Inserting Images

The Insert image tool is used to insert JPEG or PNG images, or individual pages from PDF documents, as bitmap objects in drawings. These images can be cropped, resized and rotated as needed. They can also be modified using a set of image processing filters that can remove color (make the image grayscale), adjust brightess or contrast, or dectect edges using a variety of edge-detection algorithms.

A unique feature of Back to the Drawing Board is the ability to reduce or remove the effects of perspective from images and apply a scale factor, making photographs usable as scaled objects in 2D drawings.

The options described below can be found in the bottom app bar or in the control panel.

The Layer option selects the layer that will be assigned to the image. For images, the layer assignment controls the visibility of the object. The color, line type, and line thickness attributes of the layer are not relevant to images. The Layer value must be set before the image is selected.

The Opacity option sets the opacity value for the image. For other drawing objects, the opacity is controlled by the "alpha" value of the object's color. Since images can consist of many colors, the opacity value for image objects is set explicity. The opacity value ranges from 0 (invisible) to 1 (fully visible). The Opacity value must be set before the image is selected.

The Get image button is used to select an image from your photo library or another location on your file system to insert into your drawing. When you select Get image, the standard Windows file picker is shown. From the picker you can select a JPEG image, PNG image or PDF document. If a PDF document is selected, you will be presented with another dialog from which you can select a page from the document to insert.

The Take photo button is used to take a new photo to insert into your drawing. When you select Take photo, the standard Windows Capture Image dialog is shown. This can be used to capture field images when using a tablet or other mobile device.

The Give feedback button gives you an opportunity to provide feedback to our development team. As noted above, the image management features are still under development. We would appreciate any feedback, suggestions, comments and bug reports that you can provide.

Once an image has been selected, the Edit image dialog is shown. Using the edit image dialog you can crop, rotate, fix perspective, and apply a variety of image processing filters to the image. Selecting Done from the dialog will insert the image into your drawing. See the Editing images documentation for more information.