User’s Guide — RasterDgn

Chapter 1 — Installation

Introducing RasterDgn

Axiom is proud to announce the release of RasterDgn, the easiest way to edit your color, grayscale and monochrome raster reference files — without leaving MicroStation. RasterDgn keeps MicroStation users in control of their raster reference files and requires virtually no training.

Features and Benefits

RasterDgn’s features and benefits include:

• Copy/Move/Delete raster data by fence or user-defined area — Edit color and monochrome raster reference files directly from within MicroStation! Even copy/move raster data between raster reference files attached to your DGN file.

• Deskew — Easily and automatically rotate color and monochrome raster reference files to make them level.
• Despeckle — Instantly remove speckling from monochrome raster reference files. Works on entire raster file, fence or user-defined block.
• Stamp Vector — Rasterize vector data, writing it to a color or monochrome raster reference file. Supports fence area, user-defined block and selection sets.
• Edit — Easily edit a raster reference file attachment in the external graphics program of your choice.
• Crop — Crop the entire raster reference file (or just place a clipping boundary on the reference attachment). Supports fence area or a user-defined block.
• Resize Canvas — Easily add working area to your raster file. Changes raster file’s dimensions without scaling the image.
• Undo — Support for MicroStation’s Undo ({Ctrl-Z}) to undo your raster file modifications

Note: See the “New Features and Fixes” section of this guide for a complete description of the latest enhancements!

Chapter 2 — Installation

Before you install

This chapter will walk you through a typical Axiom product installation. These instructions apply to both MicroStation V8 and V10. Microsoft Office Importer for V8 and V10 are used in these examples, but you can use these instructions for other tools and multi-tool installers for both MicroStation V8/XM/V8i and V10.

To install one or more Axiom products, you need:

• The Axiom product’s downloaded setup program; and
• A license file for the product(s) you are about to install.

Please shut down all MicroStation sessions on your computer before continuing.

Typical installation

• Double-click on the Axiom product’s setup program.
• A box similar to the following will appear.

For questions about which type of installation is best for you, please call Axiom Support at 727-442-7774 or e-mail Support@AxiomInt.com.

• Choose which type of installation you want to perform. The “Typical” installation is best for most situations and asks the user to make very few decisions.

These instructions will cover only the “Typical” installation path. Choose “Typical” and click {Next}.

• Choose the license file for this installation. Click on “I have a license file somewhere else.” And press {Next}.

• Browse to the “axiom.lic” file wherever you have it saved and click {Open}.
• The licenses contained in your chosen license file will display in the next box (not shown here). Click {Next}.
• It is common for one computer to have more than one instance of MicroStation installed on it. For example, you might have two versions of MicroStation V8 installed or one V8. If prompted, click on the version of MicroStation you want to associate your Axiom tools with and click {Next}.

Note: Be sure to choose a MicroStation V8 installation if you are installing V8 Axiom tools and a MicroStation V10 installation if you are installing V10 Axiom tools.

Be sure to choose a MicroStation V8 installation if you are installing V8 Axiom tools and a MicroStation V10 installation if you are installing V10 Axiom tools.

• Since this is a “Typical” installation, all programs for which an Axiom license was found will already be “checked-on” to be installed. Other items that are also automatically “checked-on” for installation are the product User’s Guides, individual product sample files and Axiom’s MicroStation pull-down menu.

• To proceed with default selections click {Next}.

Note: Once you reach this point in the setup, you cannot go back to an earlier step. But you can press {Cancel} and start over if you need to change an earlier selection.

• The {Next} button is grayed-out unless you accept the agreement.

• If you accept the license, please choose “I accept the agreement.” And then click {Next}.
• This is the final confirmation box before the installation occurs. If everything looks okay, press {Install}. You can click {Cancel} at any time during the installation.

• Your installation is complete. By default the “View Readme.pdf” option is toggled on and will display the Readme.pdf document when you click {Finish}.

Congratulations

That’s it! You have successfully completed the installation of your Axiom tools.

Chapter 3 — Uninstalling

Uninstalling Axiom products

Axiom products can be uninstalled easily through the Windows® Start Menu.

1. Go to {Start}, Programs | Axiom.
   • Select “Uninstall V7 products”, “Uninstall V8 products” or “Uninstall V10 products”, depending on the products you want to uninstall. The uninstall process is consistent for all three MicroStation families.
   • Choose “Select all.” or “Select components to uninstall.” If you choose “Select components to uninstall.” then each product in the list can be manually checked or unchecked. This allows for any combination of products to be uninstalled. Only installed products will be shown in the list.Note: At the bottom of the list of products you also have the option to uninstall sample design files, user’s guides and even the Axiom pulldown menu.
   • Once you’ve made your selections, click the {Uninstall} button to complete the uninstall process.

That’s it! You have successfully completed the uninstallation of your Axiom tools.

Chapter — Quick Start

RasterDgn Basics

Once RasterDgn has been installed as described above, you can run it from your Axiom ribbon in MicroStation. When you do, you’ll see a RasterDgn toolbar. We’ll be using three RasterDgn tools:

• RasterDgn Deskew
• RasterDgn Resize Canvas
• RasterDgn Copy

Demonstration Versions

The demonstration version of RasterDgn

• Expires after 30 days.

• Only runs for five minutes at a time.
• Displays an <OK> button that you must click after a delay. The delay gets longer each time you run RasterDgn.
• Only runs on design files that are 200KB or smaller.

Needless to say, your permanent version of RasterDgn will not have these restrictions.

Quick Start Instructions

These three quick starts are intended to be run together and in order.

Introduction

If you can use one of RasterDgn’s features, you can use them all. It’s really quite simple. We’ll get you started learning RasterDgn by deskewing a 24-bit (16 million color) TIFF attached to a design file.

Quick Start 1 — RasterDgn Deskew

RasterDgn Deskew easily and automatically deskews (rotates) a raster reference file to make it level.

1. Open the RasterDgn sample design file “Axiom.dgn” in MicroStation. This file is installed with RasterDgn. It is usually:

c:\ProgramData\Axiom\V10\RasterDgn\Sample Files\Axiom.dgn

1. Notice that the attached 16 million color raster reference file (“Axiom.tif”) is not level.
2. Load RasterDgn from your Axiom menu. RasterDgn’s menu and toolbar will appear.
3. From the RasterDgn menu, choose “Deskew”. This box will display and RasterDgn Deskew will immediately scan the raster reference file to determine its skew angle. In this case, the result is -5.140501 degrees:

   
   

1. Enter a data point with your mouse to accept the suggested rotation angle.

The raster file has now been deskewed! That’s all it takes to deskew a raster reference file with RasterDgn. The next step is to trim the raster file with RasterDgn Resize Canvas.

Quick Start 2 — RasterDgn Resize Canvas

RasterDgn Resize Canvas lets you interactively change the dimensions of a raster reference file without scaling the image in that file. This means you can add empty working area to a raster reference file or you can crop it.

