ScanIt
ScanIt is a program for extracting data from scientific graphs, particularly from line and scatter plots. This task is also known as digitizing graph data.
How does it work?
Prepare your image
Obtain an image of your graph from PDF, from your scanner, or from any other source. It does not matter whether the image is captured straight; any angle in the axis will be defined in the next step...
Identify the axes
ScanIt needs you to pick two points on each axis. The zoom view will help you pick accurately. Commonly three points are picked: the intersection of the two axes and another point at each axis. Two separate points on each axis are also supported. ScanIt supports linear and logarithmic axes.
You are ready to pick points
Just click on a point to store its coordinates. A snap function will automatically move the point to the nearest cluster of pixels. Once a point is placed, it can be selected and moved around using the cursor keys.
Trace curves
ScanIt contains a curve tracer, where entire curves can be digitized by selecting only a few points (2 or more) on the curve. See the help file for more examples.
Scan for symbols
Last, but not least, tell ScanIt what one symbol looks like, and it will find them all for you, based on a goodness of match for which you get to interactively determine the offset.
Save your data
ScanIt supports multiple views, each with its own set of axis definitions. Each view supports multiple data sets. When you have harvested your data, save the document in ScanIt's open document format, export to text, or via the clipboard to 3rd party applications such as Microsoft® Excel.
System requirements:
To run ScanIt you will need Window XP, or higher.
Features:
- direct import of scanned graphs
- easy import of clipboard images (screenshots) using paste option
- supported image formats: bmp, jpeg,gif, ppm, png, tif, psd, tga, pcx
- intuitive way of defining axis
- zoom window facilitates manual picks
- automatic scan for symbols
- automatic line tracing
- data organized in sets
- export to text
- export to Excel via clipboard
- open file format (zip file containing xml and png)
Free download
ScanIt is available free of charge. You can download ScanIt for free.
Please send bug reports, comments, suggestions or just a friendly message to the authors.
Changes in version 2.08:
- Windows XP is no longer supported
- Resolved a crash on scanning symbols
Changes in version 2.07:
- Fixed issue with file dialog initial locations
Changes in version 2.06:
- Do not raise error in case autoWinSize is missing when loading document
Changes in version 2.05:
- Make sure main window is inside screen after start-up
- Compiler and runtime upgrade
Changes in version 2.04:
- Restored support for Windows XP
- Changed XML parser to RapidXML
Changes in version 2.03:
- Fixed duplicate menu mnemonics
- Added Copy All Data Sets
- Added Copy All Data Sets as Table
- Allowing for constraining the axis point to the previous axis point while setting axes, by holding down CTRL
- Changed default installation folder for current user
Changes in version 2.02:
- Fixed copy data to clipboard
Changes in version 2.01:
- Fixed crash on curve tracing
- Tigher optimization
Changes in version 2.00:
- Symbol scanner executes multi-threaded for speed
- New multi-threaded line tracer, based on selection of multiple points
- Automatic determination of default window size from radial distrubution function
- Re-implemented re-sampling; fixed problems with logarithmic axes
- Bitmap operations are multi-threaded for performance
- App styling
- New colour picker
- x64 version
- Current user installation
- Changed to UNICODE
- Code signed
- Updated framework
- New support libraries
- Removed TWAIN support
- Spell checked code
- Spell checked help
- Resolved problems typing in window size box (double key stroke processing)
Changes in version 1.07:
- fixed crash upon starting Scan For Symbols outside the bitmap
- updated JPG library
Changes in version 1.06:
- fixed crash upon using Black & White filter
Changes in version 1.05:
- .zip files are opened as .sid
- new run time libraries
- minimum system: WinXP
- corrected missing new lines in save data as text
- several fixes in image import/export routines
- updated zip utilities for file open/close
- fixed file type registration in installer and uninstaller
Changes in version 1.04:
- fixed bug on creating multiple views
- new open file format: zip file containing image.png and data.xml. Old files will still be read. Files created by 1.04 or higher will not be recognized by version 1.03 or lower.
- fixed installed to work under wine
Changes in version 1.03:
- fixed bug on save at exit (resulted zero byte file)
Changes in version 1.02:
- installer: admin rights test
- installer: check whether ScanIt.exe is loaded in memory
- installer: deal with Vista UAC prompt
Changes in version 1.01:
- compiler and runtime upgrades
- use of safe versions of string manipulations and file io
- several fixes in graphic format import/export routines
- additional error descriptions at failure of installer
Changes in version 1.00:
- GetDiskFreeSpaceEx instead of GetDiskFreeSpace in installer prevents erroneous 'Out of diskspace'
- if number of significant digits is unknown, it defaults to 3
- lists are updated after changing numeric format or number of significants
- various bug fixes in image IO routines
- more image formats supported
- resource leaks and memory leaks fixed
- crash solved when moving the mouse in a specific location
- possible division by zero fixed
- added move menus to Edit Menu