read data from picture

[retroscience]

i would liek to read data from a picture in form of numbers, the picture is of a light spot so the numbers are high in the centre where the spot is concentrated,what i would like to do is get a gradient in x and y of the max point , and then plot this gradiant in an intensity graph for both x vs mm and y vs mm. any tips?

[falkpl]

Picture to pixmap and Flatten Pixmap should get you what you want, also if you are using imaq you and use picture to array function.  You should be able to use matrix operations to generate your gradiants. 

[retroscience]

and what matrix property would you recommend to do this?