ScanImage® Docs

ScanImage® is a software package for controlling laser scanning microscopes. The application was first released in 2003 and the original version (r3.0) is described in Pologruto et al., Biomedical Engineering Online, 2003. See this list of papers that are enabled by ScanImage®.

ScanImage® uses the powerful vDAQ hardware for microscope control. For legacy systems, National Instruments hardware is also supported.

ScanImage® runs on custom built microscopes and on commercial microscopes from Scientifica, Sutter and Thorlabs. ScanImage® provides software drivers for controlling mechanical and optical devices from a wide variety of vendors.

Note

For legacy ScanImage® documentation (SI2019 and older), our documentation archive can be found here.

Getting started

• Review the hardware requirements

• Download ScanImage®

• Follow the configuration tutorial

The main documentation for the site is organized into the following sections:

General

• About
• Configuration
• Concepts

Learn about ScanImage, how to set up a microscope, and how ScanImage® uses configured devices.

Tutorials

• Configuration Tutorial
• Basic Features
• Premium Feature Tutorials
• Advanced Features

Learn about how to use ScanImage® features.

Appendix

• Safety
• Glossary
• Windows Reference Guide
• Output Files
• ScanImage® Utility Functions
• ScanImage® TiffReader

Solutions for common problems.

Solutions

• Solutions

Reference these pages to facilitate understanding of other content or learn about additional software related to ScanImage.