A crude workaround for converting a series of TIFF (or
conceivably any other image file format) to a single Bio-Rad
PIC file.  This may be of use to Zeiss users who wish to use
the Confocal Assistant software on a PC.
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1) Put all TIFF files relating to a confocal stack into a
separate directory.  Batch convert all TIFF files to RAW
format using a program such as PaintShop Pro (Windows) or
Display (DOS).  The input TIFF files should be simple 8-bit 
grayscale images, and the output files should be 8-bit,
1-byte per pixel.

2) concatenate all of the RAW image files togther using the
DOS COPY command:

  COPY /b *.RAW temp.RAW

...this assumes that all of the files are ordered (i.e. in 
ascending order, most likely with a number appended to the
file name.)  The /b switch ensures a binary file copy such
that no carriage return will be added to the end of the files
when they are concatenated.

3) add the 76-byte Bio-Rad header to the now single PIC file.
I have made a simple executable file called "header.exe" that
takes in a default, pre-configured Bio-Rad header file called
"biorad" to create a customized header file called "header".
When the "header.exe" file is run, it will prompt you for the
X and Y dimensions of the image(s), and the number of 
image(s) in the stack.  The "header" file will then be
created.  All that is needed after this is to concatenate the
"header" file and your image stack.  Note that the "biorad"
file must be in the same directory as the "header.exe"
program.

Assuming the image stack was called temp.RAW (as in step 2):

  COPY /b header+temp.RAW stack.pic

....the "stack.pic" file would then include the necessary
header plus all of your image files.

4) Load the "stack.pic" file into a program such as "Confocal
Assistant" in which you can create stacked projections, image
processing, create animations etc.

Regards,

--Lance.
