# Distance between slices 

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730>\
**Category:** Support\
**Tags:** segmentation\
**Created:** [July 21, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730 "2023-07-21T17:08:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lindee\_Wilson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lindee_wilson/32/66911_2.png) [@Lindee\_Wilson](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Lindee_Wilson)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/1 "2023-07-21T17:08:31Z")

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Hi,

I am currently segmenting something from a screenshot. Therefore, it is a 2D image. I am wanting to make it into a 2D surface mesh. I was told since 3D slicer will only export as 3D .stl files, to duplicate the segment and put distance between them. As a beginner, I really have no idea how to do that. Could you help?

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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 21, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/2 "2023-07-21T17:09:58Z")

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What would you like to segment on what kind of images?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lindee\_Wilson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lindee_wilson/32/66911_2.png) [@Lindee\_Wilson](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Lindee_Wilson)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/3 "2023-07-21T19:24:13Z")

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I am trying to segment some tissue from a jpeg file.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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 21, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/4 "2023-07-21T19:26:03Z")

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What is the imaging modality? What would you like to segment? Do you have some constraints (maximum time, required accuracy, available operator expertise, …)?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lindee\_Wilson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lindee_wilson/32/66911_2.png) [@Lindee\_Wilson](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Lindee_Wilson)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/5 "2023-07-21T19:30:07Z")

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I am very much a beginner. Can you explain what you’re meaning by imaging modality?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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 21, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/6 "2023-07-21T19:30:58Z")

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Imaging modality: CT, MRI, ultrasound, microscopy, etc.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lindee\_Wilson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lindee_wilson/32/66911_2.png) [@Lindee\_Wilson](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Lindee_Wilson)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/7 "2023-07-21T19:33:55Z")

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CT. But I only have singular slice

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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 21, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/8 "2023-07-21T19:37:17Z")

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What would you like to segment? Do you have some constraints (maximum time, required accuracy, available operator expertise, …)?

Could you attach a screenshot of an image with an example segmentation?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lindee\_Wilson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lindee_wilson/32/66911_2.png) [@Lindee\_Wilson](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Lindee_Wilson)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/9 "2023-07-21T19:43:38Z")

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I am segmenting collagen beams. I do not know anything about constraints. I segmented the beams and made a model. I was told to overlay a second segmentation of the same beams 30 micrometers above the first. I was wondering if there was any way to do that with only one image slice.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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 21, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/10 "2023-07-21T19:45:17Z")

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If you don’t have any constraints - you have the necessary expertise to segment what you need with sufficient accuracy and you can spend as much time with it as needed - then you can use existing segmentation tools in Segment Editor to manually segment the image.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lindee\_Wilson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lindee_wilson/32/66911_2.png) [@Lindee\_Wilson](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Lindee_Wilson)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/11 "2023-07-21T19:47:02Z")

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This still doesn’t answer my question, though. My segmentation is done the way I need it to be done.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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 21, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/12 "2023-07-21T19:53:19Z")

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You can add the same slice to a volume by adding a filename similar to the original one (for example, image001.jpg, image002.jpg) and load it with `Single slice` option disabled.

For a thicker slice, you don’t need to duplicate slices, but you can set a larger spacing value for the third axis.

If this does not fully answer you question then please draw a sketch or explain it in more detail what you want to achieve. Why do you want to overlay a “second segmentation”? What is the overall goal of your project? How this specific task (“overlaying a second segmentation 30 micrometer above the first”) will help you to achieve that?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lindee\_Wilson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/lindee_wilson/32/66911_2.png) [@Lindee\_Wilson](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Lindee_Wilson)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/13 "2023-07-21T20:02:24Z")

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I will try the larger spacing value route. How do I do that?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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 22, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/distance-between-slices/30730/14 "2023-07-22T00:51:11Z")

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You can set the image spacing values in `Volumes` module, in the `Volume information` section.