Split Desktop Manual

Split-Desktop Version 3.0 Help Manual

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Copyright This documentation copyright © 2010 Split Engineering, LLC. All rights reserved. Split-Desktop software copyright © 2010 by Split Engineering, LLC Split-Desktop® is the registered trademark of Split Engineering, LLC Split-Online® is the registered trademark of Split Engineering, LLC Excel® is registered by Microsoft Corporation Windows® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation

Copyright This documentation copyright © 2010 Split Engineering, LLC. All rights reserved. Split-Desktop software copyright © 2010 by Split Engineering, LLC Split-Desktop® is the registered trademark of Split Engineering, LLC Split-Online® is the registered trademark of Split Engineering, LLC Excel® is registered by Microsoft Corporation Windows® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation

Welcome to Split-Deskto Split-Desktop p 3.0!............................................................ 3.0!............................................................ ............................... 1 How to Contact Us .................. ........................... .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................ ....... 1 What do I need to get Started? .................. ........................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... .............. ..... 1 What is different in this version of Split-Desktop? .................. ........................... .................. .................. .................. .................. ........... 2

Quick Start................................................................................. ......................................... 3 1. Install.................. Install........................... .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................ ....... 3 2. Get a License.............. License....................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... .................. ........ 3 3. Run Split-Desktop............... Split-Desktop........................ .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................ ....... 3 4. Start Fresh .................. ........................... .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................ ....... 3 5. Open an Image ................. .......................... .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ........... 4 6. Delineate................ Delineate......................... .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ............. .... 5 7. Scale.................... Scale............................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................ ....... 6 8. Edit Delineations ................. .......................... .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................ ....... 7 9. Estimate Fines .................. ........................... .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ........... 8 10. Get Results!................. Results!.......................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... .............. ..... 9 11. Export Results .................. ........................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................ ...... 10 12. Save the Project........ Project ................. .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .............. ..... 11 13. Enjoy Automation................ Automation......................... .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ........... .. 11

 How Split-Desktop Split-Desktop Calculates Calculates Size..................................................... Size.................................................................................. ............................. 12 Start with Good Images......... Images .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................ ...... 12 Particle Delineation & Editing.................... Editing.............................. ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ........... .. 12 Scaling ................... ............................ .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................ ...... 12 Fines Estimation..................... Estimation.............................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................ ...... 12 Divining the Third Dimension......... Dimension.................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .............. ..... 12 The Split-Desktop Pipeline........ Pipeline ................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ........... .. 13

  Image Acquisition Acquisition Techniques Techniques ................................................. ....................................... 14 Safety First........................ First................................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ............. ... 14 Operating the Camera .................. ........................... .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................. ........ 14 Image Resolution.................. Resolution........................... .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................. ........ 14 Capture Representative Samples................... Samples............................. ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................. ........ 14 Sampling Methodology................ Methodology......................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... ......... 16 Image Scale .................. ........................... .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................. ........ 16 Image Lighting .................. ........................... .................. .................. ................... ................... .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ........... .. 19 Number of Images to Acquire....................... Acquire................................ .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. ................... ................... ......... 21

  Installing and Licensing .................................................. ................................................ 24 Installing .................................................................................................................................. 24 Licensing .................................................................................................................................. 27

Geography of Split-Desktop............................................................................................. 29 Running Split-Desktop ........................................................................................................... 29 Split-Desktop Projects ............................................................................................................ 29 Three Important Windows..................................................................................................... 30 The Display Window: Images or Results.............................................................................. 31 Images Window....................................................................................................................... 33 Layout Window....................................................................................................................... 35 Selecting Images ...................................................................................................................... 36 Printing .................................................................................................................................... 37

Working With Images ...................................................................................................... 38 Adding Images to the Project................................................................................................. 38 Image Status ............................................................................................................................ 38 Viewing Images ....................................................................................................................... 39 Delineating Images.................................................................................................................. 48 Manual Edits to Delineations................................................................................................. 50 Marking Areas of Fines .......................................................................................................... 51 Masking Parts of an Image .................................................................................................... 53 Scaling Images......................................................................................................................... 56 Selecting Image Areas............................................................................................................. 61 Editing Images......................................................................................................................... 65 Automated Image Processing................................................................................................. 70

