Micrograph

Not to be confused with Microphotograph.

100x light micrograph of Meissner's corpuscle at the tip of a dermal papillus.

40x micrograph of a canine rectum cross section.

A photomicrograph of a thin section of a limestone with ooids. The largest is approximately 1.2 mm in diameter. The red object in the lower left is a scale bar indicating relative size.

Approximately 10x micrograph of a doubled die on a coin, where the date was struck twice.

A micrograph or photomicrograph is a photograph or digital image taken through a microscope or similar device to show a magnified image of an item. This is opposed to a macrographic image, which is at a scale that is visible to the naked eye.

Neuropathologist Solomon C. Fuller designed and created the first photomicrograph in 1900.

Micrographs are widely used in all fields of microscopy.

Types

Photomicrograph

A light micrograph or photomicrograph is a micrograph prepared using an optical microscope, a process referred to as photomicroscopy. At a basic level, photomicroscopy may be performed simply by hooking up a regular camera to a microscope, thereby enabling the user to take photographs at reasonably high magnification.

Roman Vishniac was a pioneer in the field of photomicroscopy, specializing in the photography of living creatures in full motion. He also made major developments in light-interruption photography and color photomicroscopy.

Electron micrograph

An electron micrograph is a micrograph prepared using an electron microscope. However, the term electron micrograph is not used in electron microscopy. Common designation is a micrograph.

Digital micrography

Digital micrography is a digital picture obtained either directly with a microscope or by scanning of a photomicrograph. The terms usage is somewhat confusing, since today photo usually means digital photography anyway. Digital micrographs are now commonly obtained using a USB microscope attached directly to a home computer or laptop.

Today, an add-on three-in-one macro lens which has capability to take wide-angle, fish-eye and macro with 7x, 14x and 21x magnification can be attached on iPhone5/5s or 5th generation of iPod.

Magnification and micron bars

Micrographs usually have micron bars, or magnification ratios, or both.

Magnification is a ratio between size of object on a picture and its real size. Unfortunately, magnification is somewhat a misleading parameter. It depends on a final size of a printed picture, and therefore varies with variation in picture size. Editors of journals and magazines routinely resize a figure to fit the page, making any magnification number provided in the figure legend incorrect. A scale bar, or micron bar, is a bar of known length displayed on a picture. The bar can be used for measurements on a picture. When a picture is resized a bar is also resized. If a picture has a bar, the magnification can be easily calculated. Ideally, all pictures destined for publication/presentation should be supplied with a scale bar; the magnification ratio is optional. All but one (limestone) of the micrographs presented on this page do not have a micron bar; supplied magnification ratios are likely incorrect, as they were not calculated for pictures at the present size.

Gallery

• 
  Measurements of a large Colpodium at 400x.
• 
  Measurements of a large amoeba at 400x.
• 
  Snowflake micrograph by Wilson Bentley, 1890

See also

• Close-up
• Digital microscope
• Macro photography
• Microphotograph
• Microscopy
• USB microscope

External links

• Make a Micrograph – This presentation by the research department of Children's Hospital Boston shows how researchers create a three-color micrograph.
• Shots with a Microscope – a basic, comprehensive guide to photomicrography
• Scientific photomicrographs – free scientific quality photomicrographs by Doc. RNDr. Josef Reischig, CSc.
• Micrographs of 18 natural fibres by the International Year of Natural Fibres 2009
• Seeing Beyond the Human Eye Video produced by Off Book (web series)
• [1] - Solomon C. Fuller bio