The 2D Views
The 2D views display cross-sectional slices through volume data. Each view shows a different plane orientation.
Slice Orientations
Volvicon provides three orthogonal slice views:
| Slice View | Plane | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Plane 1 (YZ) | YZ | Slices orthogonal to the X axis (side view) |
| Plane 2 (XZ) | XZ | Slices orthogonal to the Y axis (front view) |
| Plane 3 (XY) | XY | Slices orthogonal to the Z axis (top view) |
Navigation Controls
Mouse Controls
| Action | Mouse | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pan | Left-drag | Moves the view |
| Zoom | Right-drag | Zooms in (drag up) or out (drag down) |
| Zoom | Scroll wheel | Zooms in/out incrementally |
| Scroll Slices | Ctrl + Scroll | Moves through slices in the stack |
| Window/Level | Middle-drag | Adjusts brightness (horizontal) and contrast (vertical) |
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
R | Reset the current slice view to fit the image |
Shift+R | Reset all slice views to fit the image |
Ctrl+Space | Maximize or restore the active slice view |
F11 | Detach the active slice view |
Ctrl+Alt+Space | Toggle fullscreen for the active slice view |
Page Up | Move to next slice |
Page Down | Move to previous slice |
Home | Go to first slice |
End | Go to last slice |
Slice Navigation
Slice Slider
Each 2D view has a slice slider that shows:
- Current slice number
- Total number of slices
- Slice position in physical coordinates
Drag the slider or click along it to navigate to a specific slice.
Crosshairs
Crosshairs link the three 2D views:
- The intersection point is synchronized across all views
- Click in one view to update the crosshair position in all views
- Use crosshairs to navigate to specific locations in 3D
Enable/disable crosshairs from the View ribbon tab.
Display Options
Window/Level (Brightness/Contrast)
Window and level control how intensity values are displayed:
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Window (Width) | Range of intensities displayed |
| Level (Center) | Midpoint of the displayed range |
Adjust by middle-dragging:
- Horizontal movement changes window (contrast)
- Vertical movement changes level (brightness)
Presets
Use preset window/level values for common visualization needs.
Interpolation
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Nearest | No interpolation; shows actual voxel values |
| Linear | Smooth interpolation between voxels |
| Cubic | Applies stronger smoothing for a softer slice display |
Slice View Controller
Each slice view also includes a compact controller for common per-view actions such as reset, zoom, screenshot capture, flip, ruler display, orientation marker settings, visibility options, and background changes.
See 2D View Controller for the full controller reference.
Overlays
The following can be overlaid on 2D views:
| Overlay | Description |
|---|---|
| Masks | Segmentation masks with configurable colors and opacity |
| Measurements | Distance, angle, and other measurements |
| Primitives | ROI shapes and geometric primitives |
| Annotations | Text labels and markers |
Mask Display Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Color | Set mask overlay color |
| Opacity | Adjust transparency (0-100%) |
| Outline | Show mask boundary only |
| Fill | Show filled mask region |
View Information
Each 2D view displays:
| Information | Location |
|---|---|
| Orientation labels | Corners of the view |
| Axis orientation labels | Center of each viewport edge |
| Slice position | Bottom or top of view |
| Scale/zoom level | Corner of view |
| Hover information at cursor | Status bar, optional tooltip |
Hover Information
The Voxel Information control offers four display modes: None, Status Bar, Mouse Hover, and Both.
When the current mode includes Status Bar, each 2D view reports the world position, voxel index, and gray value under the mouse pointer in the status bar.
If the cursor is over a visible single-label mask, the hover text also includes that mask name.
If the cursor is over a visible multi-label mask, the hover text includes the mask name plus the label information for the label under the cursor. If that label has an annotation, the annotation is shown with the label number. Otherwise, only the label number is shown.
When the current mode includes Mouse Hover, the same hover information is shown next to the mouse pointer in a shorter multi-line format without the world position.
Axis Orientation Labels
Edge-center orientation labels are shown by default. Toggle them from the Visibility menu in any 2D view controller. When enabled, each slice view shows the positive and negative direction of its two in-plane axes at the midpoint of the four edges.
Medical orientations use anatomical shorthand: R, L, A, P, S, I. Engineering orientations use signed axis labels: +X, -X, +Y, -Y, +Z, -Z.
Changing the scene orientation changes which axis and direction appear on each edge
The orientation labels update automatically when the scene orientation is changed and are controlled independently of the corner annotations.
Context Menu
Right-click in a 2D view to access:
- 3D Contours controls for mask preview, surfaces, and volume meshes in the slice views
- Crosshair toggle
- Window/Level controls
- Voxel Information menu with None, Status Bar, Mouse Hover, and Both
- Link Slice Views toggle
- Locate to set the reslice cursor center at the clicked position when the click is inside the image bounds
- Match 3D to Slice to orient the 3D camera to the current slice view
Synchronization
Views can be synchronized in several ways:
| Sync Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Position | Crosshair position linked across views |
| Zoom | Zoom level synchronized |
| Window/Level | Display settings synchronized |
Use the crosshair with Alt+mouse movement for dynamic exploration of anatomical structures across all three orthogonal planes simultaneously.
Related Topics
- The 3D View – 3D visualization
- 2D View Controller – Controller overlay for each slice view
- Slice Views Tab – Slice view settings in the View ribbon
- Volume Grayscale Image – Understanding volume data
- Masks – Segmentation overlays