Scanning of 2D gels

1. gels were stored in water before they were used for scanning
2. gels were put on the scanner (upside down)with some water
3. after adding some more water on the gel, it was covered with a transparency and a sheet of white paper
4. in AdobePhotoshop Twain 32 was selectioned (File, Import, Twain 32) to open Agfa Photo Look, the scanning software needed to control the scanning process
5. the following points were considered when scanning: (preview mode)
   • the scanning area was adjusted to the size of the gel (scale100%)
   • the resolution was set to 300dpi (higher resolution results in larger files which are not convenient for the comparison software AIDA Proteomix)
   • brightness and contrast were adjusted (AIDA recongnizes spots better the background is weak no matter whether they are not very dark, avoid losing spots completely  when brightness is set too high)
6. gels were finally scanned pressing the scan buttom
7. in order to work with the scanned gel in PhotoShop, Agfa Photo Look had to be  closed
8. images were saved as tif files in PhotoShop