  Estimating Fines .............................................................................................................. 72 Fines Factor ............................................................................................................................. 72

Working with Results....................................................................................................... 76  Results Options........................................................................................................................ 76 General Options ...................................................................................................................... 77 Graph Content......................................................................................................................... 80 Graph Colors........................................................................................................................... 83 Legend and Logos ................................................................................................................... 85 Text Content ............................................................................................................................ 87 Sieve Series............................................................................................................................... 90

FXO Series............................................................................................................................... 93 Reference Curves .................................................................................................................... 94 Exporting Results.................................................................................................................... 97

Organizing with the Layout Window............................................................................. 101 Anatomy of the Layout Tree ................................................................................................ 101 Selecting Images with the Layout Window......................................................................... 102 Creating the Layout Tree ..................................................................................................... 105 Adding Branches................................................................................................................... 105 Modifying and Deleting Branches ....................................................................................... 106 Adding Images....................................................................................................................... 106 Image Properties and Status ................................................................................................ 106

Scripting ............................................... .......................................................................... 107  Who Should Use Scripting? ................................................................................................. 107 Introduction to IronPython.................................................................................................. 107 Three Ways to Use Scripting................................................................................................ 107 The Interactive Python Interpreter..................................................................................... 109

Welcome to Split-Desktop 3.0! Split-Desktop is a digital image analysis tool for measuring the size distribution of  fragmented rock. Using one or more digital images as input, it produces the calculated size distribution as output.

How to Contact Us On the Web www.spliteng.com

Tucson, Arizona USA Office 110 S. Church Ave, Suite #8312 Tucson, AZ 85701 USA Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Phone: (520) 327-3773 Fax: (520) 326-7532

Santiago, Chile Office Calle General Salvo #331, Oficina 201 Casilla 16807 - Correo Providencia, Santiago ~ Chile Email: [email protected] Phone: 56-2-5978200 Fax: 56-2-5978206

What do I need to get Started? Split-Desktop can be installed from CD or from the web. The CD includes sample images and projects to help get you started. If you do not have the CD with the sample images, or if you would just rather use your own images for exploring Split-Desktop, they need to be in jpg, bmp or tif format and should adhere to the guidelines for taking good images.

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What is different in this version of Split-Desktop? If you have used previous versions of Split-Desktop, you may not even recognize this release as the same software. The user interface is totally new, and the process of  calculating size distribution results has been streamlined. Previous versions of Split-Desktop created a lot of files … and then left file management up to you. Split-Desktop 3.0 now uses a self contained project file that includes all of  your images, settings and output options. Binary files are no longer part of Split-Desktop. Delineations are simpler and usually better than in previous versions. The sometimes confusing array of delineation parameters has been reduced to one simple slider bar that will increase or decrease the amount of delineation. Scaling has been simplified and the scales are now visible in the image. You can insert one to three scales anywhere in the image, and modify or delete them later. The calculations have been improved too. Not only are they faster, but the combining formula used for merging multiple images into one result has been updated and brought more in line with the typical field practice.

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Quick Start 1. Install Install the latest version of Split-Desktop from the CD or over the Web.

Split-Desktop Installer

2. Get a License If you have already purchased a hardware key (dongle) for Split-Desktop 3.0, insert it now and skip to the next step. Otherwise, contact Split Engineering to purchase a full license or to request a free temporary demo license. Without a license, Split-Desktop will run as a viewer which does not allow you access to most of the features covered in this Quick Start.

3. Run Split-Desktop Start Split-Desktop from any of the shortcuts created by the installer. You will find them on the Windows desktop and on the Start Menu under Programs | Split Engineering.

Shortcut Icon

4. Start Fresh If you have already been using Split-Desktop, you may have changed some of the options. For the benefit of this Quick Start reset the software by doing the following:

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Start With a New Project From the menu, select File | New Project.  Reset System Options From the menu, select Tools |Options…. Ensure that only the first and last options are checked, as shown here.

Reset System Options

5. Open an Image A sample image is installed in the Samples folder, beneath the Split-Desktop installation folder. If you already have your own images of muck piles or other appropriate images, you can start with one of those instead. Open the image by dragging it into Split-Desktop, or from one the menu options.

