Releases

Release 6.1.4

Release date: April 2018

• Free axes representation of the histogram
• Representation of accepted and rejected objects
  

Release 6.1.3

Release date: December 2017

• FibreShape is available in 9 languages
• Tooltips are available for the GUI and describe the function of all parameters shown in the measuring mask editor 
• improvements of the histogram layout 
• enhanced algorithm for wide range pattern recognition (zooming down algorithm)

Release 6.1.2

Release date: June 2017

The X-Shape software has a new measurement mask editor. In the version 6.1.2 the measurement conditions that are defined in the measurement masks are divided into four categories:

• Algorithm
• Morphological filter
• Optical filter
• Calibration
  
  

The new editor permits to edit the currently active mask which makes it faster and well structured. The new editor convinces because it is responsive and interactive. You quickly get a feedback of your changes in the histograms.

Release 6.1.1a

Release date: March 2016

The DiaShape and FlockShape software were migrated from our old Ksrun image analysis platform to the new software platform 6.x (C++ embedded in Python). The new name for the “Light products” is now X-Shape QC and for the “Full versions” X- Shape PRO. DiaShape QC, DiaShape PRO, FlockShape QC and FlockShape PRO run on 64 bit OS in Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and Linux with at least 8 GB RAM. Furthermore DiaShape 6.1.1 convinces with an intuitive and user-friendly interface. 

X-Shape QC is the ideal measurement system to make quality control under constant measurement conditions. The repeatability of the measurements is the key property.
X-Shape PRO is the right measurement system for research and development. X-Shape PRO involves many rights to the user. For example the creation of individual measure masks which includes:

• Freely programmable size ranges
• Freely programmable shape and color filters
• Calibration of the scanner by the user 
  
  

FibreShape QC, FibreShape PRO, PowderShape QC and PowderShape PRO will be available on our new X-Shape platform with release 6.1.1b in June 2016.

Release 6.1.0

Release date: October, 2015

After 4 years of work we finished end of 2015 to migrated the DiaShape and FlockShape Light version from our old Ksrun image analysis platform to C++ embedded in Python. The new name for the light product is now QC for quality control DiaShape QC, FlockShape QC ). These versions are limited to small size range distributions (<= a factor 10 in size range).

The purpose of the QC versions is to check material always under the same conditions. Therefore QC does not allow to change measurement parameters. It only enables to change the report parameters.

The advantages of the new platform

• one user interface

• stable computing operations

• simplified and intuitive operation

• faster calculation times

• image sizes up to 2 MB

• runs now in Windows 8, Windows 10 and Linux

 

It enables also to calculate the objects area ratio of the loaded image. This parameter is very important for correct sample preparation in order to avoid too high object density. Typical upper limits are:

• particles 25%

• fibers length and width measurement: < 5%

• fibers length measurement by FiVer < 20%

Release 5.2.3 / Release 6.0.2 for FibreShape FiVer

Release date: March, 2015

New statistical possibilities are available for Diashape, Fibreshape, Flockshape and Powdershape

• Number of counted objects
• Object ratio (measured obj. / all obj.) (only version 5.2.3)
  
• Area ratio (area all obj. / image area) (only version 5.2.3)

• 6 selectable percentile classes:
  The data are classified according to the classes you have selected. For example the 10th, 20th, 40th, 60th, 80th & 90th percentile can be calculated.

The reporting system now runs as a native 64 bit application on 64 bit Windows systems

Release 5.2.2

Release date: June 4, 2013

An improved reporting and data export in Diashape, Fibreshape, Flockshape and Powdershape.

• All the settings of a report can be personalized and saved.
• The measurement results can directly be exported in CSV format allowing to further analyse the data.
• The Q-charts can be exported in xls format.
• Shape parameters can be visualized as a histogram like size parameters.