1. Choose “Resize Canvas” from your RasterDgn menu in MicroStation. The following box opens:

   
   

We’re going to resize the raster file interactively instead of entering pixel values in that box. Float your mouse over the raster reference file. It should look like this:

1. Notice those arrows. Click and drag on any of them to extend or reduce that raster file border. In this case, move the left and bottom arrows inward and upward until the picture in your raster reference file is rectangular again.
2. Push <Apply> in the RasterDgn Resize Raster tool settings box. Your raster reference file will then look like this:

   
   

Your raster reference file has now been automatically deskewed and interactively cropped with RasterDgn! Next we’ll copy some raster data from it to instantly create a new raster reference file.

Quick Start 3 — RasterDgn Copy

RasterDgn Copy makes it easy to copy raster data (pixels) from one part of a raster reference file into another. It can even copy pixels between raster reference files just as easily. Or you can create a brand new raster reference file from the copied pixels.

1. Choose “Copy” from your RasterDgn menu in MicroStation. The following box opens:

   
   

1. Put a check mark next to “Create new raster file”. Note that this will un-check “Resize canvas as needed” as the two options are mutually exclusive.
2. Place two points in the raster reference file to define a block (rectangle) that you’d like to copy raster data from.
3. Now place a point to copy from and then a point to copy to. Make sure your point to copy to places your chosen pixels outside your raster reference file so your new raster reference file isn’t overlapped by the old one.

A brand new raster reference file is created from the pixels you chose!

You’re done! That’s how easy it is to use RasterDgn. The rest of RasterDgn is just as easy to use.

Please explore RasterDgn’s various tools to see all the ways it can help you.

Enjoy!

Chapter — Supported File Types

Supported Raster File Types

The following types of raster reference files are known to work well with RasterDgn:

On Raster File Type/Compression Combinations: All listed file types have been tested with all listed compression types and all listed color depths but not necessarily every combination of those compression types and color depths.

Despeckle Note: You can only run Despeckle on monochrome (1bpp) raster files.

Unsupported and Partially Supported Raster File Types

The following raster reference file combinations are known to be unsupported or only partially supported by RasterDgn. This is due to MicroStation’s lack of internal support for writing to those types of raster files.

Although this table lists tested compression types, it is likely that any of the specifically mentioned file types are unsupported at their specified color depths, regardless of compression type.

What about other raster file types?

RasterDgn may work well with file types, compression types or color depths not listed in this guide. As we certify support for other file types, we will update this guide.

Adding Support for Other Raster File Types

If you need support for some combination not listed here, please email your request to Support@AxiomInt.com along with sample files.

MicroStation Version Support

RasterDgn supports raster reference files attached to the following file types in the noted MicroStation versions:

Chapter — Using

Loading RasterDgn

Load RasterDgn from the Axiom menu in your MicroStation menu bar.

Load RasterDgn by pressing its button on the Axiom ribbon tab in MicroStation. The RasterDgn toolbar will display.

MicroStation Version Compatibility

RasterDgn works with MicroStation V8.5 (2004 Edition), V8.9 (XM) and V8.11 (V8i).

RasterDgn works with MicroStation V10 (CONNECT Edition) Update 1 and Update 2.

The RasterDgn Menu

As soon as RasterDgn is loaded, its menu appears on the MicroStation menu bar and its toolbar loads.

The RasterDgn Toolbar

Tip: If you push the button in RasterDgn’s toolbar, RasterDgn exits. That button does not just close the toolbar.

Menu or Toolbar Optional

You can control whether RasterDgn loads the menu, the toolbar or both on startup. Go to RasterDgn’s Settings box via the menu or the toolbar button to control this.

Table of Features on RasterDgn’s Menu and Toolbar

The following table shows what features are available on the RasterDgn menu and the RasterDgn toolbar, including their toolbar icons.

How Shared Tool Settings Are Documented

Many of RasterDgn’s tools share some settings. For example, RasterDgn Copy and Move are nearly identical. Rather than document every single setting redundantly, we document shared settings one time and in one place, their own chapter. This prevents duplication and errors and, we hope, makes this guide much easier for you to use.

The documentation for each of RasterDgn’s tools starts on the next page. Shared tool settings are not included there. The documentation for shared tool settings is located in the next chapter, which is named “Shared Tool Settings”.

Get help by using the {?} button.

Every RasterDgn tool settings box contains a {?} button for getting help with that tool. Push {?} to open RasterDgn’s documentation (in PDF form) to the exact page which describes that RasterDgn tool. For example:

Example of the {?} “help” button from the RasterDgn Stamp tool settings box

RasterDgn Copy

!Unexpected End of Formula

Use RasterDgn Copy to copy raster data (pixels) from one part of your raster reference file to

• Another part of that raster reference file or

• Another raster reference file entirely or
• A brand new raster reference file, created automatically by RasterDgn.

RasterDgn Copy also supports copying vector data with your raster data.

Shared Tool Settings

RasterDgn Copy shares some tool settings with other RasterDgn tools. To avoid redundant documentation, all shared tool settings are documented one time, in the “Shared Tool Settings” section of this guide.

Color Depth Note

When copying data between raster reference files, both files have to have the same color depth. When this is not the case, RasterDgn will display an error message.

RasterDgn Move

!Unexpected End of Formula

Use RasterDgn Move to move raster data (pixels) from one part of your raster reference file to

• Another part of that raster reference file or
• Another raster reference file entirely or
• A brand new raster reference file, created automatically by RasterDgn.

RasterDgn Move also supports moving vector data with your raster data.

Shared Tool Settings

RasterDgn Move shares some tool settings with other RasterDgn tools. To avoid redundant documentation, all shared tool settings are documented one time, in the “Shared Tool Settings” section of this guide.

Color Depth Note

When moving data between raster reference files, both files have to have the same color depth. When this is not the case, RasterDgn will display an error message.

RasterDgn Delete

!Unexpected End of Formula

Use RasterDgn Delete to do the following in a raster reference file:

• Delete raster data (pixels) in a user-defined area.
• Delete raster data (pixels) and vector data (elements) in a user-defined area.
• Add a clipping mask (hiding pixels) in a user-defined area.

Shared Tool Settings

RasterDgn Delete shares some tool settings with other RasterDgn tools. To avoid redundant documentation, all shared tool settings are documented one time, in the “Shared Tool Settings” section of this guide.

• RasterDgn Crop

!Unexpected End of Formula

Use RasterDgn Crop to crop your raster reference file. Or use it to mask the reference file attachment, which won’t change the actual raster reference file.

RasterDgn Crop has no effect on vector elements. This is a subtle way in which it differs from RasterDgn Delete.

Technical Note: RasterDgn will automatically turn on the “Clipping” property in the raster reference file attachment if you perform a RasterDgn Clip on that attachment. If RasterDgn didn’t do this, it would incorrectly appear that RasterDgn’s clipping operation was unsuccessful.

