Introduction to ImageJ

About ImageJ ¹

ImageJ is a public domain Java image processing program. It runs, either as an online applet or as a downloadable application, on any computer with a Java 1.1 or later virtual machine. ImageJ can display, edit, analyze, process, save and print 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit images. It reads most common raster image formats including TIFF, GIF and JPEG as well as raw data files in text format, such as from spreadsheets. It can "stack" a series of images that share a single window. It can calculate area and pixel value statistics of user-defined selections. It can measure distances and angles. Images can be zoomed up to 32:1 and down to 1:32. All analysis and processing functions are available at any magnification factor. Spatial calibration can be set to provide real world dimensional measurements. Installers are available for Windows, MacOS and OSX, and Linux.

Wayne Rasband at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) develops and maintains ImageJ.

Cost: Free; this software is in the public domain.

Additional information can be found at the following sites:

Homepage of the ImageJ website at NIH ( This site may be offline. )
ImageJ online documentation at NIH ( This site may be offline. )

Take a Quick Tour of ImageJ ²

ImageJ is a public domain program. That means teachers, students, or anyone can legally download and install it on multiple computers. Its power and flexibility allow it to be used as a research tool by scientists in many disciplines, from medicine to astronomy.

The ImageJ Toolbar ²

The ImageJ toolbar contains both built-in and customized tools for manipulating images. Most of the tools are similar to those used in other graphics programs. You will learn about the tools as you use them.

Source

¹Adapted from Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter instructions under Creative Commons license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0.
²Adapted from Eyes in the Sky II online course materials, Copyright 2010, TERC. All rights reserved.
³New material developed for Earth Analysis Techniques, Copyright 2011, TERC. All rights reserved.