 

Release 5.2.1

Release date: March 1, 2013

There are again several improvements in the reporting system to be mentioned: 

• the layout of a report can be saved as a user profile
• you can chose the units of measurement in the report (nm, μm, mm, ...)
• the reporting system is now also available in German. Other languages ​​can be requested.
• the axes of the histograms can be defined individually
  
• you can switch between log representation and linear representation of the x and y axis of the histograms
  

 

Release 5.2.0

Release date: Juli 1, 2012

The version 5.2 contains a new reporting and statistics system. Main new features are:

• Several existing certificate types will be combined into one generic customizable certificate.
• The intuitive user interface will allow to select and edit the parameters interactively. 
• Customized reports can be created with ease. 
• Each report can be created such that it either adheres to the ISO norm 9276-6 or that it uses the existing naming convention.
  

 

The new reporting and statistics system of Powdershape:

 

Press "Generate report" and you get the following result.

The new reporting and statistics system of Fibreshape

Press "Generate report" and you get the following result.

Release 5.1.2

Release date: November 3, 2011. Find all the information in the pdf.

Release 5.1.1

Release date: March 31, 2010

March 31, 2010: The X-shape family e.g. Powdershape, Diashape, Fibreshape, and Flockshape version 5.1.1 have been released to the public. The major improvements are:

• Now Windows 7 compatible
• Improved image saving management
• Automatic scannig with the sample feeder in reflective mode
• Characterization of  objects > 2 um size using a new digital microscope
• A new Light version has been issued for powder characterization that has just two measuring ranges
• 2 - 50 μm using the digital microscope with 14600 dpi
• 10 - 1000 μm using an 3600 dpi  film scanner

• size  reporting using ANSI or  ISO classification
  
  

• This new reporting tool enables in the case of Diashape also to calculate the diamonds/carat

 

Release 5.0.4

Release date: April 30, 2009

This update introduces a new product line that enables to perform a fully automated measuring process.
It consists of  two major innovations:

The sample feeder
It enables to feed an A4 or A3 scanner automatically  with the powder or fibre samples. The sample feeder is integrated in our new systems "Powdershape automatic" and "Fibreshape automatic".


You need just three measurement steps:

1. Simply distribute your powder samples on the board
2. Start the measurement
3. Get your results

 

Direct control of the scanner parameters
The scanner parameters are directly controled by the  measuring masks and integrated into the fully automated measuring process. There is no anymore a  need to take care if the scanning parameter settings are correct.

Release 5.0.3

Release date: November 01, 2008

X-shape is now ready for Windows Vista. X-shape can be installed on Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista. Our recommended OS is Windows XP .

Data base equivalent organization of quality charts especially for automatic quality control. A quality chart - "Qchart" called - is an easy to use Excel sheet with database equivalent features.  It reports the important parameters in shape and size. It has the following three major features :

• Certificate:
  It shows the certificate of any measurement saved in the concerning Excel file. It adds automatically the recent measure results to the selected Excel file.

• Measurement comparison:
  It enables to compare different measurements each other.

• Automatic quality check:
  A master can be define with upper and lower controlling limits of all parameters shown. It checks automatically for any settled parameter if the measured value is within the defined range by "ok" or outside by "not ok"
  

Calibration by standard spheres and standard fibres. Standard spheres and standard fibres are now available for the scanner calibration. (see)

Algorithm improvements for Powdershape, Fibreshape and Flockshape.

• Powdershape: Three size ratio filters: ellipticity or rectangle shape factor or aspect ratio are available. Weighted statistic of shape factors can also be calculated by the percentiles 16%, 50% and 84%

• Fibreshape and Flockshape: Two models for length and width calculations "FERET" and "rectangle"and the related size ratio filters are available. The FERET max is especially useful for accurate length measurements of straight flocks

 

Release 5.0.2

Release date: November 01, 2007

Configure report. All settings and choices for a particular report are remembered now so that a report can be created with only one single click. Configuring the report has been improved and simplified. The histogram layout can be previewed and the results of all 4 size models "circle, ellipse, feret, rectangle" can be shown by the preview histogram.

