<h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 2.4em; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; color: var(--iq-title-text); letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">How to Create a Z Stack in Gen5 Image+ Data Analysis Software</h1>
<p><img style="box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: middle; border-style: none; max-width: 42%; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff; margin: 0px 10px; max-height: 364px; width: auto; height: auto;" src="https://i.imgur.com/88Q8xbO.jpg" alt="z stack" align="right" /></p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Using a Z-stack is a great way to visualize an object. It produces sharper images that can be combined to produce a realistic 3D impression of a structure.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">There are two ways to do this. First, you can use a software program such as Gen5 Image+ Data Analysis Software. Second, you can perform the process manually. In both cases, you will need to set the following parameters.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">The "Crop" function, found under the "Process Tools" section, is a fancy name for a simple program that identifies selected frames. This process is useful when you are performing a montage, as it shows all of your frames in a streamlined, compact frame.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">The "Image Z-Stack" function, found under the "Images" tab, is a more advanced method that produces a stacked picture of your sample. It allows you to select the number of slices through the structure and then to choose the start and end slices.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">In the "Editing" tab, you can also adjust the grain. This is important, as it determines the level of detail in your images. The z-stack can be created in monochrome, and a color can be added to represent the z-depth.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">For this test, I used 41 images. Each image was scanned at 0.366 mm of focal plane. The average z-pixel profile showed a different focal signature for each class.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">The "Multi-orthoslice" and "Volume" functions, both under the "Display" tab, are useful for viewing images and adjusting slices. You can do this by selecting a single image or a group of images. You can also change the display mode by clicking the "Edit" icon and choosing the desired display type.</p>