# Import pixelation

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/import-pixelation/2075>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [February 12, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/import-pixelation/2075 "2018-02-12T23:05:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@Ella](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/Ella)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/import-pixelation/2075/1 "2018-02-12T23:05:09Z")

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Hi there,

When I import DICOM data I have been finding that sometimes it pixelates some of the views. Does anyone know why and how to prevent this from happening?

 ![slicerforum](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/f/d/fd43ddfc27d571bed0bbe57a91bf55faa2a631f9.jpeg)  
Thanks

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**Author:** ![pieper](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/pieper/32/8_2.png) [@pieper](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/pieper)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2018, 11:34pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/import-pixelation/2075/2 "2018-02-12T23:34:37Z")

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That looks normal to me - probably the data is sampled less finely in the front to back axis - you can look at the pixel sizes in the Volumes module and you can see the original pixels by turning off interpolation in the slice controller (checkerboard button next to the volume name).

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/slicer/original/3X/f/e/feb3491285541e22fa13f6df44e3add665d2c1f9.jpeg)

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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:** [February 13, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/import-pixelation/2075/3 "2018-02-13T00:01:40Z")

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> [@Ella](#):
>
> how to prevent this from happening?

If you acquire more image slices (with less space between them) then you can have high resolution along all axes. However, acquiring more image slices would expose the patient to higher X-ray dose. Therefore, when imaging live patients, spacing between slices is often chosen to be 2-10x larger than pixel spacing within an image slice.