• Shared Tool Settings

RasterDgn Crop shares some tool settings with other RasterDgn tools. To avoid redundant documentation, all shared tool settings are documented one time, in the “Shared Tool Settings” section of this guide.

• RasterDgn Deskew

!Unexpected End of FormulaIf your raster reference file is not level, use RasterDgn Deskew to fix it. In the picture above, RasterDgn automatically analyzed the raster reference file and determined the exact angle by which it was skewed.

• Skew Angle

This is an option button. The choices are

• Calculate automatically: The default. RasterDgn will scan the entire raster file and automatically calculate its skew angle.
• Define by 2 Points: Use this to define your raster’s skew angle with two data points.
• Enter manually: Enter a skew angle between –10 and 10 degrees and RasterDgn will use that value to deskew the raster file.

• Pivot Corner

This is an option button. It defines the corner around which the raster file will be deskewed. Its four choices are listed clockwise:

• Left-Top
• Right-Top
• Right-Bottom
• Left-Bottom

• Shared Tool Settings

RasterDgn Deskew shares a tool setting (Canvas Color) with other RasterDgn tools. To avoid redundant documentation, all shared tool settings are documented one time, in the “Shared Tool Settings” section of this guide.

• RasterDgn Despeckle

!Unexpected End of Formula

Speckles are stray pixels or “noise” in a raster file. Use RasterDgn Despeckle to remove unwanted speckles from your monochrome raster reference files. You can define a speckle as being as small as 1x1 pixels and as large as 10x10 pixels. Despeckle works on the entire raster file, a fenced area or a user-defined block (rectangle).

• Shared Tool Settings

RasterDgn Despeckle shares a tool setting (Mode) with other RasterDgn tools. To avoid redundant documentation, all shared tool settings are documented one time, in the “Shared Tool Settings” section of this guide.

• Clipped Speckles

RasterDgn Despeckle ignores speckles which are hidden from display by clipping boundaries and masks.

• RasterDgn Stamp

!Unexpected End of Formula

Stamping is the process of turning vector elements drawn with MicroStation into raster pixels in a raster reference file. RasterDgn Stamp can significantly extend the life of your raster files.

Stamp works on a fence, block, selection set or all vector elements overlapping the raster reference file.

RasterDgn Stamp may seem simple but it’s actually quite powerful and intelligent.

• ???? Delete original elements

Turn this checkbox on to have Stamp delete the stamped vector data (elements) when it is done stamping them into the raster reference file. On by default.

• Shared Tool Settings

RasterDgn Stamp shares a tool setting (Mode) with other RasterDgn tools. To avoid redundant documentation, all shared tool settings are documented one time, in the “Shared Tool Settings” section of this guide.

• Technical Notes on Stamp

Here are a few important things that are special about how Stamp operates:

• Be aware of the state of the MicroStation preference “Workspace | Preferences | Operation | Optimized Fence Clipping” when using RasterDgn Stamp. If that preference is checked on, MicroStation will convert elements clipped by RasterDgn Stamp into closed elements when possible. When turned off, MicroStation will not try to convert those clipped elements into closed elements. If the elements being clipped are filled, it’s probably a good idea to turn this MicroStation preference on.
• When Mode = All or Fence, Stamp only works on elements displayed in the view in which you selected the raster file to process. If you cannot see it, it won’t be stamped. So, for example, if you have a level turned off, those elements won’t be stamped. View area is not important but things like displayed levels in that view are important.
• When Mode = All or Selection and user elects to “Delete original elements”, RasterDgn deletes displayed elements overlapping the raster area, truncating them at the raster boundary.
• When Mode = Fence and user elects to “Delete original elements”, RasterDgn deletes displayed elements overlapping the fence by truncating them at the boundary of the fence, not at the raster boundary.
• When Mode = All or Selection, Stamp prompts you to select the raster reference file, even if you only have one raster file attached. This prevents premature stamping and an inability to change Mode from Selection or All to anything else.

Stamp Settings

You can control the pixel weights and the look of raster line “styles” in the RasterDgn Settings box, documented later in this guide.

• RasterDgn Edit

!Unexpected End of Formula

Use RasterDgn Edit to edit your raster reference file in a graphics program outside MicroStation.

• Tell RasterDgn When You’re Done Editing

When you are done editing the raster reference file in your external program, press the {Continue} button shown below and the modified raster reference file will be reloaded into your DGN file.

Push {Continue} when you’re done editing the file in your external program and RasterDgn will reload the modified raster file into your DGN.

Technical Details: Why is the {Continue} button necessary? RasterDgn asks you to tell it when you are done editing the raster file in your external program because many external programs do not lock the file in a standard way, so RasterDgn cannot reliably detect automatically when you are done editing them. Doing this ensures you do not edit the raster file simultaneously using RasterDgn and your external program, which could result in some of your modifications being lost.

• Action

This is an option button with two choices:

• Open in associated program: The default. The raster reference file will be opened by whatever program its file extension is associated with in Windows.

• Open with…: RasterDgn will open the Windows “Open With” box, from which you can choose which program you want to open the raster reference file with.

• RasterDgn Resize Canvas

!Unexpected End of Formula

RasterDgn Resize Canvas is remarkable! It lets you add blank working area to your raster reference files by changing their dimensions without scaling them. This makes your working “canvas” bigger. Or, if you wish, you can use Resize Canvas to make it smaller, effectively cropping the raster file.

• Shared Tool Settings

RasterDgn Resize Canvas shares a tool setting (Canvas Color) with other RasterDgn tools. To avoid redundant documentation, all shared tool settings are documented one time, in the “Shared Tool Settings” section of this guide.

You can enter the pixels by which to increase or decrease the dimensions of your raster reference file or you can use the following arrows to do this interactively. Just press {Apply} when you’re done with either method.

RasterDgn Resize Canvas does not do any scaling of the raster data, it just changes the canvas size, up or down.

And when dealing with non-monochrome raster files, the “Canvas Color:” button displays automatically, allowing you to choose a fill color for any newly created canvas area.

Technical Note: Resize Canvas does partially overlap RasterDgn Crop functionality-wise. They can both decrease the dimensions of a raster reference file without scaling it down, which is the definition of cropping. But their purposes are really quite different: Resize Canvas is really for making your raster file bigger without scaling it up. And Crop can also optionally just clip your raster reference file instead of cropping it, leaving the actual raster file unchanged.

Tip: If you want to crop your raster file by a certain number of pixels, use Resize Canvas and type in negative pixel values.

• RasterDgn Raster Scratch Area Attach/Detach

!Unexpected End of Formula

RasterDgn’s Raster Scratch Area tool will create a temporary raster reference file attachment. It will be detached automatically when you close your design file. Or you can detach it yourself from the RasterDgn menu or Raster Manager or by placing another temporary attachment with RasterDgn’s Attach Scratch Area tool.

