As humans, we are very sight oriented. As microscopists, we usually acquire data that is in the form of images. Since micrographs, or pictures, are what we deal with, we tend to become involved with the presentation of the data and its visual impact. When making a figure plate for publication, do you often find yourself moving images around, adjusting sizes, tonal gradations, and positions to achieve a more visually pleasing arrangement? Microscopy must be the most artistic of the sciences. We might like to have fun with our images, as well.

Images formed by electrons are collected on media that sees only if the electrons were there or not. Traditional electron micrographs are black and white images; photons are needed for the colors that we can detect.