WinTopo Pro Command Line Operation

Command Line Operation

WinTopo Pro can operate unattended by starting from the command line, and specifying how it should process an image by
supplying command line options.

This can be useful for batch processing a number of rasters in a single operation, because more than one raster file can be supplied
on the command line.

It is also useful for third-party developers who want to incorporate WinTopo Pro's abilities into their own applications.

This table shows the options which can be specified on the command line, any values that the options can take, and their ranges...

Option

Description

Optional Parameters

Parameter Range

Default
Parameters

-tST

Perform Stentiford Thinning on the

raster

-tZS

Perform Zhang Suen Thinning on the

raster

-tBC

Perform Best Combination Thinning on

the raster

-tOT

Perform One-Touch Thinning on the

raster. This will perform whichever
thinning operation was last set in the
One-Touch Vectorise Options window.

-eED

Perform Simple Edge Detection on the

raster

-eCN:s:h:l

Perform Canny Edge Detection on the

raster

s is the gaussian
Standard deviation
parameter. h is the High
threshold parameter. l is
the Low threshold
parameter. If the
parameters are not
present then the defaults
are used.

s = 1.0 to 5.0
h = 0 to 100
l = 0 to 100

Same as
Image->Set
Canny's
Paramters...
option. System
defaults are
4:5:3

-eAD:n

Perform Advanced Edge Detection on

the raster

Size of objects to be
considered for hollowing

1 up to the
width/height of the
image

10

Change the Brightness of the raster

image

Brightness enhancement

-255 to 255

128 (50%)

-bri:n

Change the Contrast of the raster

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WinTopo Pro Command Line Operation

-con:n

-gam:n

image.

Enhance the raster Gamma.

Contrast enhancement

-255 to 255

128 (50%)

Gamma enhancement.
The Gamma value is
usually specified as a
floating point number
between 0.1 and about
5.0.

0.1 to 5.0

1.2

-neg

Convert the raster image colours to their

negative values (swap black/white)

-gre

Convert the raster image colours to

greyscale.

-des:n

Despeckle the raster image

Maximum speckle size to

remove

1 up to the
width/height of the
image

-fil:n

Fill holes in the raster image

Maximum hole size to fill

1 up to the
width/height of the
image

Prune thin side branches from line

edges within the raster image

Maximum branch length

(in pixels) to remove

1 upwards

Heal a broken or dithered raster image

Minimum number of dark

neighbours a light pixel
should have to be
considered for healing

2 to 8

Erode pixels from the image

Minimum number of light

neighbours a dark pixel
should have to be
considered for erosion

2 to 8

Specify the colour to be considered as

the image background

r is the red intensity of the

colour. g is the green
intensity of the colour. b
is the blue intensity of
the colour

r = 0 to 255
g = 0 to 255
b = 0 to 255

Same as
Image->Identify
Background
Pixels...
option. System
defaults are
170:170:170

The tolerance value

0 to 255

Same as
Image->Identify
Background
Pixels...
option. System
default is 20

-thrU:r:g:b

Specify the colour to be used for the

Upper bound of the Threshold
operation. See -thr

r is the red intensity of the

colour. g is the green
intensity of the colour. b
is the blue intensity of
the colour

r = 0 to 255
g = 0 to 255
b = 0 to 255

0:0:0 (black)

-thrL:r:g:b

Specify the colour to be used for the

Lower bound of the Threshold
operation. See -thr

r is the red intensity of the

colour. g is the green
intensity of the colour. b
is the blue intensity of
the colour

r = 0 to 255
g = 0 to 255
b = 0 to 255

0:0:0 (black)

-pru:n

-hea:n

-ero:n

-bac:r:g:b

-bacT:n

Specify the tolerance for the colour to be

considered as the image background
(see -bac)

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WinTopo Pro Command Line Operation

Perform the colour Threshold operation

using the Upper and Lower bounds set
with the previous -thrU and -thrL
commands.
This option always perfoms
the Thorough rather than Cautious
thresholding

Whether to use the Keep

or Remove function of
the Threshold operation.

0=Remove or
1=Keep

1 (Keep)

-hsvH:h:s:v

Specify the Hue, Saturation, Value or

Luminance to be used for the High
bound of the Threshold HSV/HSL
operation. See -hsv and -hsl

h is the hue of the colour.

s is the saturation of the
colour. v is the HSV
value parameter, or the
HSL luminance of the
colour

h = 0.0 to 360.0
s = 0.0 to 100.0
v = 0.0 to 100.0

360:100:100

-hsvL:h:s:v

Specify the Hue, Saturation, Value or

Luminance to be used for the Low
bound of the Threshold HSV/HSL
operation. See -hsv and -hsl

h is the hue of the colour.

s is the saturation of the
colour. v is the HSV
value parameter, or the
HSL luminance of the
colour

h = 0.0 to 360.0
s = 0.0 to 100.0
v = 0.0 to 100.0

0:0:0

-hsv:n

Perform the HSV Threshold operation

using the High and Low bounds set with
the previous -hsvH and -hsvL
commands.

