---
name: "slidetool"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "openslide"
version: "4.0.1-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/slidetool"
---

# slidetool(1)

Retrieve data from whole slide images

## NAME

slidetool - Retrieve data from whole slide images

## SYNOPSIS

**slidetool** \[**--help**\] \[**--version**\]\
 **slidetool assoc icc read** *file name* \[*output-file*\]\
 **slidetool assoc list** *file*...\
 **slidetool assoc read** *file name* \[*output-file*\]\
 **slidetool prop get** *property file*...\
 **slidetool prop list** \[**--names**\] *file*...\
 **slidetool region icc read** *file* \[*output-file*\]\
 **slidetool region read** *file x y level width height* \[*output-file*\]\
 **slidetool slide open** *file*...\
 **slidetool slide quickhash1** *file*...\
 **slidetool slide vendor** *file*...

## DESCRIPTION

**slidetool** uses OpenSlide to retrieve data from whole slide images, also known as virtual slide files.

### slidetool assoc icc read

Write the associated image's ICC color profile to *output-file* if specified, and otherwise to standard output. If no ICC color profile is available, fail.

### slidetool assoc list

List associated images for one or more slides. Associated images are small non-pyramidal images containing additional information about the slide, such as its label.

### slidetool assoc read

Write the associated image with the specified *name* to a PNG image. If *output-file* is not specified, the image will be written to standard output.

### slidetool prop get

Print a single OpenSlide property value for one or more slides. Properties are individual pieces of textual metadata about the slide. Properties prefixed with *openslide.* are defined by OpenSlide; others are defined by the individual slide format.

### slidetool prop list

Print all OpenSlide properties for one or more slides.

### slidetool region icc read

Write the slide's ICC color profile to *output-file* if specified, and otherwise to standard output. If no ICC color profile is available, fail.

### slidetool region read

Write a region of the specified *level* of a slide to a PNG image. *x* and *y* are pixel coordinates in level 0, the highest-resolution slide level. *width* and *height* are pixel dimensions in the specified *level*. If *output-file* is not specified, the image will be written to standard output.

The dimensions of each level of a slide can be obtained with **slidetool prop list**.

### slidetool slide open

Check whether OpenSlide can open one or more slide files.

### slidetool slide quickhash1

Print OpenSlide *quickhash-1* checksums for one or more slides, in a format similar to [**sha256sum**(1)](/sha256sum/1.md).

*quickhash-1* is a non-cryptographic, 256-bit hash of a subset of a slide's data. It uniquely identifies a particular slide, but cannot be used to detect corruption or modification of the slide file.

*quickhash-1* is not defined for all slide files supported by OpenSlide. If a slide does not have a *quickhash-1*, "No quickhash-1 available" will be printed.

### slidetool slide vendor

Report the detected OpenSlide vendor name for one or more slide files.

## OPTIONS

- **--help**

  Display usage summary.

- **--names**

  For **slidetool prop list**, omit property values.

- **--version**

  Display version and copyright information.

## EXIT STATUS

**slidetool** returns 0 on success, 1 if a slide file could not be read, or 2 if the arguments are invalid.

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2007-2026 Carnegie Mellon University and others

OpenSlide is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the

OpenSlide comes with NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.

## SEE ALSO

[**openslide-quickhash1sum**(1)](/openslide-quickhash1sum/1.md), [**openslide-show-properties**(1)](/openslide-show-properties/1.md), [**openslide-write-png**(1)](/openslide-write-png/1.md), [**sha256sum**(1)](/sha256sum/1.md)