New Digital Image Tools

For several years, GMS has had the capability to import and display digital site maps in the form of scanned images and aerial photos.  However, previous versions of GMS were limited to one image at a time and large images used a considerable amount of RAM.  With version 5.0, we incorporated a new image library that removes many of the previous barriers.  First all, the new version allows multiple images to be in memory at one time.  This is especially convenient in cases where the project boundary covers multiple map regions since the user is not longer required to stitch the images together outside of GMS.  Since the new image library is extremely efficient, several images can be in memory at once with only a small spike in RAM usage.

Once images are imported, they are listed in an "Images" folder in the Data Tree: 

There is no longer an "Images" menu in the Map Module.  All interaction with images is done via the File/Open command and the pop-up "right-click" menu shown in the figure above.  The checkbox next to each image controls whether or not the image is displayed.  The pop-up menu is used to delete an image, perform a coordinate system transformation, change the image registration, or to automatically crop the collar from a USGS quad sheet.