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Populate your plates faster using the import and export tools
Populate your plates faster using the import and export tools

Populate your plates in bulk using the import function and copy plates in between experiments using the export function

Meirav Matto avatar
Written by Meirav Matto
Updated over a week ago


As an improvement to our plate designer element, you have the option to populate faster and in bulk the plates elements using the import and export plate templates

How to fill up my plates?

Create a new plate:

When adding a new plate element to your experiment/protocol, an option to import from Excel will be offered below the list of optional plate dimensions.
Download a new Excel import file template and populate it following the instructions given:

Please note the Plate Size, Rows, Column, and Inventory Collection columns are mandatory.

To help you populate the template:

  • Plate size - Fill in by entering the appropriate dimension for your plate.

  • In Row* (letters) and Column* (numbers) fill the data for the specific well.

  • Control - choose yes or no from the drop-down menu.

  • Inventory collection - You must fill in the name of the collection.

  • Inventory item SysID - If you wish to use a specific existing sample.

  • Inventory Item name - Write your sample name. If the system will find a matching name it will select the first available match. Otherwise it will create a new sample entry with that name.

  • Stock ID - If you wish to use an existing stock.

  • Stock Name - Write your stock name. If the system will find a matching name it will select the first available match. Otherwise it will create a new stock entry with that name.

  • Concentration - You can enter a numeric value.

  • Well annotation - Each well can have one annotation only.

For more tips on how to fill in the import table correctly look for the small red triangles in the headers of each column, and hover the pointer above them to open the explanation window.

Keep a copy on your computer or transfer a plate in between experiments 

You can use the export function to keep a copy of your plate in your computer or to copy an existing plate from one experiment to another.

Go to your plate element inside your section and click on Export Plate under the plate layout.

You will automatically get an Excel template file downloaded to your computer, that you can re-import in another experiment plate element.

Please note that a new element of samples and reagents is created when importing a Plate XLSX file.

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