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Sample Image Opened

6. Delineate Select Image | Delineate… from the menu. When the  Delineation Settings dialog appears, press OK .

Delineation Settings

View Delineations Right-click on the image to toggle the delineation display . You can also use the comma and period keys to toggle.

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Display Delineations

7. Scale If you are using a sample image, or any other image with red scaling balls, you can use automatic scaling to locate the scales. If that’s not the case, skip below and use manual scaling.

Automatic Scaling  For automatic scaling. select Image | Find scales… from the menu. When the Find  Scales Settings dialog appears, press OK.

Find Scales Settings

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When the scales have been located, they will appear as shown here with a length indicator and circular masks. Carefully inspect the location of the scales, and make any adjustments necessary.

Scales Found and Masked

Manual Scaling  With the scale tool you can insert one to three scales anywhere on your image where there is an object of known length. From the toolbar or from the menu with Tools | Scale tool and use the mouse to locate the two ends of the scale. You can modify the position of the scale at any time by selecting it.

Scaled Manually * You can change an image’s scales at any time. The results will be automatically updated after changes.

8. Edit Delineations Use the eraser and brush tools to manually edit the delineations. The automatic delineations from step 7 are a good start, but you will usually want to improve your results by manually editing the delineations.

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Improve Delineations with Manual Edits * You can change an image’s delineations at any time. The results will be automatically updated after  changes.

9. Estimate Fines Preview the section on estimating fines in an image. To change the image’s Fines Factor  from the default of  Medium, select Image | Properties… from the menu and move the slider bar to the desired amount. * You can change an image’s Fines Factor at any time. The results will be automatically updated after  changes.

Set Fines Factor

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10. Get Results! Once the image is delineated and scaled, you are ready to look at the results. Select the Results Display from the menu item View | Results display or from the toolbar .

Switch to Results Display

Results Display

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To modify the way results are displayed, select the menu item  Results | Results  options…. There are too many options to cover here, so see the section on Results for more information.

11. Export Results  If you are using a demo license, you cannot do this.  Excel Spreadsheet If you have Microsoft Excel installed, you can export directly to an Excel spreadsheet. The easiest way to do this is to click on the toolbar button and a new spreadsheet will pop up. You can also select the menu item  Results | Save as…, and for Save as type select Excel file. This saves the spreadsheet file first and then opens the spreadsheet with your data.

Results Exported to Excel

Copy/Paste with the Clipboard  From the menu, select Edit | Copy text or Edit | Copy graph. The text or bitmap can be pasted into any application that supports the format.

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12. Save the Project Save your Split-Desktop project with the menu item File | Save project or the toolbar button . All of the work you have done is saved in the project, plus any changes you have made to the way your data is displayed.

13. Enjoy Automation You can save some time by configuring Split-Desktop to automatically delineate and scale images when they are added to the project. This works best when you have multiple images with similar settings for delineation and finding scales. Enable automated image processing by going back to the same System Options menu we looked at before. From the menu, select Tools |Options… and selectively check the options inside Perform on added images.

Automation Options

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How Split-Desktop Calculates Size Start with Good Images Size calculation starts with one or more images of broken rock. See the section on image acquisition for information on proper photography techniques. Images can be cropped to remove areas not containing broken rock. Interior areas of non-rock are excluded from the calculation by masking them.

Particle Delineation & Editing In a partially automated step, the rock part particles in the images are delineated to create their 2-dimensional boundaries. This step is called  partially automated because the algorithms for finding particle edges have not yet advanced to the point where human editing of the boundaries is not required, or at least suggested, to provide reliable results. In addition to outlining the particle boundaries, the manual editing step should mask out any non-rock areas of the image.

Scaling Scaling requires at least one identifiable object of known size in each image. Most images should have at least two scaling objects to account for the slope of the rock pile, and as many as three scaling objects can be used to more accurately define the average planar orientation of the image.

Fines Estimation Particles smaller than a certain size can no longer be reliably delineated in an image. For the automated delineation, this size is approximately 16 square pixels. Particles below this size are lumped together as  fines. Measuring the fraction of fines in an image can be an intractable problem so Split-Desktop uses a user-defined fines estimation value.