Configure the report menu


Extended quality chart functions.
Quality charts have now multi the following database like features:

• Collect  the average values and standard deviation of nearly all parameters measured (see fig below "1"  )

• Show the most important shape and size parameters (see fig below "2" ). The major purpose of this plot is to show quality trends

• Make certificates of all measurements transferred to a quality chart (see fig below "3")
  
  

•  Calibration of scanners using calibration profiles 

The calibration parameters grain size, max size, min size are managed separately in calibration profiles now. This allows the measure masks to reference the currently valid calibration. Old measurements that have been performed using a different calibration profile can still be reproduced using the same measure mask. A special perimeter based calibration for the rectangle model has been added.

Release 5.0.0

Release date: February 22, 2007

• Simplified work flow
  You need just two clicks by the completely new developed GUI (graphic user interface) to get your result:                          

1. Get image
2. Get report                                                                                                    

All settings and choices for a particular report are remembered now so that a report can be created with only one single click. Configuring the report has been improved and simplified.

• Integrated online help 

The manual is now full integrated in the X-shape program. Use the help key and it leads you to the manual and basic informations such as articles and presentations.

• Data base driven organization of measure masks                                                  

The measurement automation facility, the measure masks, are now stored in a data base instead of regular files like with previous releases of Fibreshape. A powerfull categorization and description framework has been added to the masks in a way that you are able to identify very easy and quickly the masks you need .

•  Application development tool  

A separated application development tool has been added in order to separate clearly the daily measurement work from parameter development. This new tool enables also to solve typical  image analysis problems of microscopy.

• Support for different size models for particle characterization 

Diashape and Powdershape enables you now to select between size parameters of different geometric models:  circle (diameter of area equivalent circle), ellipse (a and b axis) , Feret (min or max Feret diameter) or for Powdershape only rectangle (thickness and length).

• Data handling improvements
• The limitation on the image file and the directory names have been removed. Use any file name you like.
• More data export methods have been added. You can now typically choose between Excel, Comma Separated Values (CSV plain text) and print formats (e.g. PDF file).
  

 

Release 4.3.6

Release date: November 22, 2005

This update brings several enhancements that allow you to measure fibre crimp, high aspect ratio particles and nano particles with the same software you already know from the IST.
The list of important new features and improvements:

• Numerically stable analysis of high aspect ratio objects of a wide size range in arbitrary size dimensions and of arbitrary shape.

• More efficient single crystal shape characterization (diamonds for instance).

• Analysis of SEM and REM nano particles (including a general micrographical analysis method).

• Analysis of fibre crimp according to the ASTM standard:
• Crimp degree
• Bow frequency
• Crimp frequency (ASTM D3937 -94)
• Crimp ratio (ASTM D3937-94)

• Scanner parameters can be integrated into the measurement.

• Interactive free layouting of histograms.

• Introduction of freely definable different percentile values for the histogram.

• An overhaul of the measurement algorithms lead to a 300% (three times) faster measurement.

• Norton Anti Virus compatibility improvements.

 

Release 4.3.4

Release date: July 22, 2004

This update is a user interface polish and bug fix release.
The list of important new features and improvements:

• Print buttons to directly print the certificates.

• Localisation (translation) updates.

 

Release 4.3.3

Release date: July 04, 2004

Though only a minor update, this update introduces a new product line to the family of our characterisation products: the Small Edition. The Small Edition is a simplyfied version where the only user interaction needed are 'load an image' and 'print certificate'. A certificate is created automatically and printed immediately.
This product line is available for Powdershape, Fibreshape, Flockshape and Diashape and is intended for small industry companies.

Release 4.3.2

Release date: May 10, 2004

This minor update introduces some smaller new features but also two very important changes, the availability of a new product called Flockshape as well as a reader application.
The list of important new features and improvements:

• The xShape Reader is a separate program distributed with the main products (Powdershape, Fibreshape, etc) that can be run on any other Windows PC to read measurement results and analyse or create reports accordingly.
  No additional licenses are needed (think of the relation between xShape Reader and for example Powdershape as the relation between the well known Acrobat Reader and Acrobat from Adobe).
  