• How it Works

This temporary raster reference file will use an existing raster reference file chosen by you interactively as a template/seed for color depth, type, compression method, display settings and more. And you enter your desired dimensions and placement corners. Unless you choose other dimensions, the temporary raster reference file’s dimensions will match your template raster reference file.

You can Copy and Move raster data freely between the raster scratch area and other raster reference files with RasterDgn. Just be sure the two raster reference files have the same color depth and that those raster files are attached with the same affinity and rotation.

Use Raster Scratch Area when you need a temporary working area for your raster data juggling but don’t want to or cannot use your production raster reference attachments.

Warning/Reminder: Be sure not to leave your only copy of raster data in one of these temporary raster reference files when you close your design file or you’ll lose that data.

• Convert Read-only Attachments

The Convert Read-only Attachments command does two things:

• It converts all attached “Intergraph TIFF” format raster reference files (used by I/RAS B) into non-proprietary TIFF files that software other than I/RAS B (such as RasterDgn) can edit.
• It turns the Read-only flag off in MicroStation’s Raster Manager box (File | Raster Manager) for all possible raster reference attachments.

• Change Settings…

This opens the RasterDgn Settings box, which is documented elsewhere in this guide.

• Help | Contents…

This opens RasterDgn’s online help file, which contains the full product documentation in Windows help file format.

• Help | About…

This opens your default web browser and displays an HTML page with information about your current RasterDgn version.

• Exit

This unloads RasterDgn.

• — Shared Tool Settings

• Settings Used by Multiple RasterDgn Tools

The following tool settings are shared by RasterDgn tools. They’re documented here once for all the tools which use them.

Tool Setting	Copy	Move	Delete	Deskew	Despeckle	Stamp	Crop	Resize
Mode	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A
Method	N/A	N/A	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes	N/A
Modify	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fence Mode	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Rotate	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
X Scale	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Y Scale	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Canvas Color	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes
???? Resize canvas as needed	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
□ Create new raster file	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
□ Merge pixels	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

• Mode (Various tools)

Mode defines how you select the raster (and sometimes vector) data you want to process with RasterDgn. The choices for Mode are

• All: (Stamp, Despeckle) Default setting. Your operation will apply to the entire area of the raster reference file you choose, not to a user-defined block, fence or selected elements.

• Block: (Copy, Move, Delete, Despeckle) Default setting. You will be prompted to enter two points on your raster reference file to define a block of raster data (pixels) to process.

After you use a tool in Block Mode, you will be prompted to use the tool again and again. Block is simple and easy to use. Block operations work only on raster data (pixels) and ignore vector elements.

• Fence: (Copy, Move, Delete, Despeckle, Stamp) Fence is more advanced than Block and is usually used with an already-placed fence. If no fence already exists, RasterDgn will prompt you to place a rectangular (“block” type) fence. To use other fence types, such as Circle or Shape, place your fence before choosing a RasterDgn tool.

One benefit of Fence over Block is that you can predefine a complicated fence of any type (Block, Shape, Circle or Element) and use that with RasterDgn. Another benefit of Fence over Block is that Fence allows you to include vector data (elements) in your RasterDgn Copy/Move/Delete operations.

Fence Tip: If you don’t create your fence before choosing a RasterDgn tool (Copy/Move/Delete/Stamp and Mode = Fence) that tool will only run one time so that it leaves your fence intact, in case you still need it. You can still reuse the tool with Mode = Block or re-run the tool to, say, run it again with the same fence but a different Fence Mode setting.

If you don’t place a fence before choosing a RasterDgn tool, you can run that tool repeatedly, placing a new rectangular (inside only) fence each time. Just like Mode = Block but with vector data (elements) included.

• Selection: (Stamp only) Select the elements you want to stamp into your raster reference file before you choose the Stamp tool. You will not be prompted to select elements after choosing Stamp because MicroStation’s element section tool would need to be activated, which would then close the RasterDgn Stamp tool.

• Table of Mode Choices

This table lists the RasterDgn tools that share the Mode option button. Each bold item is the default choice for that tool.

Mode	Copy	Move	Delete	Despeckle	Stamp	Crop
All	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes	Yes	N/A
Block	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Fence	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Selection	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes	N/A

• Method (Delete tool)

Method defines whether the actual raster file will be modified (Method = Delete) or whether it will only appear to be modified by modifying the raster reference file attachment information in your design file (Method = Clip Mask). The choices for Method in Delete are

• Delete: The default. Pixels inside the area defined by the Mode tool setting will be deleted from the raster reference file. If Modify = Raster and Vector then raster data included in the fence (take careful note of the Fence Mode you use) will also be deleted. Fence Mode has no effect on which pixels will be deleted.
• Clip Mask: The area defined by the Model tool setting will be masked in the raster reference file attachment in your design file. The actual raster file will not be modified.

• Method (Crop tool)

Method defines whether the actual raster file will be modified (Method = Crop File) or whether it will only appear to be modified by modifying the raster reference file attachment information in your design file (Method = Clip Boundary). The choices for Method in Crop are

• Crop File: The default. The raster reference file’s border will be cropped (deleted) along the rectangular area defined by the Mode tool setting. Raster file dimensions will change.
• Clip Boundary: The rectangular area defined by the Mode tool setting will have a clipping boundary applied to it. Its dimensions will appear to change in your design file but the raster reference file will not actually change.

• Table of Method Choices

This table lists the RasterDgn tools that share the Method option button. Each bold item is the default choice for that tool.

Method	Delete	Crop
Delete	Yes	N/A
Clip Mask	Yes	N/A
Crop File	N/A	Yes
Clip Boundary	N/A	Yes

• Modify (Copy, Move, Delete tools)

Requires: Mode = Fence

RasterDgn’s Copy, Move and Delete tools always apply to raster data (pixels.) Modify controls whether those tools also process (copy, move or delete) the parts of vector elements that exist inside the area being processed. The choices for Modify are

• Raster Only: The default. Only raster data (pixels) will be affected. Vector elements will be ignored.
• Raster and Vector: Raster data (pixels) and vector elements (or portions of them) will be affected.

Technical Note: Modify doesn’t apply to Stamp because Stamp’s input is only vector data (elements), never raster data (pixels).

• Table of Modify Choices

This table lists the RasterDgn tools that share the Modify option button. Each bold item is the default choice for that tool.

Modify Choices	Copy	Move	Delete	Crop
Raster Only	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Raster and Vector	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

• Fence Mode (Copy, Move, Delete tools)

Requires: Modify = Raster and Vector

RasterDgn’s Copy, Move and Delete tools always process the raster data (pixels) inside the user-defined area being processed. When you want RasterDgn to copy, move or delete raster and vector data (elements) — by setting Modify = “Raster and Vector” —Fence Mode lets you control which vector data (elements) to include in your fence and how much of each element to process in the case of elements overlapping your fence.

