What FlexiTrace Does

FlexiTrace is an application for digitizing data. In scientific/engineering work one often needs to digitize line plots, something versus time is typical, that were generated by others, or the original x-y data points are otherwise not available, e.g. "I just deleted that data file yesterday!"

FlexiTrace takes a scanned image (PICT) of the x-y plot, and using a few simple tools, aligns the plot, sets the axes’ scales, and digitizes (samples) the data at a user-specified rate. The resulting x-y data points can then be exported via the clipboard or written to an external file for plotting by other applications or for use in spreadsheets.

Thus FlexiTrace eliminates the need for a digitizing tablet and mouse for many digitizing applications. The need for a scanner to capture the image is a slight negative, although the scanner probably has wider application than a digitizing tablet. However, with the increasing number of fax machines attached to Macs, people with onboard fax software can "scan" images into their Macs by sending faxes to their Macs.