Divining the Third Dimension The two-dimensional particle outlines are transformed into three-dimensional sieve sizes with time tested, proprietary algorithms. From there it is a simple matter to calculate the histogram frequencies of the measure sieves sizes of all particles.

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The Split-Desktop Pipeline From the operator’s perspective, getting results from Split-Desktop follows a regular sequence of steps, or  pipeline. The pipeline is shown here with both required and optional steps. The color coding is used to show the required order of the operations; the order of the operations with the same color is not important. For example, you can perform the blue colored operations in any order, but you cannot advance to the yellow colored steps until you are done with the blues.

Acquire Images

Scale

Add images to project

Edit Delineations

Reduce Resolution

Fines Estimation

Crop Image

Show Results

Delineate

Export Results

Required Optional

The Split-Desktop pipeline

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Image Acquisition Techniques Safety First Please practice common sense if working around heavy machinery that is in operation and/or if working close to muckpiles or an active face. Please obey all current safety rules and regulations! Not only the safety rules and regulations of your company, but  also of the prevailing governmental agency or authority responsible for regulating safety and health in your industry.

Operating the Camera All images should be in focus. To eliminate side-to-side distortion, all pictures should be taken perpendicular to the line of the toe of the slope.

Image Resolution In most cases you should use the highest resolution offered by your camera, and then reduce the resolution to more reasonable values if required. See the section of  limiting image resolution.

Capture Representative Samples Make sure the largest scale images really show the overall size range present. Include the patches of fines that are actually visible and not just the largest boulders or the results from the analysis may be biased toward the coarse end. You must get close enough so that the rock fragments are distinguishable in the image. The image below was taken too far away to define the particles well. Much "wasted" space in the image, i.e. space that is not going to be analyzed such as sky and foreground in front of the pile. Not only does this wasted space lack material to be sized, but this wasted space will waste your time later in unnecessary editing of the image.

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Taken too far away

Good Image…. slope angle is clear, even light with few shadows, and nice range in size

Not so good image... The one large rock leads to a biased sample

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Sampling Methodology It is important to capture your images in a systematic manner so that the calculated results truly represent the size distribution of the material of interest. Consistent methods should be applied to all samples that you collect so that you can make valid comparisons between sites of interest. Try to develop (and Split Engineering will assist you) a consistent method for acquiring images at various scales and various locations and adhere to it in order to avoid introducing artificial bias or scatter in the size information. You should make an attempt to capture images over the entire exposed surface of the pile or one continuous section of the pile with minimal overlap so that the results are not biased by omission or by repetition. Remember that only what is visible can be sized, and that the surface may hide variations of the material beneath. The outside surface of a muck pile before digging should not be used to represent the material within the pile but may be important by itself. The surface of an unexcavated muck pile may be quite different from the material within the pile that is exposed while digging. It is recommended for muck piles to let the shovel advance to about the middle of the shot before acquiring images that can be deemed representative of the blasted material. If you are only able to obtain images from the exposed surface before digging, make sure you only compare those to similar sets of data. It is probably not good practice to compare the distribution of the outside of an unexcavated pile to the inside of a partially excavated pile. The amount of fines is determined by the images at the largest scale. The distribution of  fines is calculated from the zoomed in images of fines. Make sure that the largest scale images include the patches of fines that are actually visible and not just the largest boulders or your results may be in error. You should be careful of changes in geology within the area of interest, since most investigators are interested in the size distribution within a geology.

Image Scale For material piles, you may need to take images of different scale in order to obtain a decent sample of the material: 1) Large scale including boulders and areas of fines. The horizontal length of the image should be about 20 ft (7 m). These images will contain the topsize material and will adequately sample the coarse material as well as provide indications of the large areas of  fines. 2) Medium scale of typical regions of 2 to 10 inch (5 to 25 cm) material. The horizontal length of the image should be about 8 ft (3 m). These images will provide a closer look  at the medium size material (material in size between the topsize and the fines) and will

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lower the fines cutoff value (the value at which the software stops measuring and begins to estimate). 3) Small scale which are zoomed in images of representative samples of the finer material. The horizontal length of the image should be about 1.5 ft (0.5 m). These images will try to measure the fine material to give an indication of the size distribution within the large areas of fines that may be present on the surface of the large scale images. Many zoomed-in fines images would need to be acquired to change the distribution of the entire sample, but these images can help with measuring the fines and lowering the fines cutoff value as opposed to using the fines estimation equation in the software. Take approximately equal numbers of images at each scale although if you are not interested in the size distribution of the smallest scale of material and are happy to accept a Schumann or Rosin-Rammler curve in this range, you may omit taking the zoomed-in images.