Whether to use the Keep

or Remove function of
the Threshold operation.

0=Remove or
1=Keep

1 (Keep)

-hsl:n

Perform the HSL Threshold operation

using the High and Low bounds set with
the previous -hsvH and -hsvL
commands.

Whether to use the Keep

or Remove function of
the Threshold operation.

0=Remove or
1=Keep

1 (Keep)

n is the rotation angle in

degrees. Negative
angles are anti-clockwise
and positive angles are
clockwise

-180.0 to 180.0
degrees

90 degrees
clockwise

1 to 65535

If the image
has more than
256 colours
then 256.

Otherwise, if
the image has
more than 16
colours then
16.

Otherwise, if
the image has
more than 2
colours then 2.

-thr:n

-dpi

-rot:n

-pal:n

Reduce the image resolution by half.

This will produce an image with of
the pixels, and so greatly reduce the
memory requirement for processing.

Rotate the image.

Set the number of colours in the image

palette. It is usually used to decrease
the number of colours in the image, and
determines the subsequent bit depth of
the image.

Resize the image to a thumbnail size.

This can be useful if you need to create

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n is the required number

of colours for the image.

A value over 256 will

result in a non-paletted
(24 bit depth/full colour)
image that has only the
requested number of
distinct colours.

n is the size in pixels for

the thumbnail.

If n is positive then it
represents the length of
the longest side of the
image (this would be the

WinTopo Pro Command Line Operation

-thumb:n

small thumbnail representations of your

images, for example, to display on a
website or a catalogue.

The produced image does not have to

be small (like a thumbnail). This option
can be used to resize the image to any
new size.

The resulting image will always be 24

bit depth (full colour) even if the original
was less.

height of a portrait
image, or the width of a
landscape image), and
the resulting image will
be the same aspect ratio
as the original.

If n is negative then the

new image will be
square at the given pixel
size, with the top and
bottom clipped off from a
portrait image, or the
sides clipped off from a
landscape image.

any non-zero integer

100

-user:n

Pause automated processing and allow

the user to manually perform any other
image processing functions.
Automated
processing is resumed when the user
selects the File->Save Vector As...
menu option, or the corresponding
toolbar button.
WinTopo Pro will
process and pause similarly for each of
the images on the command line in turn

If the parameter is given

as 0 (zero) then no
explanatory message is
shown upon pausing

0 or 1

-oDXF

Use DXF format when saving the vector

drawing. (This is the default output
format)

-oSHP

Use ArcView ShapeFile (.SHP) format

when saving the vector drawing

-oMIF

Use MapInfo (.MIF) format when saving

the vector drawing

-oARC

Use r2v ARC (.ARC) format when

saving the vector drawing

-oASC

Use Ascii X,Y,Z (.ASC) format when

saving the vector drawing

-oTXT

Use WinTopo Text (.TXT) format when

saving the vector drawing

-oDI

Use GenaMap (.DI) format when saving

the vector drawing

-oPDF

Use Adobe Portable Document Format

(.PDF) format when saving the vector
drawing

Any valid folder and

file name
(for
example,
c:\images\picture.png
or
\\server\path\name.tif)

The default is
that the
acquired
image has no
name and will
invoke the
Save Image As
dialog if the
Save Image
option is used.

Invoke the TWAIN image acquisition

option to allow the raster to be scanned
-acquire:filename
directly from a TWAIN device (for
example, a scanner)

The full path name to

give to the scanned
image, which will be
used by the
File->Save Image option

The default is

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WinTopo Pro Command Line Operation

that the image

has no name
and will invoke
the
Save Image As
dialog if the
Save Image
option is used.

-paste:filename

Get the raster image from the Clipboard.

You will need to have used another
application to Copy an image onto the
Clipboard.

The full path name to

give to the image, which
will be used by the
File->Save Image option

Any valid folder and

file name
(for
example,
c:\images\picture.png
or
\\server\path\name.tif)

-scale:n:m

Set the scale for the vector output by

defining the size of 1 raster pixel. For
example, if you know the image to have
been scanned at 100dpi and you want
the vector drawing to be output in units
of inches, then use -scale:0.01 (i.e.
1/100th). Or, if you want a 100dpi
image to be output in units of
millimetres then use -scale:0.254
(because there are 25.4 millimetres in
one inch)

n is the vector size of 1

raster pixel.
Optionally m can be
given to specify the scale
in the y-axis different to n
for the x-axis

Any numeric values

1.0

-setDPI:n

Set the resolution of the raster image.

n is the number of image

pixels per inch.

Any positive integral

value

100

-offset:x:y

Apply an offset to the coordinate values

of the output vector drawing

x is the offset in the

direction of the x axis.
y is the offset in the
direction of the y axis.

Any numeric values

0.0:0.0

filename is a file which

contains control point
information.

Any valid folder and

file name
(for
example,
c:\images\picture.ctl
or
\\server\path\name.ctl)

By default
WinTopo Pro
will look for a
.ctl file of the
same name as
the loaded
raster file,
except with a
.ctl name
extension

-ctl:filename

This option causes WinTopo Pro to look

for a .ctl file, and import the control
points, and apply the calculated
georeferencing to the vector drawing.
Up to 200 control points may be used.

