Supported File Formats
The file formats supported by Dragonfly and Dragonfly Pro are grouped by type in the following sections.
2D/3D Image Formats
The following list describes the 2D and 3D image file formats supported by Dragonfly and Dragonfly Pro.
|
Format |
Description |
Import |
Export |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Image stacks (*.bmp, *.dib, *.jpeg, *.jpg, *.png, *.tif, *.tiff) |
Sets of 2D images that can be imported together to form a volume. You should note that all files must be of the same size and type to be rendered together. BMP… Standard uncompressed bit-mapped graphics format used in Windows. DIB… A device independent Windows-defined image format that stores data for each pixel in the image without any compression. The main purpose of device independent bitmaps (DIBs) is to allow bitmaps to be moved from one device to another, in contrast to a Windows’ device-dependent BMPs. JPEG… A standard format that stores images in a compressed form. The JPG format is lossy compressed according to a quality value, which can range from 100 — the highest quality, but also the largest file size — down to 1, which creates a poor quality, small file. JPG lossy compression can lead to artifacts that may not be compatible with quantitative analyzes. PNG… The Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format is a more powerful alternative to the GIF file format. PNGs are stored in compressed form using a lossless compression algorithm. The format is also able to store an alpha channel. TIFF… One of the most widely supported lossless compression file formats for storing bit-mapped images for both PCs and Macintosh computers, Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) files can be any resolution, grayscale or color, as well as uncompressed or LZW compressed. |
Yes |
Yes* |
|
TIFF (*.tif, *.tiff) |
This file format differs from an image stack in that the entire volume is stored in a single file. Although the majority of TIFFs contain just a single image, some applications can generate multi-directory TIFFs that contain multiple images. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
RAW (*.raw and *.pic) |
A basic file format that stores binary data as a 3D uniform field and that is suitable for transferring files between applications and computer platforms. Header information is saved in an accompanying DAT file when RAW files are saved in Dragonfly. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
DAT (*.dat) |
Header file for referenced RAW data. An example DAT file is: ObjectFileName… FileName.raw
|
Yes |
Yes |
|
Analyze 7.5 (*.hdr) |
The Analyze file format was developed at the Mayo Clinic as part of a software package of the same name. Datasets in this format consist of small HDR files that describe the data and IMG files with the raw data. Although there are multiple versions of this format, Dragonfly only supports the 7.5 variant. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Avizo/Amira (*.am) |
General purpose file format for Thermo Fisher Scientific's Avizo and Amira applications. Dragonfly only supports structured grids saved in the AM file format. |
Yes |
No |
|
DICOM (*.dcm) |
Standard file format for medical images. Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is a standard for handling, storing, printing, and transmitting information in medical imaging. It includes a file format definition and a network communications protocol. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
ORS Dataset (*.ORSObject and *.xml) |
ORSObject files are proprietary binary formatted files in which data is written sequentially and XML (Extensible Markup Language) is appended after the binary data. This file format can also be used to save regions of interest and multi-ROIs. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
REK (*.rek) |
Fraunhofer EZRT volume data file. |
Yes |
No |
|
VFF (*.vff) |
Modified version of the (now defunct) SunVision volume file format. VFF files have a plain text header that describes image dimensions, voxel sizes, origin, offset, and scale factor. |
Yes |
No |
|
Vox (*.vox) |
MagicaVoxel file format. |
Yes |
No |
* Export available for single images only.
Microscopy Formats
The following alphabetic list describes the microscopy file formats supported by Dragonfly and Dragonfly Pro.
|
|
Description |
Import |
Export |
|---|---|---|---|
|
CZI (*.czi)1 |
A format used by ZEISS microscopes to save data, such as image stacks and time lapse series. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
MRC (*.mrc) |
A file format for electron density that has become an industry standard in cryo-electron microscopy. It was developed by the MRC (Medical Research Council) Laboratory of Molecular Biology. |
Yes |
No |
|
NIfTI (*.nii) |
NIfTI is a file format for the exchange of neuro imaging data. NIfTI data objects can consist of two files, an HDR file containing the header information and an IMG file which contains the raw image data. A dedicated file extension NII is also available for storing the header and the data in the same file. |
Yes |
No |
|
TXM (*.txm, *.txrm)1 |
File format used by ZEISS Xradia 3D X-ray microscopes. Dragonfly Pro supports TXM files using unsigned char, unsigned short integer or float data. |
Yes |
No |
1 Available for Dragonfly Pro only. Contact Object Research Systems for information about the availability of Dragonfly Pro.
Mesh/Unstructured Grid Formats
The following list describes the mesh/unstructured grid file formats supported by Dragonfly.
|
|
Description |
Import |
Export |
|---|---|---|---|
|
3D Studio Max (*.3ds) |
3DS is one of the file formats used by the Autodesk 3ds Max 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software and has become a de facto industry standard for transferring models between 3D programs, or for storing models for 3D resource catalogs. |
Yes |
No |
|
ASCII (*.txt) |
Provides a simplified, machine independent mesh specification. |
Yes |
No |
|
BREP (*.brep and *.rle) |
The Boundary Representation file format is used to store 3D models that can consist of vertices, edges, wires, faces, shells, solids, compounds, edge triangulations, face triangulations, polylines on triangulations, space location and orientation. ASCII encoding is used to read and write to the BREP format. |
Yes |
No |
|
CSFDB (*.csfdb and *.csf) |
Open CASCADE 3D Model file. |
Yes |
No |
|
DirectX (*.x) |
DirectX files that define 3D geometries. |
Yes |
No |
|
OBJ (*.obj) |
Generic 3D file format that contains geometry descriptions. NOTE Dragonfly does not support the import of associated MTL files, which are written in a proprietary format. Only the mesh geometries, not materials nor textures, can be imported for this format. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
PLY (*.ply) |
The PLY format was developed at Stanford for storing points and geometries. When writing to this format, additional information such as vertex colors and scalar values will included. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
STL (*.stl and *.dib) |
Stereo Lithography (STL) files are widely used as a standard for rapid prototyping applications. Most computer-aided design (CAD) applications provide an STL output format, which was developed by 3D Systems. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
VRML (*.wrl) |
Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) files are ASCII text files with VRML tags. VRML is a subset of the Silicon Graphics Open Inventor file format and is used for storing 3D geometries. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
VTK Polydata (*.vtk) |
Generic Visualization Toolkit (VTK) data file format. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
VTK Polydata XML (*.vtp) |
Generic Visualization Toolkit (VTK) data file format. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
VTK Unstructured Grid (*.vtK) |
Generic Visualization Toolkit (VTK) unstructured grid file format. |
Yes |
No |
|
MESH (*.mesh) |
Native file format of Medit, a program for visualizing scientific models. |
Yes |
Yes |
|
ORS Format (*.ORSObject) |
ORSObject files are proprietary binary formatted files in which data is written sequentially and XML (Extensible Markup Language) is appended after the binary data. Meshes saved in this format will retain their scalar values. |
Yes |
Yes |