For more on MicroStation’s fence modes, see MicroStation’s help.

The idea is to use Fence Mode when you want to copy, move or delete vector data along with your raster data and the vector data is partially or totally outside the fence.

Fence Mode only applies to vector data (not raster). To enable Fence Mode, set Mode to Fence and Modify to “Raster and Vector”.

• Table of Fence Mode Choices

This table lists the RasterDgn tools that share the Fence Mode option button. Each bold item is the default choice for that tool.

Fence Mode	Copy	Move	Delete
Inside	Yes	Yes	Yes
All other standard MicroStation Fence Modes	Yes	Yes	Yes

• Rotate (Copy, Move tools)

Use this to rotate the raster or vector data in your RasterDgn Copy or Move operation by multiples of 90 degrees.

X Scale (Copy, Move tools)

Use this to scale (resize) the raster or vector data in your RasterDgn Copy or Move operation.

• Y Scale (Copy, Move tools)

Use this to scale (resize) the raster or vector data in your RasterDgn Copy or Move operation.

• Canvas Color (Copy, Move, Delete, Deskew, Resize tools)

This is a button with two choices:

• Automatic: The default.
• Manual: If you choose Manual, a color picker button will appear, with a color displayed inside it. Pushing this colored button brings up a box in which you choose the color RasterDgn will use to fill in any newly created raster canvas area, voids created by Move and Delete and triangles created by Deskew.

• Technical Notes on Canvas Color

There are a few things you should know about when and how the Canvas Color option is displayed and how its RGB values are stored:

• The Canvas Color option only applies to multi-tone raster files so it is disabled until you choose an appropriate raster file to apply the current RasterDgn tool to. If you choose a monochrome (1 bit per pixel) raster reference file, Canvas Color will remain disabled.
• RasterDgn will save your chosen RGB values to its settings file (.INI) for greater-than-8bpp rasters. Since each 8bpp raster file has its own color palette, there is no use in RasterDgn saving or using saved RGB values for 8bpp rasters. And RasterDgn stores one set of RGB values for all the tools that have the Canvas Color option. This way a user can have access to his preferred RGB values everywhere in RasterDgn.
• The Canvas Color settings are shared between all the RasterDgn tools that use it, so if you set it to Manual in one tool, it’ll be set to Manual in the other tools which include it.

• ???? Resize canvas as needed (Copy, Move tools)

This is a checkbox. The choices are

• On: The default. If some (but not all) of the raster data you are copying or moving falls outside the destination raster file’s area, RasterDgn will automatically add empty raster area (“canvas”) to that raster file so your copied/moved raster data fits completely inside it.
• Off: If some (but not all) of the raster data you are copying/moving falls outside the destination raster file’s area, RasterDgn will ask you if you want to resize the raster file so the copied/moved data fits completely inside it.

Tip: Don’t forget that RasterDgn allows you to copy and move raster data between two raster reference files.

• □ Create new raster file (Copy, Move tools)

This is a checkbox. The choices are

• Off: The default. If all (not just some) of the raster data you are copying/moving falls outside the destination raster file’s area, RasterDgn will ask you if you want to create a new raster file from that data and will prompt you to name the file and choose a folder for it.
• On: Any raster data being copied/moved will be placed in a new raster file which RasterDgn will ask you to name (and choose a folder for) and then automatically attach for you.

• □ Merge pixels (Copy, Move tools)

This is a checkbox. The choices are

• Off: The default. All existing pixels in the destination area will be erased by the RasterDgn Copy or Move operation, being totally replaced with the raster data (pixels and blank space) from the source area.
• On: All existing pixels in the destination area will be commingled with the pixels from the source area. Mostly for use with binary raster reference files.

• — RasterDgn Settings

• The RasterDgn Settings Box

You can open the RasterDgn Settings box

• With “Change Settings…” on the RasterDgn menu in MicroStation or

• From the “Change settings” button on the RasterDgn toolbar.

You open the RasterDgn Settings box from the “Change settings” button on the RasterDgn toolbar.

• Getting Help

Each Settings category has its own {Help} button. Push any of these {Help} buttons to open the RasterDgn manual (in PDF form) right to the page describing that Settings category.

• Settings: Interface

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• On startup

This is a radio button set which lets you control whether to open the RasterDgn toolbar, menu or both when RasterDgn starts. The choices are

• Create menu: Show RasterDgn’s menu, not its toolbar.
• Create toolbar: Show RasterDgn’s toolbar, not its menu.
• Both: Show both toolbar and menu.

• ???? Display confirmation boxes

This checkbox is on by default. This setting exists so RasterDgn power users can reduce the number of clicks needed to get their work done. If you turn it off, some of RasterDgn’s confirmation boxes will not be displayed. For example, the box in which RasterDgn Despeckle gives you the count of speckles to remove right before the operation is performed.

• Block/fence border color

This defines the color of the border displayed by RasterDgn tools that support Block or Fence modes. It defaults to the closest color to yellow (RGB 255, 255, 0) it can find in the active color table at the time default settings are restored or established.

• Settings: Backup

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When creating a backup file, RasterDgn uses the raster file’s original name and adds the suffix “-backupn”. Where ‘n’ is a number starting at “” (blank) for the first backup, ‘2’ for the second backup and so on. Raster reference files are backed up only the first time RasterDgn modifies them in a session. The session ends when RasterDgn is unloaded (exited), not when another design file is opened.

RasterDgn never overwrites an existing backup file. When a backup of some raster file already exists, RasterDgn creates a new backup file and increments the backup number suffix in its filename.

If RasterDgn is set to work on a copy of the file rather than the original, there is not necessarily any need to backup the original file. This applies only to Resize Canvas, Edit and Crop tools. See “File Names” settings category for more.

Large Raster Files Note: Backing up a very large raster reference file can delay file modification for some seconds. But it doesn't affect subsequent operations once the backup is made.

• Settings: File Names

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RasterDgn Crop, Edit and Resize Canvas are special features. Due to the way MicroStation’s “undo” system is designed, raster reference files which are externally cropped, edited or resized by RasterDgn must be renamed when the modifications are made in order to make those modifications undoable.

When you choose “Create a copy of original raster file. (Supports Undo.)” then raster reference files modified by that command (Crop, Edit or Resize) do not need to be backed up. The copies of your raster reference files will have a suffix of “-resizedn” added to their file names. For example, the file “raster.tif” cropped twice would first be renamed “raster-cropped.tif” and then “raster-cropped2.tif”.

If you choose “Modify original raster file. (Makes Undo impossible.)” then those raster reference files will be backed up since it will be the original files that will be getting modified.

Tip: If you don’t want the names of your attached raster reference files to change (suffixes like “-cropped” or “-resized2” added to copies of them and the original files left unchanged), choose “Modify original raster file. (Makes Undo impossible.)” But please ensure you leave the “Backup original files before modifying.” Setting turned on in the “Backup” settings category in this case unless you really don’t want RasterDgn to make backups of any kind.