-nosplash

Do not show the initial splash window

when WinTopo Pro starts up.

-noshow

Do not show the WinTopo main window.

This can be useful for third party
applications which want to vectorise a
file without being obscured on screen
by the WinTopo window.
The WinTopo
splash image is still shown as well as
the progress status windows, unless
suppressed by the -nosplash or
-nostatus options respectively.

-nostatus

Do not show the progress meter status

windows during processing of options.

This can be useful for third party

applications which want to completely
hide WinTopo when converting an
image, when used in conjuction with the
-nosplash and -noshow options

0 = Standard fast

Standard fast

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WinTopo Pro Command Line Operation

-viewQ:n

Use either standard (fast) or high image

display quality.

n indicates which display

option is desired.

image display
1 = Highest quality
image display

image display
is used as
default

-noV

Do not perform the default vectorisation

and do not save a vector file. Without
this option the raster file will always be
vectorised.
This option is useful when
you only want to convert the raster to
another format (for example from TIF to
PNG), or you only want to use the
raster processing options and re-save
the image.

Output the raster image as a BMP file.

The file name will be the same as the
original loaded raster file, except that
the file extension is changed to .bmp.
This option can be used with -noV if
output of vectors is not required.

If n is given (and not

zero) then WinTopo Pro
will use the Jpeg
compression algorithm
within the TIF file, rather
than a lossless
compression.
n is the Jpeg
compression factor to
use (75 is a common
value)
NOTE: the Jpeg
compression will only be
used if the image is 24
bit colour depth.

0 to 100

A larger number
represent less
compression. A
smaller number
represents greater
compression and
smaller file size.

0 (do not use

Jpeg
compression)

n is the JPEG quality /

compression factor

0 to 100

0 is least quality
(smallest file size)
and 100 is greatest
quality (larger file
size)

75

Any valid folder

(for
example, c:\images
or \\server\path)

By default an
output file is
saved in the
same folder as
the input file it
came from.

-oBMP

-oTIF:n

Output the raster image as a TIF file.

The file name will be the same as the
original loaded raster file, except that
the file extension is changed to .tif.
This
option can be used with -noV if output
of vectors is not required.

-oPNG

Output the raster image as a PNG file.

The file name will be the same as the
original loaded raster file, except that
the file extension is changed to .png.
This option can be used with -noV if
output of vectors is not required.

-oJPG:n

Output the raster image as a JPG file.

The file name will be the same as the
original loaded raster file, except that
the file extension is changed to .jpg.
This option can be used with -noV if
output of vectors is not required.

-oFolder:path

Save output files to the specified

location instead of the same folder as
the input file.
This is particularly useful
when the input files are in a read-only
location, for instance, a CDROM.
Save output files to the specified
location instead of the same folder as
the input file.
This is like -oFolder
except that it only affects subsequent

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path is the folder location

for the output files.

By default an
output file is

WinTopo Pro Command Line Operation

-oSetFolder:path

output options on the commandline

(whereas -oFolder affects all output
files even if it is the last option on the
commandline).

You can have multiple -oSetFolder

options on a single commandline to
output different files to different folders.

path is the folder location

for the output files.

Any valid folder

(for
example, c:\images
or \\server\path)

saved in the
same folder as
the input file it
came from.

The options are performed in the order in which they appear on the command line. There must be at least one option for WinTopo
Pro to run in unattented mode. If only raster file names are given, WinTopo Pro will start up and display the images, then wait for the
user to work interactively.

The file names of raster image files can be specified after the options, before the options, or interspersed between them - it does not
matter. All the options will be performed on all the raster images.
Examples
Topo.exe -tST c:\scans\image1.tif

This would start up WinTopo Pro, load the raster file called image1 in the folder c:\scans, perform Stentiford Thinning, then extract
the vectors and save as the DXF file image1.dxf in the same folder, and then close down WinTopo Pro. DXF is the default vector
output format, when none is explicitly specified.
Topo.exe -eED -tBC -oSHP

c:\scans\image1.tif

In this example, the same raster file is loaded, but this time it is processed first with Simple Edge Detection, then Best Combination
Thinning, the vectors are extracted and the result is saved as the ArcView Shapefile image1.shp.
Topo.exe -bri:-60 -con:255 -des:4 -pru:5 c:\scans\image1.tif c:\scans\image2.tif

In this example, image1.tif will be loaded and processed by reducing the brightness by -60, increasing the contrast to maximum,
despeckling to remove speckles up to 4 pixels wide, pruning branches up to 5 pixels long, then Stentiford Thinning will be performed
(the default when no thinning method is given), the vectors will be extracted and the results saved as a DXF file of the same name
stem. Then image1.tif will be closed and the same process will be repeated for image2.tif.
Topo.exe -acquire

The above example will allow the use of the scanner interface to scan and import a raster image, perform the default vectorisation
and save the DXF results as a file called .dxf in the current folder.

Related Topics:
Batch Processing
Save the Vector Drawing
Contents Page

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