4d — Open project

Startup ▸ Project initialization · 4d User Manual

← Back to “Projects and project modes”

The Open project wizard

When 4d starts, it opens the Project initialization wizard. All of 4d’s data and results live inside a project — a directory on a fast local disk — so the first step of every session is to open an existing project or create a new one. The ? button at the right end of the Open project title line opens this page.

The Open project page of the startup wizard with numbered regions 1 2 3 4 5 6
#RegionWhat it is and does
1Title rowThe Open project title. The “For HELP, click here” note and the ? button sit at its right end and open this page.
2InstructionsChoose (or define) the location on a large, fast hard drive where all project files will be stored.
3Add ProjectCreates a new project or registers an existing one — selecting it and clicking Next > leads to the Add project page below.
4Recent projectsThe projects 4d already knows, each with the icon of its program mode, its name, and its directory path. Select one and click Next > (or press Enter, or double-click) to open it.
5Version infoThe 4d version, revision, and build date.
6Next >Opens the selected project, or continues to the Add project page. The arrow keys move the selection; Enter triggers Next.

Adding a project

Choosing Add Project leads to the Add project page, where a new project is defined by three things: where it lives, what it is called, and which program mode it uses.

The Add project page of the startup wizard with numbered regions 1 2 3 4 5 6
#RegionWhat it is and does
1Title rowThe Add project title.
2Help buttonThe “For HELP, click here -->” note and the ? button, which opens this page.
3Project pathThe project directory — pick a location on a fast local disk with plenty of space, since all raw data, intermediate files, and results are processed here. The folder button at the right opens a directory browser. Pointing at an existing 4d project registers it instead of creating a new one.
4Project nameThe display name of the project (shown in the project list and the window title). It can be changed later with Rename Project on the Project tab.
5Project mode4D-STEM or Fibril picking — see Program modes below.
6Go Back / Next >Return to the project list, or create the project and open it.

Program modes: 4D-STEM and Fibril picking

The program mode chosen when a project is created tailors the whole application to a workflow: which processing scripts and tabs are offered, which parameters exist, and which columns the Library table shows. Each project’s mode is indicated by its icon in the project list.

4D-STEM

The main mode, for processing 4D scanning transmission electron microscopy data. A 4D-STEM dataset records a full 2D diffraction pattern (CBED pattern) at every probe position of a scanned area. In this mode 4d offers the complete reconstruction workflow: import of raw detector data into 4d’s HDF5 format, calibration, virtual-detector imaging (bright-field / dark-field), parallax imaging, integrated differential phase contrast (iDPC), and iterative electron ptychography with the SHARP pipeline and the reconstruction engines (py4DSTEM, Torchslice, PtychoBones, ePIE). It also adds the Planning tab for scan-pattern design before acquisition.

Fibril picking

A specialised mode for detecting and analysing amyloid fibrils in cryo-EM micrographs. A Fibril-picking project is designed to sit inside an existing RELION project: it points at RELION’s MotionCorr/ folder, works entirely within its own fibrilpicker/ subfolder, and does not touch RELION’s files. Fibrils are picked and traced in the maximized image inspection view with the Fibrils script section, and the resulting coordinates can be exported back for further processing in RELION.

The mode is set per project, not per installation — you can freely keep 4D-STEM and Fibril-picking projects side by side and switch between them via the project list. An existing project’s mode can be changed later with Change Project Mode on the Project tab (4d restarts to apply it, and parameters not present in the new mode may be dropped).