Using ERDAS Imagine

This guide covers a few of the

essential techniques for navigating
around ERDAS Imagine
 ERDAS Toolbar
Loading ERDAS Imagine brings up the
main ERDAS toolbar
The commonly used modules can then be
accessed from this toolbar

This document covers some of the

modules
 Viewer

Used to view image files and perform image editing /

correcting tasks
Navigating around images:
Roaming mode is enabled by selecting the hand shaped cursor
Zooming. Use the + and - zoom functions
Rotating. Holding down control while in roam mode enables the
image to be rotated by left clicking and dragging the mouse
Hints
Adjusting the resampling method from nearest neighbour to
bilenear interpolation may increase the visibility of features in
aerial photographs
Import / Export

Used to import to, or export from

the ERDAS .img image format
To import a file - click the input
button, select the format you are
importing in the type box and
navigate to the input file location,
the output location and a proved a
file name
Occasionally files may not be
imported directly into .img, but
may have to be imported into
another format first
 Data Prep

The data preparation

function may be used for
a host of GIS tasks
 Data Prep create surface

A method of reading ascii files (in .dat format) in order to convert

to .img (File Read, then Choose ASCII file). The point data is
then surfaced by using the Surface menu
Also useful for converting .img files to xyz ascii format. (File
Read, then choose Image file. The point coordinates can then be
exported by selecting the x, y & z columns and right clicking on the
column header).
NOTE: Utility Convert pixels to ascii may also be used
Data Prep subset image
Used to extract a workable chunk from
a larger .img file
Three methods are available:
Coordinates. Define the coordinates of
upper left and lower right corners of a
box
Enquire box. Open the image to subset
in viewer. Select the area to subset
using an enquire box (Utility Enquire
box) then click on enquire box
AOI (Area Of Interest). More complex
shapes to be selected by using the AOI
option at the base of the window once
an input file has been defined
To create an AOI open the image to
subset in viewer, and draw a closed loop
AOI (AOI Tools) using the create
rectangle or polygon AOI tool. Save the
AOI as an AOI layer.
 Data Prep Mosaic images

Allows images with a defined coordinate

projection scheme (i.e., Georeferenced) to be
stitched together
Methodology follows
 Data Prep Mosaic images
Load images
Images do not need to be loaded in any specific order (Edit add images)
Correct images
Not always necessary, but some DEM tiles may stitch together to produce
blocks of different height. If this is the case, select histogram matching to apply
a correction over the mosaic project (Edit colour corrections)
Set overlap functions
Used to define how ERDAS joins the images (Edit set overlap function).
Generally feather or average work best
Generate / load cutlines
Bounding cutlines may be defined further (or loaded from an AOI) when the
select mode for intersections button is
Intersection mode
The four options allow for cutlines to be
Delete cutlines generated by ERDAS, loaded from AOIs,
toggled to decide which side forms the upper
part of the overlap, or to be deleted
Auto generate cutlines Use AOI cutlines

Mosaic
Define a file location and start the process (Process Run Mosaic)
 EXTRAS
Further useful tools are found in the
utilities menu
Coordinate calculator enables point xyx
coordinates to be translated from one
projection system to another. E.g., British
National Grid to Latitude-Longitude