Using MDPlot you can readily trace outlines or mark locations of objects using selected symbol types and colors while viewing through your microscope.

Results are displayed on your computer screen as you work.

Create tracings of multiple sections, sort them by Z-coordinate and view them in depth-cued order.

Measurements include counts of points, counts of points per unit area, distances, line lengths and areas.

Use annotation tools for drawing text, lines, rectangles, scale bars and section descriptors. Draw text in any supported TrueType font. Draw lines in different styles and colors with or without arrowheads.

Import MDPlot binary data files directly into Adobe Illustrator CS. This feature, which requires Illustrator v11.0 or higher, lets you load Digitizer data directly into Adobe's premier graphics program for further editing and annotation.

For those with programming skills, MDPlot's applications programming interface lets you add your own menu items to the program, directly access internal data and perform your own analysis of data. A free Software Development Kit is provided to assist in writing your own plug-in modules.

Major function categories in MDPlot 5.3 include File I/O, Preferences, Section Selection, Digitizer I/O, Status & Values, Data Editing, Annotations, Geometric Transformations, Print Output, Measurements and Help.

MDPlot 5.3 lets you view individual or multiple files (sections). Sections can be edited individually or as a group. Data from the MD3 Digitizer can be assigned to a new section or added to a previously recorded section.

During data acquisition, a change of point symbol, line symbol or color is as simple as clicking on an icon or pressing one of the keys on the MD3 keypad.

Pop-up tool boxes let you change symbols and colors, and transform coordinates using combinations of translation, rotation, scaling and flipping. Special section registration functions include alignment to a single x, y coordinate or alignment to two points using translation, rotation and scaling.

Measurements are performed by interactively selecting symbols from the screen and saving results in an on-screen spreadsheet.

Spreadsheets are saved to disk in tab-delimited format for import to popular spreadsheet software.