Raster as Element
When Bentley Descartes is loaded, rasters behave like design elements. You can select rasters using the MicroStation element selection tool, add rasters to the active selection set, apply MicroStation tools such as Move and Scale on selection sets with raster and vector elements, Quicksets, and perform other operations.
ProjectWise (I/Desktop) Compliant
All Bentley Descartes V8 XM edition features for opening or creating files can now access either a ProjectWise folder or a local folder. For example, you can use the Corridor tool with images from a local hard disk and output the resulting Corridor image into ProjectWise. Bentley Descartes editing features will check the state of the image and will only function if the state is Checked Out. To check out an opened image, simply remove the check mark from the Read-Only column in the Raster Manager dialog box. This integration is available throughout the Bentley Descartes application.
Image Enhancement Tools
The XM edition of Bentley Descartes provides new enhancements tools. These tools are described below.
Contrast Stretch: This tool provides an intuitive interface and allows enhancing raster imagery up to 64-bit. It offers a preview pane with a full set of navigation tools for quick an accurate live feedback of the current enhancements settings.
Density Slicing:
This tool provides an intuitive interface allowing colorizing areas of a raster based on pixel density. It offers a preview pane with a full set of navigation tools for quick and accurate live feedback of the current density settings.
Histogram: This tool provides an intuitive interface allowing the exploration of the histogram for a specific raster.
Redesigned Draping Kernel
Due to overall performance enhancements, draping under the XM edition is faster and uses less memory. Draping of imagery on a terrain model is now available in MicroStation. Bentley Descartes is still required to attach the Procedural Material "DCDRAPE.PAL", and any raster required for the draping. To allow images to drape under MicroStation, while still in Descartes, turn ON this option in the Draping column of the Raster Manager dialog box. Once turned ON, rasters will drape in MicroStation even if Bentley Descartes is not loaded or even present on the system. In the XM Edition, a raster can also be displayed as "undraped". This is possible by turning OFF the option in the Draping column of the Raster Manager dialog box. This option cannot be modified if Bentley Descartes is not loaded.
Support for LUT (Look Up Table)
Raster Manager now supports the display of I/RAS C LUT's. A LUT is a block of information stored in the header of the image that changes the way the image is displayed by dynamically applying enhancements such as Contrast/Brightness/Luminescence, etc. By default, this feature is enabled and LUT will automatically be detected and applied. To disable this feature, your must create the configuration variable MS_RASTER_INTERGRAPH_FILE_IGNORE_LUT and assign it a value of 1. When enabled, images are automatically set to read-only. To be allowed to edit the raster, the LUT must be applied permanently. There are two ways to achieve this.
- Save As. Use the Save As... to create a new image. This is WYSIWYG - there are no options in the Save as to control this.
- RasterFix utility. From the Key in dialog, type "mdl load rastfix". This will add new menu items to the Raster Manager Edit menu. From the Edit menu, select LUT.
Pixel Grid
When zoomed past the 1:1 level, Bentley Descartes will begin to display a pixel grid. The grid display can be enabled or disabled and the Grid Line color can also be customized with a color of the user’s choice.
Register
Control Point files can be exported and imported as text delimited files. Import reads a TXT file containing control points. The control point file can be saved in the following formats: RGR - XM format, Descartes v8.1, Descartes v8.0, Descartes v7, TXT (comma delimited).
New and Improved Raster-to-Vector Conversion Capabilities
Bentley Descartes XM Edition has a new and improved Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Engine. Descartes new OCR engine is based on the latest character recognition technologies and algorithms. Supported languages are English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish and Swedish.
Automated Vectorization has also been improved, taking advantage of new line following and line generalization algorithms and techniques recently engineered. The new line following engine provides enhanced algorithms to better detect borders, obstacles and intersections. It is faster and more accurate. Backed by new and improved line generalization algorithms, this new Automated Vectorization engine produces straight lines, smooth curves and generates accurate arcs.