10.8 Image Section

A virtual file containing a rectangular subsection of an image can be extracted and opened by specifying the range of pixels (start:end) along each axis to be extracted from the original image. One can also specify an optional pixel increment (start:end:step) for each axis of the input image. A pixel step = 1 will be assumed if it is not specified. If the start pixel is larger then the end pixel, then the image will be flipped (producing a mirror image) along that dimension. An asterisk, '*', may be used to specify the entire range of an axis, and '-*' will flip the entire axis. The input image can be in the primary array, in an image extension, or contained in a vector cell of a binary table. In the later 2 cases the extension name or number must be specified before the image section specifier.

Examples:

  myfile.fits[1:512:2, 2:512:2] -  open a 256x256 pixel image
              consisting of the odd numbered columns (1st axis) and
              the even numbered rows (2nd axis) of the image in the
              primary array of the file.

  myfile.fits[*, 512:256] - open an image consisting of all the columns
              in the input image, but only rows 256 through 512.
              The image will be flipped along the 2nd axis since
              the starting pixel is greater than the ending pixel.

  myfile.fits[*:2, 512:256:2] - same as above but keeping only
              every other row and column in the input image.

  myfile.fits[-*, *] - copy the entire image, flipping it along
              the first axis.

  myfile.fits[3][1:256,1:256] - opens a subsection of the image that
              is in the 3rd extension of the file.

  myfile.fits[4; images(12)][1:10,1:10] - open an image consisting
	      of the first 10 pixels in both dimensions. The original
	      image resides in the 12th row of the 'images' vector
	      column in the table in the 4th extension of the file.

When CFITSIO opens an image section it first creates a temporary file containing the image section plus a copy of any other HDUs in the file. This temporary file is then opened by the application program, so it is not possible to write to or modify the input file when specifying an image section. Note that CFITSIO automatically updates the world coordinate system keywords in the header of the image section, if they exist, so that the coordinate associated with each pixel in the image section will be computed correctly.