Frequently asked questions

WSxM for free

Q: The WSxM program you can download from the web, has any use restriction?
A: Nanotec Electronica offers its WSxM Scanning Probe Microscopy Software to all community SPM and any other interested, free and without any restriction of use aside from the listed ones below:
  • It can not be used with commercial purposes without Nanotec's written consent.
  • Whenever WSxM is used to process data, analyze it or render images in a public presentation or scientific magazine, we would appreciate if it was cited as "I. Horcas, R. Fernandez, J.M. Gomez-Rodriguez, J. Colchero, J. Gomez-Herrero and A. M. Baro, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 78, 013705 (2007)" (see the article). By doing so you help keeping WSxM as a freeware application.

There is not any WSxM commercial version.

Q: If WSxM software is free, What does Nanotec Electronica sell?
A: WSxM software is free, but only in a half. You can use the half of the program dedicated to the image representation and processing, but the best part of the WSxM program: the Acquisition part, dedicated to the real time data acquisition with a SPM microscope, can only be used with the Cervantes Scanning Probe Microscope or the Dulcinea SPM Control System developed, manufactured and sold by Nanotec Electronica.

Files reading

Q: I have some WSxM files, but when I try to read them with the WSxM program, it does not recognize them.
A: There are different file formats for WSxM. Please go to the WSxM downloadpage and download the last WSxM version. Try to read the files with this version.
Q: I have SPM files from another company different from Nanotec Electronica. Can WSxM recognize them?
A: Nanotec Electrónica wants WSxM software to be useful for all the SPM community. With that target, Nanotec Electronica tries to recognize all the SPM file formats. In the WSxM download pageyou will find a list with all the file formats WSxM can read today.
Q: I have SPM files that don't appear in the list of file types WSxM can read. Is there any possibility for WSxM to be able to read them in the future?
A: First of all, try to download the last WSxM Develop version. It is possible that WSxM recognize them while they are not yet in the web list. If they are not recognized, please contact us and send us all the information you have about that file format, and some sample files. We will try to get WSxM recognizing them.
Q: WSxM can read my SPM files, but I think there is a problem with some image processing. Why can this happen?
A: Because of the great variety of SPM file types and versions, it is possible that some data is not correctly interpretated by WSxM. Please contact us sending the file and a description of the problem you found.
Q: Why WSxM cannot read bmp, jpeg, gif and other common image files?
A: Because a SPM image is a matrix of values that are represented assigning each value to a color given by a color table. The reverse process, assigning a value from a color without knowing what value corresponds to each color, it is not trivial. However WSxM can read grey scaled TIFF files.

Thumbnails

Q: I have installed last WSxM Develop, why can't I see thumbnails in Explorer?
A: In order to have WSxM Thumbnails working properly, you must have administrator rights when you install the software. In addition, this feature is only available in Windows 2000 and XP.
Q: How can I change the viewing settings for the images previewed?
A: In the Representation Settings of WSxM, you can change some parameters such as the filters that will be applied to the images.
Q: Can I add WSxM thumbnails feature to third-party files?
A: WSxM provides thumbnail preview for its own file types. However, you can also add this feature for third-party files by manually editing the windows registry.

Here is a way for adding such functionality:

  1. Be sure that you have WSxM installed (at least WSxM 4.0 Develop 7.2)
  2. Log on as administrator.
  3. Start Regedit. (Start menu --> Run --> Type "Regedit" + Enter)
  4. For each extension you want to register, add a new key to the registry, as follows:

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\YOUR_EXT\shellex\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}

    where YOUR_EXT must be something like .c2b, .tob, etc.

  5. Add a new value under the created key. This value must be 798E0AF5-2B85-4DD0-A177-A83F79E00982, and of type REG_SZ.

There is another way for registering the extension:

  1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 of the previous method.
  2. Write a plain text file (e. g. with Notepad) as following: REGEDIT4 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.c2b\shellex\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}] @="{798E0AF5-2B85-4DD0-A177-A83F79E00982}" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tof\shellex\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}] @="{798E0AF5-2B85-4DD0-A177-A83F79E00982}" ; You can register as many extensions as you want within the same file.
  3. Save this file as a registry file (e. g. my_ext.reg)
  4. Double-click the file to add the new entries to the registry.

Remarks:

  • Thumbnail preview of third-party files is not so tested as WSxM own file types, and may result in posible Windows Explorer crashes. Use it at your own risk.
  • Remember that WSxM thumbnails are only available in windows 2000 and XP. It will not work on earlier systems such as windows 98 and windows ME.
  • Note that these extensions will not be removed when WSxM is uninstalled, so you will have to remove them manually.
  • Nanotec Electronica S.L. is not responsible for any problems resulting from editing the Windows Registry; Modify it under your responsibility.

Deconvolution

Q: Why there is no a deconvolution process in WSxM?
A: Because the deconvolution process is not deterministic as shown in this document and any solution could be wrong.

Macintosh

Q: Can WSxM be run on Mac?
A: WSxM software is not compatible with Mac or Linux. However, some of its users have been able to work in these environments using emulators. For further information, please read the following document to learn more about the instructions to install WSxM under Mac OS.
 
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Nanotec Electrónica