• The Flockshape system is a characterisation system specialised for flock. More details can be found at the product description page.

• The ability to view former measurements has been better integrated into the user interface.
  
  

One has to chose between the two tasks "measure" and "view former measurement data". Create any report or do statistical analysis on the loaded data as usual.

• The system administrator now has the ability to add measure masks to a template list. Newly created users/profiles will automatically have these measure masks included.

• Excel control for report creation is much more reliable. Several annoyances could be fixed.

 

Release 4.3.1

Release date: March 26, 2004

This minor update mainly includes usability and consistency improvements.
The list of important new features and improvements:

• It is now disallowed to overwrite an existing lot number (measurement data base) in the measure section.

• Keyboard only control of the application has been improved. Tab usage now is useful indeed.
  Keyboard shortcuts are available for several important functions such as switching the user/profile, entering the measure mask setup dialog and others.
  

• Graphical user interface improvements:
  More intuitive button placement at several locations and translation updates.
  

 

Release 4.3.0

Release date: September 19, 2003

The 4.3.0 release of Diashape, Powdershape and Fibreshape is the first public release of the 4.3 family of product releases.
Most improvements are under the hood and caused incompatibilities with previous releases. This is why this release got a major version increase to 4.3. Some user visible improvements have found their way into this release though and they are listed below.
Nevertheless we are proud to announce a completely new major characterisation algorithm, Fractal Analysis, as well as a new application, the Mixture Analysis.

The list of important new features and improvements:

• Fractal Analysis
  The measurement of fractal dimensions. Enables to characterise fractures and complex surface topologies of particles.
  

• Mixture Analysis The characterisation of mixed systems. Distinction of objects by shape, size, transparency and colour.
  Calculation of area and/or volume fraction.
  

• Measure mask setup:
  An initial simple ppi (Pixels Per Inch) calculator has been added for image sources using a different scale (optical microscope, SEM, TEM, etc.). It now asks for pixels per micron.
  

• Analyse step:
  The whole code of report creation with Excel has been rewritten and improved.
  

• Status information area added:
  
  

 It shows what operation currently is in process or what operation (step) could be accomplished. The current user is displayed as well.

• A lot of documentation added:
• How to use our products. A fast but simple guide how to get results/certificates as fast as possible.
• How to do area fraction measurements. A guide to how the combination of Powdershape and Fibreshape enables you to measure area fractions of arbitrary mixtures of objects (particles, fibres, etc.)
• How to create/delete/manage users. A step by step guide how to do user administration.
• How to review former measurements. How to load (Lot No) data for further usage.

 

Release 4.2.2

Release date: May 04, 2003

The 4.2.2 release of Diashape, Powdershape and Fibreshape is the first public release of the 4.2 family of product releases.
Lots of effort has been spent to steadily facilitate the quality inspection process.

The list of important features and improvements:

• Default measure mask:
  It is now possible to configure a default measure mask for every user. This allows you to qualify the inspection steps and speed and ease up the inspection process.
  

• Measure Mask dependent scanner properties:
  Different measure masks possibly need different scanner properties (calibration). With the added feature of default measure masks you'll be pleased of the automated selection of proper scanner properties for default measure masks.
  

• Comprehensive in line documentation added:
  In addition to the documentation formerly available on CD, we added a comprehensive documentation that is accessible from the application. (finally a 'Help' menu entry).
  Lots of improvements and clean-ups have been incorporated to the documentation.
  

• User management improvements:
  The user management introduced with the 4.1 release has been dramatically improved.
  Sort the list of users alphabetically and/or pin a user to a certain position (you might want the 'Guest' account to stay at first position, as an example).
  Prompt assistance for entry fields of the user configuration.
  

• Lots of bug fixes and user interface improvements