Morphological Functions
Use the following morphological functions to modify the shape of objects in an image.
Gray Morphology (Grayscale»Gray Morphology)
| Dilate | Increases the brightness of each pixel surrounded by neighbors with a higher intensity. |
| Erode | Reduces the brightness of pixels that are surrounded by neighbors with a lower intensity. |
| Close | Removes dark spots isolated in bright regions and smoothes boundaries. |
| Open | Removes bright spots isolated in dark regions and smoothes boundaries. |
| Proper Close | Removes dark pixels isolated in bright regions and smoothes the boundaries of dark regions. |
| Proper Open | Removes bright pixels isolated in dark regions and smoothes the boundaries of bright regions. |
| Auto Median | Generates simpler objects with fewer details. |
Related Topics
Expanding (dilating) objects in grayscale images
Filling gaps and holes (close) in grayscale images
Gray Morphology (Grayscale»Gray Morphology)
Reducing (eroding) objects in grayscale images
Removing small objects (open) from grayscale images
Smoothing object boundaries in grayscale images
Basic Morphology (Binary»Basic Morphology)
| Erode objects | Eliminates pixels isolated in the background and erodes the contour of objects based on the structuring element. Erosion makes objects smaller. |
| Dilate objects | Eliminates tiny holes isolated in objects and expands the contour of the objects based on the structuring element. Dilation makes objects larger. |
| Open objects | Removes small objects and smoothes boundaries. An opening is an erosion followed by a dilation, which does not significantly alter the area or shape of objects. Borders removed by erosion are restored by dilation, but small objects that were absorbed during erosion do not reappear after dilation. |
| Close objects | Fills tiny holes and smoothes boundaries. A closing is a dilation followed by erosion, which does not significantly alter the area or shape of objects. Objects are expanded by the dilation and then reduced by erosion, so borders are smoothed and holes are filled. |
| Proper Open | Removes small particles and smoothes the contour of objects based on the structuring element. It is a finite and dual combination of openings and closings. |
| Proper Close | Fills tiny holes and smoothes inner contours of objects based on the structuring element. It is a finite and dual combination of closings and openings. |
| Gradient In | Extracts the interior contour of a particle. |
| Gradient Out | Extracts the exterior contour of a particle. |
| Auto Median | Simplifies objects based on the structuring element so that they have fewer details. The Auto Median function uses dual combinations of openings and closings. |
| Thick | Alters the shape of objects by adding parts to the object that match the pattern specified in the structuring element. Use thickening for filling holes and smoothing right angles along edges of objects. |
| Thin | Alters the shape of objects by eliminating parts of the object that match the pattern specified in the structuring element. Use thinning for removing single pixels isolated in the background and right angles along edges of objects. |
Related Topics
Basic Morphology (Binary»Basic Morphology)
Expanding (dilating) objects in binary images
Extracting the contours of a particle
Filling gaps and holes (close) in binary images
Filling holes and smoothing right angles
Reducing (eroding) objects in binary images
Removing single pixels and right angles
Removing small objects (open) from binary images
Smoothing object boundaries in binary images
Adv. Morphology (Binary»Adv. Morphology)
| Remove small objects | Removes small objects. |
| Remove large objects | Removes large objects. |
| Remove border objects | Eliminates particles that touch the borders of an image. |
| Fill holes | Fills the holes found in a particle. Holes are filled with a pixel value of 1. |
| Convex | Returns the convex hull of objects. You can use the convex hull of an object to make measurements when the object is amorphous (irregular). |
| Skeleton | Applies a succession of thinnings until the width of each object equals one pixel. |
| Separate objects | Breaks narrow isthmuses and separates objects that touch. |
| Label objects | Produces a labeled image using grayscale values equal to the number of objects in the image plus the grayscale 0 used in the background area. |
| Distance | Assigns to each pixel a grayscale value equal to the shortest distance to the border of the object, which might be to a hole within the object. |
| Danielsson | Creates a distance map similar to the Distance function. Danielsson uses a more accurate algorithm than Distance. |
| Segment image | Partitions a labeled image into segments, each centered on an object, so that the segments do not overlap and leave empty zones. |
Related Topics
Adv. Morphology (Binary»Adv. Morphology)
Computing the convex hull of objects
Reducing objects to their skeletons