• Settings: Stamp

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• Line Weights

Here you control how RasterDgn Stamp simulates MicroStation line weights in the raster file. Each Line Weight in MicroStation (0 to 31) will be drawn in the raster reference file using the pixel width (number of pixels) shown in the Pixel Width column.

For example, by default a weight 0 element will be drawn 1 pixel wide in the raster reference file and a weight 9 element will be drawn 10 pixels wide. Change the Pixel Weight values to get the pixels widths you need in your raster reference files.

• Line Styles

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Here you control how RasterDgn Stamp simulates MicroStation line styles using pixels in the raster reference file.

• Mapping MicroStation Line Style to Pixel Style: How it Works

You can define a different pixel pattern for each of MicroStation’s eight basic line styles. The value before the first comma specifies the length of the first dash in the raster file. The second value specifies the length of the first space and so on.

• Custom Line Styles

For custom line styles, Stamp doesn't use this style table. Instead, Stamp converts custom style elements to vector primitives (in memory only) and stamps those primitives into the raster file.

• Settings: Scratch

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When creating a temporary raster scratch attachment (RasterDgn | Raster Scratch Area | Attach), RasterDgn places that new raster file in whatever location you specify here. Please choose a folder to which you have write privileges.

• — Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why Doesn’t RasterDgn Provide Every Single Feature That MicroStation’s Raster Manager Provides?

RasterDgn and MicroStation’s Raster Manager actually have very different purposes and are not the same animal. The differences are:

• MicroStation’s Raster Manager is for attaching raster reference files to your active DGN file and manipulating the way raster references display in the design file they’re attached to.
• RasterDgn picks up right where Raster Manager ends. RasterDgn is for actually editing those attached raster reference files. So most of the things RasterDgn can do, Raster Manager just can’t do because the two tools don’t have the same purpose.

Nonetheless, it is reasonable for new RasterDgn users to wonder if RasterDgn will be a total replacement for Raster Manager. There is actually no technical barrier preventing this from happening — it would be relatively easy for RasterDgn to completely duplicate Raster Manager and act as its complete replacement. But would that be the greatest good for RasterDgn’s users? We don’t think so.

For example, why doesn’t RasterDgn have a button for creating a new raster reference attachment? MicroStation’s Raster Manager can do it, why not RasterDgn?

The answer is that it’s all about keeping RasterDgn easy to use. This is a usability choice made by RasterDgn’s design team. A big part of keeping RasterDgn easy to use — and easy to learn — is keeping its toolbar and menu uncluttered.

It would be easy at first to take most or all of Raster Manager’s features and squeeze and cajole them into RasterDgn. But we believe the result would be a Frankenstein monster that lacked focus and was difficult to learn and use.

Instead, we listen carefully to our customers and only duplicate MicroStation’s built-in functionality when our users really need it or when it can be integrated into RasterDgn with little added complexity for users. Good examples of this are RasterDgn’s “Clip” and “Mask” boundary options. MicroStation already lets you do these two things, but it’s possible to add them as options to RasterDgn’s existing Crop and Delete tools without introducing undue complexity for users. It’s a great fit so RasterDgn and Raster Manager overlap in that small way.

So please keep your suggestions coming — we want your input.

• Does RasterDgn work in MicroStation/J (V7)?

No. If you need a raster reference file editor for MicroStation V7 (J or SE), please check out Axiom’s RasEdit, a powerful, easy-to-use monochrome-only raster reference file editor.

RasterDgn supports both monochrome and color raster reference files but is available only for MicroStation V8 and for MicroStation V10, not V7.

• Why doesn’t the “Canvas Color” option always display?

The Canvas Color option only applies to non-monochrome raster files so it is disabled until the user chooses a grayscale or color raster reference file.

• Why do some commands take two undo operations to be completely undone?

This applies to Deskew, Despeckle, Stamp, Edit, Crop and Resize (not Copy, Move and Delete). The first Undo list entry is for RasterDgn’s detection of the raster reference file’s polarity. The second Undo list entry is for the actual Resize operation.

The RasterDgn tools that don’t create this second Undo event (Copy, Move and Delete) are the ones which only process a portion of the raster file, not the entire file. The tools which process the entire raster file deal with MicroStation’s Undo system in a different way which makes it so we cannot merge our two actions into one Undo event.

• — Tips

• RASDGN_DISABLE

RasterDgn 8.5a for V8 introduced the ability to disable items on its menu and toolbar. To do this, create a MicroStation configuration variable (Workspace | Configuration… in MicroStation) named “RASDGN_DISABLE” and give it a value that is a comma-separated list of the names of the RasterDgn commands you want to disable. The command names of the commands to use with this configuration variable are:

Copy, Move, Delete, Deskew, Despeckle, Stamp, Edit, Crop, Resize, Convert

Command names must be spelled exactly as above, not abbreviated. They are case-insensitive. Quotes are not supported.

Menu and toolbar items will be disabled, not hidden.

Administrators who want to lock this variable so it cannot be changed by users can use MicroStation’s %lock workspace configuration file directive.

• — Troubleshooting

• Our Goals

We want this Troubleshooting section to be comprehensive. As a result, we’ve even listed things that no customers have ever reported, just in case you encounter them and turn to this guide for help. So just because a problem is listed here does not mean it is serious or that many people will ever encounter it.

• V8i & XM: Wrong polarity of pixels after editing monochrome TIFF

If you find that the pixels you are manipulating with RasterDgn are having their polarity reversed, check the state of your MicroStation configuration variable “MS_RASTER_TIFFINVERT”, located under Workspace | Configuration… | Raster in V8i and XM (and not present in V8 2004 Edition)Configuration Variables | Raster. This should be set to ‘0’ or undefined in most, perhaps all, cases.

MicroStation V8i describes this variable as follows:

MS_RASTER_TIFFINVERT: If defined and set to a value other than 0, inverts the foreground/background color allocation of monochrome tiff files as soon as the raster is attached.

• V8i: Hang-ups using RasterDgn in MicroStation V8i

If MicroStation V8iV10 hangs up while you are using RasterDgn, please turn off the MicroStation preference Workspace | Preferences | Raster Manager | Display Raster Using an Independent ProcessFile | Settings | User | Preferences | Raster Manager | Use Independent Process for Display. This MicroStation feature was added in MicroStation V8i, so earlier MicroStation versions do not have this problem.

• Which MicroStation versions have this issue?

This has been observed in MicroStation V8i 08.11.05.17 and MicroStation 10.0.0.25. A future release of MicroStation may fix this problem.

