2010-11-22
When Molecular Devices's MetaMorph software exports colorized images in the TIFF file format, it creates 8-bit palette color TIFFs but neglects to embed the color palette in format that is readable by conventional image viewers. These files have the PhotometricInterpretation
field set to 3
(Palette Color), but are missing a corresponding ColorMap
field. Rather, the color palette is stored as comma-delimited text within the ImageDescription
field.
To view the image using its intended color palette, use ExifTool or a similar utility to extract the palette to a binary lookup table:
Open the image in ImageJ and then load the lookup table via Image → Color → Edit LUT → Open. The grayscale lookup table should be replaced by the palette created by MetaMorph:
A correctly formatted version of the image can then be exported via File → Save As.