How do I read an image file in .fits format and convert it to.png or .tiff?

I have images in .fits extension. I'd like to open it in matlab and convert it to other format such as .png or .tiff.

Any suggestion on how should I start?

Answer 1

[Mark Sherstan]

Use fitsread() and imwrite() if you need further help please post the file you are working with.

[Vanessa Phung]

Thank you for your comment, Mark and Chad.

Initially, I only get all ' solid color' for the image after imwrite.

However, I adjusted the contrast and save the image in .png using the codes as show here.

data = fitsread(filename,'primary');
% --rotate and flip image file--
data2 = imrotate(data,180);
data2= fliplr(data2);

% --for contrast to see image--
factor=0.1;
clow =min(data2(:));
chigh=max(data2(:))*factor;
clims = [clow chigh] ;
A=data2;
A=A-clims(1); 
A= A/clims(2)/factor; 

imwrite(A,'testinn.png', 'BitDepth', 16);
figure(1); imshow('testinn.png');

% --figure file save
h = figure(2);
set(h,'Visible',vkey);
img1= imagesc(data2, clims);colorbar;title(sprintf('fn:# %d',fnum));colormap(jet); 

%---save this figure in directory---%
print(h,'MySavedPlot','-dpng'); 

If you have any suggestions on getting the good contrast directly, I'd be happy to learn about it.

Using imagesc, I manage to get this. (max. is actually 23000, that's why I get poor contrast

initially)

Answer 2

[Chad Greene]

You should be able to read it with fitsread and then save it to png or tiff with imwrite.