Technical Details: This preference only exists in MicroStation V8i (not V8.5 and not XM) and MicroStation V10. It causes the MicroStation function mdlRaster_bitmapSet() to misbehave. Here is a link to a discussion group in which Bentley recommends turning this same preference off to handle a raster display problem: http://communities.bentley.com/forums/thread/59290.aspx

And here is a Bentley discussion mentioning that disabling that MicroStation V8i preference can produce performance gains:

http://communities.bentley.com/products/geospatial/desktop/w/geospatial_desktop__wiki/8466.dgn-with-raster-images-attach-crash-hang-or-raster-image-does-not-display

XM-only: Trouble with Redo in MicroStation XM

We’ve encountered an intermittent problem in-house where MicroStation’s “Redo” ({Ctrl-R}) fails in MicroStation XM. It appears this is due to an XM-only MicroStation bug. If you encounter any Redo problems (with or without ) in MicroStation XM, please let us know at Support@AxiomInt.com so we can report your difficulty to Bentley’s support staff.

• XM-only: Text always displays as “filled” in XM even if the Fill view attribute is turned off. RasterDgn Stamp, however, honors the Fill view attribute.

This means that, due to this MicroStation XM idiosyncrasy, Stamp may produce a different result (fonts not being filled in the raster file) than what you see on the screen before the Stamp (fonts filled). To get around this, turn on the Fill view attribute before running Stamp. This is Axiom case 7386. It remains to be seen whether this is a MicroStation XM bug or a feature so we’re interested in your input. Just email Support@AxiomInt.com to weigh in. Depending on user feedback, future versions of RasterDgn may be changed to behave like MicroStation XM in this regard.

• XM-only: Stamp doesn’t work on a recently attached raster reference file attachment unless you wait a few seconds after attaching it.

It takes a little while for MicroStation XM or V8i to fully register the existence of a new raster reference file attachment and to make it editable by RasterDgn. The current solution is to wait a few seconds after un-checking “Read-only” on a recently attached raster reference file attachment in MicroStation’s Raster Manager. You’ll usually notice the raster reference file blink, after which you can use Stamp. This problem also doesn’t occur if you reopen the design file after attaching it before running RasterDgn Stamp on it. This is logged as Axiom case 7373. MicroStation V8.5 does not have this problem. We hope to find a way to work around this MicroStation XM/V8i problem eventually but we’d like to hear from you if you’re running into it. Just email Support@AxiomInt.com.

• Unexpected Copy/Move results between two raster reference files due to mismatched raster affinity or rotation

When copying or moving data between two raster reference files, be sure they have identical Rotation and Affinity settings or you will likely get strange looking results. To check this, go to “File | Raster Manager” in MicroStation. From there, double-click on the attachment and either choose the Location tab or the “Geometry” group (depending on your version of  MicroStation). Then note the Rotation and Affinity values. Here’s an example:

The values are not important. What’s important is that both raster reference file attachments have identical Rotation values to one another and identical Affinity values to one another.

• — We’ll Make (Almost) Any Enhancements You Want

• We Welcome Your Suggestions

RasterDgn is a very powerful program. Nonetheless, we realize that you, a skilled and creative MicroStation user, will think of ways in which it can be improved. We invite you to tell us your ideas.

For over twenty years we’ve listened to you, the skilled MicroStation professional, and have implemented the features you’ve requested. Every widely acclaimed product we’ve ever developed, including FileFixer, evolved in this manner.

We’d like to make RasterDgn perform every function you could ever imagine such a product being able to do. We intend to make you such a satisfied RasterDgn customer that you can’t wait for the next user group meeting so you can tell your friends and associates how much you like RasterDgn and how strongly you recommend it.

Your suggestions on how to improve RasterDgn are most welcome. You may email your suggestions to Support@AxiomInt.com, or call us.

• — New Features and Fixes

• 10.0a — 28 September 2016

New: This is the first release of RasterDgn for MicroStation CONNECT Edition (V10)!

• 8.8a — 25 November 2015

New: Added support for Windows 10!

New: To prevent files from being quietly redirected to the “VirtualStore” folders of Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, RasterDgn and its installer have new default locations for the following files:

• License files (“axiom.lic”) now get installed to “%programdata%\Axiom\”.
• Settings files (“<product>.ini” and “settings.dat”) now default to “%appdata%\Axiom\V8\<product>\”.

• 8.7h — 22 August 2014

Changed: The “File Names” settings category contains three pairs of radio buttons. Changed their default values:

Old default: Create a copy of original raster file. (Supports Undo.)

New default: Modify original raster file. (Makes Undo impossible.)

• 8.7g — 11 April 2014

Fixed: The demonstration version would not run on some DGN files even though they were under its maximum file size limit.

Fixed: Delete or Move in a CIT file would sometimes create black rectangles.

• 8.7f — 25 April 2013

Fixed: White boxes were sometimes created in the raster file during a Delete or Move operation.

• 8.7e — 7 September 2012

This is a PowerDraft-only release.

New: Updated Axiom licensing system. This release requires a new axilib.dll (2.2.3.1) from Axiom (included in installation).

New: RasterDgn for PowerDraft now has an installer. Previously, it was necessary to install it manually.

Changed: The RasterDgn for PowerDraft executable’s name has changed from “rasdgnPD.ma” to “rasdgn.ma”.

Note for Upgraders: If you have an existing (therefore manually created) installation of RasterDgn for PowerDraft, you need to change your $(AXI) and $(MS_DGNAPPS) MicroStation configuration variable definitions before you run the RasterDgn for PowerDraft installer.

For details and help with this, please call Axiom Support at 727-442-7774 or e-mail Support@AxiomInt.com.

• 8.7d — 17 August 2012

Confirmed and documented support for BMP raster reference files.

Fixed a bug that prevented “Convert Read-only Attachments” from working.

Updated Axiom licensing system. This release requires a new license from Axiom.

• 8.7c — 9 March 2012

This release includes new versions of both RasterDgn for MicroStation and RasterDgn for PowerDraft V8i.

New: Added the ability to automatically determine the canvas color of color raster reference files.

New: Added the ability for Copy/Move to merge pixels in color raster files. Previously, it was only possible to merge pixels in monochrome rasters.

New: Stamp now honors holes in text characters.

New: Stamp is up to 50% faster than in earlier versions.

New: Added ability to control the color of the shape used to define the scope of the active tool.

Fixed: Fixed various bugs.

• 8.7b — 20 May 2011

New/Fixed: A new system is used to detect the polarity of monochrome raster reference files.

New: RasterDgn now reminds MicroStation V8i users on load that they need to turn off Workspace | Preferences | Raster Manager | Display Raster Using an Independent Process.

New: There is now a settings category named “Scratch” which lets you choose where RasterDgn will create any temporary raster reference files created by RasterDgn Scratch Attach. This lets users with limited permissions choose a folder they have write access to.

New: MicroStation will not allow RasterDgn to crop or resize certain raster reference file types (such as Intergraph TIFF and HMR), though RasterDgn can make other modifications to these types of raster reference files in some MicroStation versions. Now RasterDgn prompts the user when he tries to crop/resize an unsupported raster reference file type and gives him the option of converting that raster file to a normal TIFF with FAX4 compression, which can be cropped/resized.