Large Scale (Far Range)

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Medium Scale (Medium-Range)

Small Scale (Zoom-in)

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Image Lighting Be conscious that shadows and direct sunlight do not interfere with the overall image appearance as heavy shadows mask particle edges. Images with uneven light (i.e. bright sunlight on one portion with a shadow cast across it) will not delineate well and may require heavy editing later. The wide range of pixel values hinders the effectiveness of the edge detection algorithms. Overcast days actually provide more consistent lighting due to fewer shadows.

 EXAMPLES The following grayscale image has distinct areas of intense light and heavy shadowing. This image will most likely not delineate well and will require more manual editing.

Poor Lighting

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The following image is better than the image above, but still has areas of uneven light. Notice the darkness below the lower scaling ball as compared to the very light looking particles in the center of the image.

Better Lighting

The image below has even light throughout the image.

Good Lighting

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Number of Images to Acquire The number of images required to calculate the size distribution of a given sample of  material is not fixed and varies from situation to situation. The number of images to acquire depends on: 1) the physical size of population of material in question; and 2) the rock size fraction that is of interest (i.e. do you need images at all three scales to calculate a complete distribution curve? Or, are you most interested in oversize and will accept an estimation of finer material?). Taking these two key issues into consideration should lead you to the correct number of  images to acquire for your sample. Contact Split Engineering to discuss methods for determining a significant sample for conveyor belt material as well as calibration for the finer, or hidden material.

 Physical Size of Material to be Measured  If what is on the surface of the material in question is deemed to be representative of the entire population of material, then images covering the entire surface area of the material should be taken. A key consideration in assessing the surface area is the homogeneity of  the material on the surface. If the entire pile looks similar in size on each exposed face, then extra images of the “same” material will probably not result in better size information. However, more images in a sample will not hurt. If the surface area does expose varying size fractions, then images of the entire surface should be acquired. Again, when imaging muckpiles and only acquiring a single set of images as a representative sample of the pile, it is recommended to acquire images after the shovel has advanced towards the middle of the pile as the surface of the blast is rarely representative of the fragmentation inside the pile.

Size Fraction of Interest As previously recommend, images should be acquired at different scales (large scale/far range, medium scale/medium range and small scale/zoom-in). This allows actual data to be measured at different scales that will eventually be merged together in one cumulative size distribution. For example, if you are only interested in oversize material, you can stand back and take large scale - far range images of the entire surface that will capture those large particles (12 inches or 30cm plus or higher). From a distance away from the pile, the Split software will not be able to detect and delineate mid-size particles (5 to 8 inches or 13 to 20 cm or so) or smaller with only the far range image and will estimate for what it cannot detect. For every scale image, there is a cut-off point where the Split imaging software cannot detect (delineate) any smaller particles. Below that point is the fines estimation.

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Depending on the scale of the image, the fines estimation may be for fairly large particles, not only the size of what is normally considered to be fines. The fines are distributed below the cutoff using a Schumann or Rosin-Rammler distribution, the slope of the curve below the cutoff is calculated from slope of the curve just above the cutoff  point. Basically, if estimation is not acceptable for smaller size fractions, acquire the medium and small scale images. The Split software will merge the entire sample together as one size distribution curve and the size cutoff and fines estimation will be lower.

 IMAGE ACQUISITION EXAMPLES

In the above image: Very large particles in this medium range image. There is no need to zoom further in and acquire another image as the particles are clear and distinguishable in the image. This image would have a rather large fines cutoff size. The image is also taken rather close to the pile, you can tell by the large change in apparent size of the two 10" balls. A better image would have been collected had the photographer, stepped further back and zoomed in.

