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LabCanvas tutorials

Short, step-by-step guides for the things scientists do most: journal figures, DNA and protein visuals, zoom callouts, talks, 3D renders and statistics.

Figure editor

Make a journal figure at the right size

  1. Open the dashboard and start a new figure.
  2. Build panels with shapes, objects (Shift+O), equations and images; group each panel.
  3. Add panel letters with the Text tool (T) and align them with Arrange.
  4. Download: choose TIFF or PDF, the journal column width (for example 85 or 174 mm) and 300–600 dpi.
Open Figure editor
Figure editor

Draw DNA along a path

  1. Pick the Brush tool (B) and choose DNA double helix.
  2. Draw the path; it is smoothed into Bézier curves.
  3. In the Line settings set the form (B, A or Z), base-pair style, colours and an optional sequence.
  4. Use Expand to turn the brush into ordinary paths if you need to edit pieces.
Open Figure editor
Figure editor

Add a zoom lens callout

  1. Click Lens in the left toolbar: a magnifier appears with a ring on the area it enlarges.
  2. Drag the lens where you want it; the ring stays on the source.
  3. Double-click the lens and drag its small ring to magnify another spot.
  4. In the Design panel set the zoom, round or square shape, frame style and callout lines.
Open Figure editor
Slides

Present a talk with Slides

  1. Open Slides from the dashboard or the editor’s top bar.
  2. Add slides with Ctrl+M and pick a layout; paste figures from the editor with Ctrl+V.
  3. Set transitions and speaker notes in the slide panel.
  4. Press F5 to present, or export the deck as one vector PDF.
Open Slides
Poster Studio

Make a poster from a template

  1. Open Poster Studio and pick a template: Classic Academic, Elegant Academic, Modern Infographic, Gradient Panels, Dark Conference or Elegant Serif.
  2. Click a box, then click its text to type; drop figures and logos onto the poster.
  3. Drag a box by its heading to move it (to the edge of a column for a new column, between rows for a full-width box); drag the lines between boxes to resize.
  4. Pick colours, header design and fonts, then Export a vector PDF at the printed size.
Open Poster Studio
Poster

Make a conference poster

  1. Open Poster from the dashboard and pick a template (A0 classic, 48 × 36 in landscape, billboard…).
  2. Double-click any text to write; blocks grow with their text and the columns re-stack.
  3. Drag blocks from the Blocks panel onto the poster, between two blocks or into another column; drop images onto figure frames.
  4. Pick a theme and block style, then Export a vector PDF at the printed size.
Open Poster
3D Studio

Render a ray-traced nanoparticle

  1. Open the 3D Studio and choose Add › Nanomaterials.
  2. Drag a nanoparticle into the view and adjust its shape, lattice and ligands in the panel.
  3. Switch on Ray traced and wait for the image to refine.
  4. Export a PNG at 2× or 4×, or Add render to figure.
Open 3D Studio
3D Studio

Draw freehand in 3D

  1. Press B (or Draw in the toolbar) to start drawing.
  2. Choose where strokes go (on objects, on the floor or in the air), the width, colour, profile and taper.
  3. Drag in the view to draw; right-drag orbits the camera between strokes.
  4. Select a stroke and switch on Edit points to drag its control points; move it like any object.
Open 3D Studio
Protein viewer

Show a protein and highlight residues

  1. Enter a PDB ID such as 4HHB.
  2. Pick a style and colouring (for example cartoon by chain).
  3. Drag across residues on the sequence bar to select them and give them their own style.
  4. Download a transparent PNG or add it to your figure.
Open Protein viewer
Graphs

Run a one-way ANOVA with post-hoc tests

  1. Create a column table with example data or paste yours from Excel.
  2. Pick a graph such as Bars with points.
  3. In the Stats tab choose one-way ANOVA and Tukey or Dunnett comparisons.
  4. Significance brackets are drawn on the graph; Add to figure keeps it linked to the data.
Open Graphs

In-depth guides

What is LabCanvas? One workspace for scientific illustration, data and presentation

A guide to LabCanvas: ten connected apps for figures, molecules, 3D crystals, graphs, slides and posters, the workflows between them, ready-made templates, and why one editable canvas makes scientific illustration faster to learn and easier to change.

Read the guide

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