Technical Note: This conversion is only available for raster file types that can have their Read-Only checkmark turned off in MicroStation’s “Raster Manager” box. This varies for different raster file types, depending on the version of MicroStation.

Fixed: If user performed multiple Stamp operations, sometimes only the first one would work properly.

• 8.7a — 3 June 2010

New: RasterDgn for PowerDraft V8i is now available. It is possible that all PowerDraft V8 versions will work well, but they are not certified. Previously, there was no RasterDgn for PowerDraft.

Installation Note for PowerDraft: The Axiom installation process does not presently support PowerDraft, so RasterDgn for PowerDraft needs to be installed manually. For instructions, please contact Axiom Support at Support@AxiomInt.com.

Fixed: Fixed a minor bug related to prompting users to save settings. This bug applied only to the demonstration version of RasterDgn.

• 8.6a — 5 March 2010

New: Added a totally new feature: “Edit raster file in external program”.

• General Improvements

New: Added a {Help} button to every Settings category and added a {?} button to every tool settings box. These buttons open the RasterDgn manual (in PDF format) to the exact page that describes the box the user pushed the button in.

New: Added the ability to fill in empty space in grayscale and color rasters created by Copy (with Resize), Move (with Resize), Deskew and Resize Canvas tools. This new option is named “Canvas Color”.

New: Added support for RLE raster files.

Changed: When active model only has one raster reference attachment, RasterDgn no longer prompts the user to choose it.

Changed: Made various user interface improvements throughout RasterDgn — too many to list.

• Improvements to Settings

New: Added “Save Settings on Exit” choice.

New: Added a setting that lets users suppress confirmation boxes.

New: RasterDgn now saves tool settings to its INI file. Previously, tool settings were not saved between runs of RasterDgn, it only saved the settings shown in its Settings box.

Changed: Consolidated two Settings box categories (“Stamp Line Weight” and “Stamp Line Style”) into one category with two tabs.

• Improvements to Copy/Move

New: Added ability to automatically resize destination raster file to fit copied/moved data. It is controlled by the checkbox “???? Resize canvas as needed”.

New: Added ability to prompt user to create a new raster reference file when he copies/moves data completely outside of any raster reference file’s area.

New: Added ability to automatically create a new raster file when using Copy or Move. It is a controlled by the checkbox “□ Create new raster file”.

• Improvements to Deskew

New: Added the ability to control the corner around which we deskew the raster file. Previously, RasterDgn always used the top-left corner.

New: Added ability to deskew raster file based on two user-defined points.

New: Added ability to automatically calculate raster file’s skew angle. Previous versions could also calculate this but the user had to push a {Calculate} button to start the process, it didn’t start automatically.

• Improvements to Toolbar

Changed: Improved several toolbar icons.

Changed: Changed order of items on menu and toolbar.

Changed: Removed “Scratch Area Attach” button from the toolbar. It is still available from the RasterDgn menu.

• Behind-the-scenes Improvements

Changed: Changed how raster file suffixes (like “-resized1”) are named. Now the first suffix in a series doesn’t include the digit (‘1’) but subsequent suffixes do (‘2’ and so on).

Changed: RasterDgn is now delivered with a .CHM file instead of a .HLP file.

Fixed: Fixed a case where RasterDgn created some unnecessary backup files. Discovered in-house.

Fixed: Fixed some problems in Resize and Crop tools’ handling of clipping masks and boundaries. Discovered in-house.

Fixed: Fixed a case where Stamp would create a raster ripple along a horizontal continuous line. Discovered in-house.

Fixed: Fixed a polarity problem encountered using Copy/Move (not Delete) on one CALS FAX4 raster file. Discovered in-house.

• 8.5a — 13 August 2009

New: Added menu item “Convert Read-only Attachments” that converts I/RAS B’s “Intergraph TIFF” files to non-proprietary TIFF files and turns off MicroStation Raster Manager’s Read-only flag for all possible references.

New: Added Block and Fence Modes to Despeckle. Previously, Despeckle only worked on the entire raster file.

New: Added ability to disable commands on RasterDgn’s menu and toolbar. Requires use of a new configuration variable named “RASDGN_DISABLE”.

Fixed: Fixed polarity handling in various situations. Fixed all known problem cases.

Fixed: Stamp and Despeckle now create only one undo event each instead of multiple undo events.

Fixed: Fixed an abort on loading RasterDgn when MicroStation’s “Workspace | Preferences | Look and Feel | Tool Size:” preference was set to “Large”.

Fixed: Delete Block would sometimes leave a colored border around deleted areas in MicroStation XM.

Fixed: Using Delete with a rotated view could result in the wrong pixels being modified.

Fixed: Using Stamp with a warped raster reference file could result in the wrong raster area being stamped to.

Changed: The temporary raster reference file created by RasterDgn Scratch Attach is now created in a Windows temporary folder. Previously, it was created in the same folder as the design file it was attached to.

• 8.4a — 23 December 2008

New: RasterDgn is now certified for use with MicroStation V8i (V8.11.)

Fixed: It is now possible to run RasterDgn via MS_DGNAPPS so it starts automatically with MicroStation.

Changed: RasterDgn now displays a better warning when the active model is read-only.

Changed: Changed default Pixel Style setting value for Line Style 0 from blank to 1. The effect is the same, but 1 is clearer than blank.

• 8.3b — 3 October 2008

New: RasterDgn is now certified for use with MicroStation XM (V8.9.)

Changed: RasterDgn Stamp now presents a confirmation box. This box includes the number of elements that will be stamped.

Changed: Improved the message displayed when there are zero points to despeckle.

Documentation: Added a table under each option button section showing which tool includes each option button choice.

Fixed: User can no longer enter a Pixel Weight value of ‘0’ for Line Weight = 0 in the Stamp Line Weight settings category. Blank produced the same result as ‘0’ but we believe it was unclear so blank is now disallowed.

Fixed: Fixed some hotkeys in the settings box.

• 8.3a — 19 August 2008

Initial RasterDgn release.

RasterDgn 8.3a is certified for use with MicroStation V8.5. MicroStation XM support is planned for a release in the very near future.

RasterDgn is the successor to RasEdit. It is designed to be able to do the same things RasEdit can do, only better. Plus things RasEdit cannot do, like editing color raster reference files.

Like RasEdit, RasterDgn supports monochrome (1-bit-per-pixel) raster reference files. Only RasterDgn supports more than just CIT and TIFF files. For example, RasterDgn supports CALS files. Another example: RasterDgn supports LZW compression, which RasEdit did not support.

RasterDgn supports many types of color, grayscale and monochrome raster reference files. This guide contains details about the exact raster file types it has been tested with. This guide will be updated as we confirm support for even more types.

RasterDgn determines raster reference polarity totally automatically. RasEdit has a checkbox for polarity, leaving users to guess at the correct setting.