this tool with a simple click and drag to move around the viewer. With this tool active, you can also
click once in the viewer to start virtual roaming. Your cursor will turn into four arrows. If you are at full
extent, zoom in. Move your mouse in any direction to roam though the image. Click again to turn off
the virtual roam.

6:55
Your middle mouse button can also be used without activating the Pan tool with a click and a drag to
move throughout the viewer at any time. Now lets load multiple viewers.

7:05
Here we have the Landsat image loaded in a 2D viewer.

15. From the Window group, click Add Views to expand the menu and select Display Two Views.

7:15
A second viewer is added to the workspace. We can also see the second view in a Contents Pane.

16. Click inside 2D View #2 to make sure its the active viewer.

17. Then, from the Quick Access Toolbar, click the Open Layer icon; change the File of Type to All
Raster Formats.

7:37
The File of Type acts as a filter, only showing files with the defined extension in the File Chooser
window. By selecting All Raster Formats, all raster files are visible.

18. Select seattle_WV-2.img and open the Raster Option tab.

7:53
With this tab, you can change the raster display type, band combinations, and other options.

19. Select Fit to Frame, and click OK.

8:03
The image is loaded into the viewer at full extent. Often, this is the preferred method for loading an
image into a viewer.

20. To change the User Preferences, select File > Preference.

 Introduction To The IMAGINE Workspace

8:15
The Preference Editor has multiple categories listed in a tree structure on the left. After a category is
selected on the left, the individual preferences are listed on the right. The default category is User
Interface and Session. The first preferences listed are the default data and output directory which we
change earlier. Notice the dots that are added both the tree structure and next to the preferences,
indicating a change has been made to the default setting.

21. Expand the View category and select Viewer.

22. Add a checkmark next to Fit to Frame.

23. Click Save and Close the dialog.

8:49
Now add a second image to viewer #2.

24. From the Quick Access Toolbar, click Open Layer. For our example, select tm_00.img.

25. Use Raster Options to uncheck Fit to Frame. This will ensure we remain at the extent of the
Worldview image.

26. Click OK.

9:08
In the Contents Pane, click and drag seattle_wv-2.img above tm_00.img to bring it to the top of the
viewer. In the Extent group, expand the scale menu and select 1:100,000 to set the scale.

27. Click inside Viewer #1 to make it active.

28. From the Extent group click Fit to Frame.

29. Change the band combination of this image by selecting the Multispectral tab.

30. In the Bands group, each of the color guns used to display the image can be seen.

31. Change the layer next to Red to 5, Green to 4, and Blue to 3.

9:52
Its easy to see that changing the band combination highlights different feature in the image. This band
combination, known as TM False Natural Color, helps identify different vegetation types, and
differentiate snow from water and bare ground and urban development.

32. Change the band combination back to the original display.

33. In the Contents pane, select seattle_wv-2.img to make it the active layer.

34. In the Bands group, use the Sensor Type drop down to select WorldView-2 Multispectral.

10:32
With a sensor defined, predefined band combinations are available.

35. Select TM-Style False Color IR. We now see a display like the Landsat image.

36. To save the session, select File > Save As > Session.
 Introduction To The IMAGINE Workspace

10:50
The session file will save the entire workspace, including open viewers, data, and view extent.

37. Provide the session with a name and click Save.

38. In view #2, use the small X in the upper right to close it.

39. From the Home tab, select Clear View in the View group to clear all data from the viewer.

11:16
Thank you for watching this eTraining Module from Hexagon Geospatial. For more eTraining, please
visit hexagongeospatial.com/eTraining.