Help on using this site
- Frequently asked questions
- An overview of virtual slides and how to access them
- How to get the most out of digital slides
- Where can I get ImageScope from?
- When I look at a page with virtual slide thumbnails in, all I see are red crosses/broken images/white space. Why's this?
- When I try and view a slide using Zoomify, I see a "missing plugin" message. What can I do about this?
- How do I navigate around a slide in Zoomify?
Answers
- Where can I get ImageScope from?
You can download ImageScope for free from The Aperio Website
- When I look at a page with virtual slide thumbnails in, all I see are red crosses/broken images/white space. Why's this?
Your firewall may be blocking Port 82. This is a problem with some NHS machines. If this affects you, please email the web editor as we are trying to determine the extent of the problem.
- When I try and view a slide using Zoomify, I see a "missing plugin" message. What can I do about this?
You are probably missing the Flash plugin. If you can see a movie below, you have the right setup to view our slides:
If you see something like this:
you need to install Macromedia Flash player for your browser. http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer/
- How do I navigate around a slide in Zoomify?
See the figure on the right entitled 'Navigating a Virtual Slide'
Clicking on the slide zooms in. Move around the slide by dragging the mouse
Use the symbols at the bottom. The slider zooms in and out, as do the + and - signs. The arrows move you around within the slide. Note you can also pan by clicking and dragging with the cursor.
You can also use the thumbnail for macro navigation. The red box denotes your current view - this can be dragged around within the thumnail to change the view.
Also, not shown in the labeled image, an arrow shaped slider can be used for zooming as well. This should be dragged from to the right in order to zoom in, and to the left to zoom out.
Try it out on the Live example of a Virtual Slide on the right.
There are two ways to look at virtual slides - using Zoomify or using ImageScope.
You will usually get a slide and text in a box like the ones on the right, entitled Example Cases.
For Zoomify, click on the image or the "Open with Zoomify" link.
For ImageScope, click on "Open with ImageScope".
Zoomify is based on Macromedia Flash so should work on Macintosh and other non-Windows computers as well if the correct software is installed.
ImageScope is a purpose built virtual microscopy application, allowing the creation of annotations on your virtual slides. It is only available for Microsoft Windows.
How to get the most out of the virtual slides at www.virtualpathology.leeds.ac.uk
Virtual slides are enormous digital images, several thousand times larger than digital images taken by cameras. Despite their size they can be viewed over the internet using special software. Here are some tips to maximise the speed of the virtual slides:
- Use a non-NHS computer if possible
Unfortunately the NHS network is slow in some hospitals, especially during working hours. You will probably find that our virtual slides work much better if you use either a university computer or your home computer - you will need a broadband internet connection too.
- Use the free virtual slide viewing software (ImageScope)
Our virtual slides can be viewed on our webpage within your internet browser (e.g. Internet explorer). However you will get better performance if you install the virtual slide viewing software for Windows called ImageScope. This is because ImageScope is designed to fetch parts of the image in the background, so the images will refresh more quickly and you will have fewer pauses when you use it.
ImageScope can be downloaded for free from the virtual slide scanner company at www.aperio.com. (In some hospitals you may need to ask your computer helpdesk to install the software for you, because you must have administrative rights to install the software.)
Once you have installed the software on your computer, open the slide in ImageScope by clicking on the “Open with imagescope” link in your internet browser.
- How to get help
If you have any problems viewing virtual slides, try the help offered on this page or e-mail us at medpathw@leeds.ac.uk
