MATLAB tool.

Colour picker and data extractor from colour bar, colour map and heatmap plots.

I have used this tool to extract data from figures of scientific papers.

It can be used as a tool to (preliminary) estimate and evaluate data during systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

myDemo01.m

-Main routine. Use this file to configure and run your experiment.

-variable "myTargetImage": path to the image that you want to explore and pick values using the mouse.

-variable "myColorBarImage": path to the image that you want to use as reference colour bar. Linear scale.

-variable "myColorBarImageLowValue": scalar value representing the lower value of the reference linear colour bar.

-variable "myColorBarImageHighvalue": scalar value representing the higher value of the reference linear colour bar.

mouseMove.m

-Routine that is executed every time you mouve the mousse over the target image.

-You can use the custom "myKnnSearch.m", native "knnsearch.m" or other multi-dimensional search criteria.

myKnnSearch.m

-Routine that is executed to search the nearest colour (Euclidean distance) to the picked pixel in target image and estimate the corresponding colour bar value.

Color_Bar.jpg

-Example of a colour bar.

-Colour bar should be oriented verticaly and represent a linear scale. Lower value at the bottom. Higher value at the top.

-Colour bar and target image should be both RGB images or grayscale images.

-Best option to get a good version of a colour bar is to printscreen the source of that colour bar: eg: a scientific paper.

Sample_Target_Image.jpg

-Example of a target image, which is going to be explored by mouse.

-Colour bar and target image should be both RGB images or grayscale images.

-Best option to get a good version of a target image is to printscreen the source of that target image. eg: a scientific paper.