Answers to Some Questions

Where can I find information about my SlideBook key (serial number, expiration date, modules)?

Launch SlideBook, click the ‘Support’ ribbon menu (at the top) then ‘About SlideBook’; this window will display the three/four digit serial number, the available modules, and the expiration date of the software support contract.You can also use About My Key to see more information.

How do I know which version of SlideBook I am using?

Launch SlideBook, click the ‘Support’ ribbon menu (at the top) then ‘About SlideBook’; this window will display the SlideBook version number.

What are SlideBook’s system requirements?

We recommend at least dual quad-core Xeon™ processors, 4GB DDR3 ECC RAM, 1GB graphics card, solid state disk (SSD) hard drive, and Windows 10 Professional.

What operating systems can run SlideBook?

SlideBook 5.5 and SlideBook 6 require Windows 7 Professional or Windows 10 Professional. SlideBook 5.0.0.22 and later can run on Windows XP 32-bit and Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit (recommended). Earlier versions of SlideBook 5 are compatible with Windows XP 32-bit.

Can I run SlideBook on my Mac?

SlideBook 4 was the last available version native to the Mac platform.

How do I create a bead slide?

Bead Slides are a useful tool in determining Point Spread Functions for optics. To create a bead slide, the following supplies are needed:

• Glass Slides
• Clear Nail Polish
• Cover Slip
• Pipetteman™
• Molecular Probes PS-Speck™ Microscope Point Source Kit *blue, green, orange, and deep red fluorescent beads*
• P-7220

Directions:

1. Dilute red, green, blue and orange beads 1:500 with DI water. Keep bead colors separate.
2. Add 50 ul of diluted beads to cover slip and allow to dry, one coverslip per color.
3. Add ~50 ul of mounting medium to dried beads.
4. Invert coverslip onto slide.
5. Wipe excess mounting medium from edges of cover glass and seal with clear nail polish, brushing in a single direction and overlapping the cover glass and slide.
6. Let dry and keep out of light as much as possible.
7. Store in freezer when possible.

How can I read SlideBook SLD files in ImageJ FIJI?

3i maintains a Bio-Formats plugin to import SLD files into FIJI by enabling an additional update site in FIJI. Using the latest version of FIJI/ImageJ and latest Bio-formats (version 5.2.0 and above) you will need to enable the SlideBook update site for SLD file import to work. The steps are:

1. select the ‘Help > Update…’ menu item

2. press the ‘Manage update sites’ button

3. find the ‘SlideBook’ update site (linked to http://sites.imagej.net/SlideBook/), and check to enable it

• 4. press the ‘Close’ button of the ‘Manage update sites’ dialog
• 5. press the ‘Apply changes’ button of the ‘ImageJ Updater’ dialog
• 6. restart Fiji

As noted above, to receive the latest Bio-Formats updates you must be running the latest version of FIJI. This requires that you have the ‘Java-8’ update site selected. New installations of FIJI have the ‘Java-8’ update site enabled by default.

Older installations will require repeating the steps above while selecting the ‘Java-8’ update site.
If you do not have the SlideBook update site enabled, you will get the error “File is not in a supported format, a reader plugin is not available, or it was not found.”

How can I read SlideBook SLD files using ImageJ?

We recommend using FIJI because Bio-Formats and many other useful plugins come pre-bundled. Contact 3i Support if you still need help reading SLD files in ImageJ.

What operating systems are supported by the Bio-Formats SlideBook 6 Reader plugin?

The plugin supports Windows x32 / x64, OS X and Linux x64 systems. If your operating system is not supported the error message “3i SlideBook 6 native SLD reader library not found” will appear. If you receive this error please contact 3i support for assistance.

Don’t see the answer
to your question?
We’re happy to help.