Manually Inspecting Plates

You can use the powerful optics in ROCK IMAGER to explore the contents of your plates at any time using the manual imaging controls.

Prerequisites

You have loaded the plate to ROCK IMAGER, scanned the barcode, and moved the plate to the desired imager (e.g. Visible, UV, FRAP, SONICC).
You have labeled your protein (Multi-Fluorescence Imaging only).

Note: If you are using ROCK IMAGER 2 or FRAP, you can inspect plates without scanning barcodes.

To Manually Inspect a Plate:

Before you can use any of the manual imaging controls, you have to put ROCK IMAGER into Manual Mode. To do so, go to the Scheduling menu and select Manual Mode.

On the Resume scheduled imaging window, choose from the following options:

The Imaging Mode Dialog Box

Select Automatically if you want the ROCK IMAGER to automatically revert to scheduled imaging after a certain amount of time. Type the desired number of minute(s) in the appropriate field shown in the orange box below, to set the time after which the Automatic Mode will resume.

Define the Time After Which Automatic Mode will Resume

Select Manually to stay in manual mode, then click OK on the notification that appears. The notification reminds you that you will need to manually go to the Scheduling menu and select Automatic Mode to resume Automatic imaging.

Reminder to Manually Switch Back to Automatic Mode

If you are not already on the Live Image tab, go to the Imager tab and click the Live Image sub-tab.
Under Camera Control, set Live Image to On by clicking the Live Image button.

Set Live Image to On

Use the Well Controls to explore the contents of your plate.
Use the Optics Controls and Camera Controls to fine-tune the live image.

Important: Leaving Live Image on for an extended period of time may cause thermal decomposition to samples.

Tip: To save a picture of a live image, go to the File menu and select Save As.

OPTIONAL: Click the Load Setting button to switch between different imaging settings. On the Load Setting window, select the desired image setting from the Select Imaging Setting list. Then, click OK to apply the image settings to the corresponding fields in the Optic Control and Camera Control panels. The image will change automatically to reflect the new image settings.

Note: The imaging settings are taken from your ROCK MAKER software, and imaging settings can only be created or modified in ROCK MAKER. See Defining Imaging Settings for more information.

Selecting an Imaging Setting for the Live Image in Manual Mode

To Manually Inspect a Plate with ROCK IMAGER 2 and FRAP:

In the Plate Control column, click Load Plate Type.

Plate Control

Select which slot(s) to inspect.

Select Slots

Select your plate type from the Plate Type menu.
Name your experiment.
Click OK. If you are selecting slot 1 and slot 2, you have to define the Plate Type and name your experiment for a plate in slot 2.
Under Camera Control, set Live Image to On by clicking the Live Image button.