# Can 3D Slicer be used for the nominal 2D picture (jpg/png etc..) label or annotation?

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-be-used-for-the-nominal-2d-picture-jpg-png-etc-label-or-annotation/30800>\
**Category:** Support\
**Tags:** extensions-manager, tcia\
**Created:** [July 26, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-be-used-for-the-nominal-2d-picture-jpg-png-etc-label-or-annotation/30800 "2023-07-26T13:10:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Liang\_Ma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/liang_ma/32/66068_2.png) [@Liang\_Ma](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Liang_Ma)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-be-used-for-the-nominal-2d-picture-jpg-png-etc-label-or-annotation/30800/1 "2023-07-26T13:10:25Z")

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Such data (non dicom) have no meta information, so “Add DICOM Data” menu does not recognize them.

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**Author:** ![fedorov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/fedorov/32/14_2.png) [@fedorov](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/fedorov)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-be-used-for-the-nominal-2d-picture-jpg-png-etc-label-or-annotation/30800/2 "2023-07-26T13:10:55Z")

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Instead of “Add DICOM Data” you should use menu “File \> Add Data” to load non-DICOM images.

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**Author:** ![Liang\_Ma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/liang_ma/32/66068_2.png) [@Liang\_Ma](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Liang_Ma)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 9:54am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-be-used-for-the-nominal-2d-picture-jpg-png-etc-label-or-annotation/30800/3 "2023-07-28T09:54:21Z")

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@fedorov Thanks–I just tried to load a png file, but got such error:

Error: Loading /xxx/Pictures/4.png - load failed.

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**Author:** ![waltbobrowski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@waltbobrowski](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/waltbobrowski)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-be-used-for-the-nominal-2d-picture-jpg-png-etc-label-or-annotation/30800/4 "2023-07-28T14:09:22Z")

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You may wish to consider using Imagej software in conjunction with the plugin, Annotator J.  
[https://www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/mbc.E20-02-0156](https://www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/mbc.E20-02-0156)

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**Author:** ![waltbobrowski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@waltbobrowski](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/waltbobrowski)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 2:30pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-be-used-for-the-nominal-2d-picture-jpg-png-etc-label-or-annotation/30800/5 "2023-07-28T14:30:57Z")

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Annotating images:

> **[Annotating Images](https://imagej.net/imagej-wiki-static/Annotating_Images)**
>
> All images for publications should include a scale bar. A standard size should be used for the scale bars on all images if possible to help avoid confusion.

Fiji Imagej download:

> **[Fiji Downloads](https://imagej.net/software/fiji/downloads)**
>
> The ImageJ wiki is a community-edited knowledge base on topics relating to ImageJ, a public domain program for processing and analyzing scientific images, and its ecosystem of derivatives and variants, including ImageJ2, Fiji, and others.

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**Author:** ![lassoan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lassoan/32/13_2.png) [@lassoan](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/lassoan)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/can-3d-slicer-be-used-for-the-nominal-2d-picture-jpg-png-etc-label-or-annotation/30800/6 "2023-07-28T20:07:20Z")

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> [@Liang\_Ma](#):
>
> Error: Loading /xxx/Pictures/4.png - load failed.

I’ve never come across a png image that Slicer could not load. Could you upload your image somewhere and post the link here?

> [@waltbobrowski](#):
>
> You may wish to consider using Imagej software in conjunction with the plugin, Annotator J.

If you need to annotate 2D microscopy images then indeed ImageJ (FIJI) could be a good choice (although it uses a restrictive (GPL) license and it is based on Java), or perhaps Napari is even better (it uses non-restrictive license and based on Python). Of course you can also use Slicer for 2D images, but Slicer’s unique strength is in working with 3D data (images, meshes, transforms, 3D annotations, etc.).