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In the above image, far range picture captures largest particles, but loses resolution on the finer particles, particularly between the scaling balls. A medium scale image, as shown below, can be acquired without moving the scaling balls to obtain better resolution on the smaller particles. Zoom even further in to achieve resolution on the smaller particles to the bottom left of the top scaling ball. If you are happy to accept an estimation of those particles based on the slope of the curve using the large scale and medium scale images, than omit acquiring the small scale zoom-in image

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Installing and Licensing System Requirements Operating System Split-Desktop is supported on the following Microsoft Windows operating systems: • • • • •

Windows 7 Windows Vista Windows XP Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2008 (see special instructions)

 Hardware Required hardware  • •

CD/DVD drive or Internet connection for installation Free USB port for the protection key (required for the full version)

Recommended hardware  •

2 gigabytes RAM

Installing Split-Desktop can be installed with the Split-Desktop CD or with the online installer available from the company website at www.spliteng.com. To keep the online installer small for faster downloads, it does not include all of the features and pre-requisites that are available on the CD version. If you need assistance obtaining a CD or downloading from our website, please contact one of our offices.

 Installing from the CD Insert the installation CD into your CD/DVD drive. Depending on how you have Windows set up, the Split-Desktop installer may start automatically. If it does not, browse to the root of the CD folder on your computer and run setup.exe. Follow the installation wizard as directed below.

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 Installing from the Web Use any Internet browser to visit our website at www.spliteng.com . From there go to the  Downloads section to locate the Split-Desktop installer. When you have saved it to your own computer, run the setup program as directed below. The web installer does not include the pre-requisite packages that may need to be installed on your computer. If your computer requires any of these packages, the installer will attempt to download them from the Internet; therefore it is important to attempt the installation only on computers with an Internet connection. If you experience any problems downloading the pre-requisites, please contact your IT administrator to ensure that your local network is set up to allow this kind of download.

 Installation Options Your first interaction with the installer will be your opportunity to select the language. The language selected affects both the installer program and the Split-Desktop software. Currently we support  English and Spanish language options. The language of the SplitDesktop interface can be changed at any time with this option.

Select the language

After you have had the chance the read the license agreement and additional installation information in the  Readme file, you can select the destination folder of the installed software.

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Select the destination folder

Special Instructions for Windows Server 2008 Installing Split-Desktop on Windows Server 2008 may result in the error message shown below.

Error on Windows Server 2008

If this happens, first ensure that your account has administrator privileges and then start the Server Manager (Start Menu | Administrative Tools | Server Manager ). Select Features, then Add Features, and check the box for .NET Framework 3.0 Features.

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Adding .NET Framework 3.0 Features to Windows Server 2008

Continue with the wizard to install the .NET Framework 3.0 features, and then run the Split-Desktop setup program again.

Licensing A license is required to use all of the features of Split-Desktop. Without a license, SplitDesktop will run in the limited viewer mode where many of the features are disabled. To purchase a license or to request an evaluation demo, contact Split Engineering at any of the locations here.

 Hardware vs. Software License Split-Desktop licenses are delivered with either a hardware protection key, also known as a dongle, or with a Softlock activation code. The hardware key is generally the most flexible license medium because it can be moved to any computer, whereas the activation code works only on the computer for which it was generated. Not all license options are available with both types of license. The summary table below spells this all out.

Upgrade Licenses from Previous Versions Some licenses held on hardware protection keys from older versions of Split-Desktop can be upgraded to run this latest version. Plug the protection key into the computer and start Split-Desktop. You will be given instructions on how to perform the upgrade.

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 Demo Evaluation License The demo evaluation allows you to use Split-Desktop for a limited time. All of the processing features are available in the demo, but printing and exporting your results is disabled.

Summary of Licensing Options Feature Open projects View results Open new images Modify projects Save projects Print Export data (e.g. to Excel) Watermark on output Hasp hardware license Softlock license

Unlicensed Viewer Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No

Demo License Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes

Academic License Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Full License Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No

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Geography of Split-Desktop Running Split-Desktop The installer puts a shortcut to Split-Desktop on your Windows desktop. You can also run it from the Start Menu, under Programs | Split Engineering | Split Desktop 3.0 .

