Preferences: AutoSave

Enabling autosave

Check the box to Enable AutoSave and create automatic backup copies of your data files.

AutoSave only saves data files. Data files contain links to the image directory and scaling information, but do not contain image data. Image data is saved and changes to images (such as those made with Image adjustment) are not automatically saved.

Autosave options

  • Every ... minutes

    Type a number into the box or use the arrows to indicate the number of minutes between periodic backups. If you set the interval to 5 minutes, a new backup file is created every 5 minutes, regardless of changes made.

  • Every ... data points

    Type a number into the box or use the arrows to indicate after how many data points have been placed a backup file is created.

    For backup purposes, a data point is an action related to tracing data.

    • Set the value to 0 to disable this option.
    • Each mouse click constitutes a single data-point event.
    • The continuous tracing method enters many points in a single sweep. Each sweep constitutes a single data-point event.

  • Backup file location

    Browse: Click to open the Browse for Folder dialog. Navigate to and select a location for your backup data files.

    Open location: Click to open the selected folder in Windows File Explorer.

    In addition to backup copies, the program generates a temporary data file that is stored in the folder intended for the data file. This temporary file can be retrieved in the event of a crash following a failed save operation; it is automatically deleted upon a successful save operation. The temporary file is indicated by a ~ (tilde) before the intended file name (e.g., ~control1.dat).

Recovering a backup

  1. Optional: If the file was created in Live Image mode, set the same reference point.
  2. Go to File>Preferences>AutoSave>Open location and close the Preferences window.
  3. In the Windows File Explorer window, click Date modified to sort by date.
  4. Click and drag the file you want to recover into the Neurolucida window to open it.
  5. Select File>Save as>Data file and save the file in the appropriate location (don’t save it in the AutoSave folder).
  6. Optional: Use Move>Joy Free to realign your tracings with the slide.