# Extract subset that is not a box from structured data

**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/extract-subset-that-is-not-a-box-from-structured-data/14497
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Created:** [April 26, 2024, 9:25am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/extract-subset-that-is-not-a-box-from-structured-data/14497 "2024-04-26T09:25:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Sandra](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/sandra/32/14247_2.png) [@Sandra](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Sandra)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2024, 9:25am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/extract-subset-that-is-not-a-box-from-structured-data/14497/1 "2024-04-26T09:25:18Z")

</div>

I know I can use the Extract Subset-filter to extract a box from a Structured Grid and the output will also be a Structured Grid. What do I do if I want to extract a more complex subset and still have the output be a Structured Grid? Are there other filters apart from Extract Subset I can use?

What I really want to do is compute the intersection of a Structured Grid with another object, a Polygonal Mesh for instance, and have the output be the Structured Grid with points in the intersection blanked. Is there any way to do that? If there isn’t any filter, can I use this function vtkBlankStructuredGridWithImage in the Python Shell somehow?

Here is an example of a Structured Grid and a sphere I would like to use to intersect the Structured Grid

 ![image](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/a/a97e8e96d0ed1dcaa5922339aae8aeafef348788.jpeg)  
 ![image](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/d/d2abdddc5da63014b9d53af4de1ccbe2fa241870.png)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2024, 9:29am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/extract-subset-that-is-not-a-box-from-structured-data/14497/2 "2024-04-26T09:29:23Z")

</div>

@Charles_Gueunet

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Charles\_Gueunet](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/charles_gueunet/32/40_2.png) [@Charles\_Gueunet](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Charles_Gueunet)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/extract-subset-that-is-not-a-box-from-structured-data/14497/3 "2024-04-29T13:41:34Z")

</div>

Hello @Sandra ,

You may try to expose the `vtkBlankStructuredGridWithImage` using an xml plugin.  
You may try this one:  
[BlankWithImage.xml](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/short-url/yGsqDgPhzwV2uEE11dtQhKWxFzc.xml) (1.8 KB)  
It is a quick a dirty example I have setup for the occasion, it may be improved.

Then, you would need your sphere as a cell data on an image with the same resolution, which will “crinkle” the shape:

 ![image](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/a/ade41fce474f8a0ed61d47541ee811dc57247ef6.png)

Best,  
Charles