Split-Desktop Shortcut Icon

Selecting the Language The interface language of Split-Desktop is selectable as an installation option. To change the language after installation, select the menu option  File | Select language….

Selecting the language

Split-Desktop Projects You are always working with a project when you are using Split-Desktop. Projects include the images and their delineations, plus the various options for calculating and displaying results. When you open a project, you will see everything exactly as it looked when you saved the project. Split-Desktop projects can be shared by copying one project file ( *.desk ) and, with just a few exceptions, projects appear exactly the same to anyone who opens it, regardless of  how they’ve configured their personal copy of Split-Desktop.

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 A Project is a Disk File Split-Desktop projects are a single file which can be saved to disk and copied just like any other file. The basic operations to open and save a project are on the File menu and the toolbar, as shown here.

Basic project operations on the File menu and toolbar

 Automatically Load the Previous Project To configure Split-Desktop to automatically open the last-used project each time you execute the program, select Tools | Options… from the menu and check the box  Load  last project on startup.

When to make a new Project The maximum size of a project is limited by aspects of the operating system, such as memory consumption and the size of the disk file. The answer of when to make a new project really depends on your needs. You could possibly put all of your work in one project and use the Layout Window to help keep it organized, however that could result in a very large project. Generally, images that you want to use together should be kept in the same project. For example images that might be combined into one result or images that might be compared against each other should be kept in the same project.

Three Important Windows The Split-Desktop workspace is divided into three main windows.

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Three Important Windows in Split-Desktop

•

• •

The Display Window shows your images and results. The majority of your interaction happens here. The Images Window is a list of all images in the project. The Layout Window provides you with an optional method of grouping your images into meaningful samples.

The Display Window is always visible. You can hide the Images Window or the Layout Window – but not both – through the View menu option.

The Display Window: Images or Results This window shows the currently selected images with one of the following display types: •

 Image display - Shows selected image files as 2-dimensional photos. This is where you can edit the delineations, modify scales, and make other changes to the individual images (see Working With Images).

~or~ •

  Results display – Shows the calculated size distribution results of the selected images. See Working With Results.

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The Display Window

Switching Between Image Display and Results Display You can switch between the two displays through the View menu option or with one of  the toolbar buttons shown here.

Switch between Image Display and Results Display

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Changing the display type between  Image and Results Display does not change the current selection. The illustration below shows two images in the different display. You can switch back and forth between  Image and Results Display any number of times.

Two images, shown in Image Display (left) and Results Display

Images Window The Images Window appears as a vertical list in the upper right corner of the SplitDesktop main window. Images that are selected in this window will appear in the Display Window.

The Images Window

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The list in the  Images Window includes every image that is in the project. Each image appears once, regardless of how many times it may appear in the Layout.

Selecting Columns The left column is always the  Image column (the title appears at the top of the column) and shows a thumbnail of the image along with the image’s status indicator. This is the only mandatory column; the other eight columns listed here are optional. • • • • • • • •

 Name – The image’s display name  Fines Factor – The user-defined fines factor for the image  Results Status – The image’s status in text form Scale – Scaling information  Resolution – The number of rows & columns in the image  Modified – The date this image was last modified in this project  Added – The date this image was added to the project  File Name – The original file name of the image

To add, remove or change the order of the columns shown in the Images Window, from the menu select View | Select Images Window Columns… or right-click on the column header and select the Select columns… item.

Selecting Images Window columns

Use the button labeled <<==>> to move columns between the  Displayed and Hidden collections. To change the order of the displayed columns, select a column name in the  Displayed Columns list and use the Up and Down buttons to move its relative position.

 Image Status Each image in the Split-Desktop project has a status value that indicates whether the image is ready for use in generating results. The image status is shown as part of the image thumbnail in both the  Images Window and in the  Layout Window. You have three

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options for how the status is displayed, as shown below. To change the status display, select View | Status display options… from the menu, or right-click on any thumbnail and the same menu item will be on the popup menu.

Changing the status display – three options

Layout Window The layout window is an optional tool for organizing your images. See the section Organizing With the Layout Window for details. You can create any number of branches in its tree-like structure. The primary reason for using the layout window is to create groups for viewing results.

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