What is microscope software: The advantages and how to get started

Back when the microscope was first invented, you’d magnify something, adjust the microscope as needed to create a sharp image before noting your observations down and repeating the process for as long as you needed to. Today, inspections are much easier, accurate and faster with microscope software. The result? Improved efficiency, product quality and competitiveness.

To understand how that’s possible, we need to look at the following:

• What is microscope software?
• What are the advantages of using microscope software?
• What kind of microscopes offer microscope software?
• What microscope software options are available?
• What to consider when choosing microscope software?

What is microscope software?

Microscope software is an umbrella term that covers features on a microscope that allows it to do more than basic magnification. These features can be relatively simple, with increased accuracy or efficiency as the main output. Or they can be highly advanced and perform complex analyses, in turn producing levels of data you wouldn’t be able to produce otherwise.

What are the advantages of using microscope software?

Simply put, the advantage of using microscope software is that you’re able to do more than just magnify. Depending on which microscope software you’re using, additional advantages include:

• Increased efficiency
• Improved product output and reduced claim rates
• Simplified documentation processes
• Improved sample traceability

What kind of microscopes offer microscope software?

To run microscope software, the microscope itself needs to be digital. That is, it needs to have a digital display. This has a variety of benefits in and of itself, including easy documentation processes and improved ergonomics. However, a digital microscope isn’t just a digital microscope and it’s important to know how the microscope itself will affect your overall experience with the microscope software.

Here’s a few examples of why you should pay equal attention to choosing the right digital microscope and right microscope software:

• With digital microscope manufacturers typically offering their own microscope software, making sure that microscope itself can produce high quality images should always be your first point of concern. Without high quality images, you won’t be able to perform accurate analyses and inspections
• Does the microscope have a built-in screen or can you connect any size monitor to the microscope? To avoid straining your eyes, which will be tiring in the long run, looking at a big screen rather than a small built-in screen is preferable
• Can the microscope software run directly on the microscope or does it require a separate computer? If you have a small workstation, this factor alone may be enough to eliminate a microscope software from your list of options if it requires a separate computer

What microscope software options are available?

In today’s digital world, we’re certain that if you look long enough, you can find a microscope software option for all and every inspection process you can imagine. The only thing that’ll stand between you and your perfect microscope software is the price and, as mentioned above, what digital microscope you have or plan on using.

With this in mind, we won’t be able to provide a complete list of all microscope software available on the market. However, here’s a list of the most popular microscope software that we offer at TAGARNO:

Measurement

With the highly accurate Measurement software from TAGARNO, you can measure samples directly on the microscope instead of measuring them manually with a caliper. You can even highlight faulty areas of the sample and add annotations before saving a photo for documentation purposes.

Focus stacking

If you need to document your samples and findings, you can use the Focus stacking software to increase the focus depth of the digital microscope and create one ultra-sharp photo where the entire sample is in focus at the same time.

Presets

With microscope software, you can save your most used settings as a preset on the microscope. When recalling the presets, the microscope will automatically adjust itself to the settings saved in the preset. This is much quicker than having to adjust the microscope manually and creates consistency across all inspections.

Open API

Use the Open API to create a customized solution and exchange data between the microscope and other systems or applications without the involvement of the microscope manufacturer.

What to consider when choosing microscope software?

Knowing which microscope software to choose can be difficult. To help you find the right fit for your needs, you need to consider the following:

What are you trying to solve?

The first step when researching microscope software is defining the challenge you’re trying to solve and what your end goal is. Knowing why you’re looking for microscope software and what it needs to do will help you filter through the many microscope software options that are available.

What is the value of solving your issue?

Similarly, knowing what value the right microscope software will bring to your business will help you determine how advanced the microscope software needs to be: If the issue is critical to your business, advanced microscope software and an equally advanced microscope might be necessary. However, if the issue is not of critical importance or you’re satisfied with a relatively simple solution rather than a fully automated one, there’s a lot of money to be saved. In other words, don’t be overwhelmed by the wide range of microscope software options. Instead, keep your focus on the issue at hand and how much you really need to invest to solve it.

Can you use your current equipment?

If you have a digital microscope already, there’s a good chance that the manufacturer offers microscope software for it. We recommend exploring these options first. However, don’t restrict yourself to only that one manufacturer’s microscope software. Choosing a new microscope to gain access to other microscope software options might be the better solution even though it means a bigger up-front investment.

What’s included and what are add-ons?

Lastly, make sure to look at the fine print and what you’re paying for when purchasing a digital microscope. Chances are that some microscope software are included in the price of the microscope, while other features are available as add-ons. Add everything up as you’re comparing the prices of different microscopes to get the most accurate overview of your expected costs.

Start using microscope software today

If you’re confident microscope software is the right step for your business, we encourage you to explore our full range of microscope software options.

There’s more to read

You can also dive into some of other blogposts. We’ve listed a few options for you below that you think you might find interesting.