Empiria Studio® Software Quick Start

This guide will get you started using Empiria Studio Software to analyze images from an Odyssey Imager or C‑DiGit Blot Scanner.

The LI‑COR® Acquisition Software Quick Start Guide covers getting started with image acquisition.

Create a LI‑COR Account

If you haven't already, create a LI‑COR Account at licor.com/GetEmpiria. You can then purchase Empiria Studio or use your access code.

Download and Install Empiria Studio

Download Empiria Studio at licor.com/EmpiriaStudioDownload (available for macOS or Windows) and install.

Ensure you have the correct permissions to install software on the computer you want to use, and ensure that your computer has the required specifications.

Required

  • A minimum of 8 GB RAM is required.

  • A minimum of 1 TB hard drive is required.

  • Windows 10 (64-bit) and Windows 11 (64-bit) are supported.

  • macOS Catalina (10.15.7) and Monterey (12.6) are supported. Empiria Studio is supported on Monterey on both Intel and M1 (Apple Silicon) processors.

Recommended

  • Screen size: Certain components of the Empiria Studio user interface will not display optimally on screen sizes below 1320 x 800 pixels. A screen size of 1920 x 1080 is better for viewing entire plate images for analysis.

  • Dedicated graphics hardware will improve computer performance when working with large, high resolution images. Slide images are likely to be large, high resolution images.

Start Empiria Studio

  1. Double-click the Empiria Studio icon Empiria Studio logo on the Desktop.

  2. Sign in using your LI‑COR Account credentials.

Create a Data Folder

After signing in, you will be prompted to create a Data Folder A folder on your computer's hard drive where internal Empiria Studio data will be saved. for Empiria Studio to store internal software data. Follow guidelines shown in the software.

Do not put your Data Folder on a network drive or in a folder that automatically syncs with the cloud. Software can be slow when accessing network folders, and data can be lost if multiple people access the data simultaneously.

  1. Open the Windows File Explorer Windows file explorer icon or macOS Finder.

  2. Create an overall folder (e.g. "Empiria Studio Data Folders") to hold Analysis Data Folders, then create a Data Folder within the overall folder (e.g. "Data Folder 1").

    Empiria Studio data folder structure
    Figure 180. Example Data Folder Structure. You and your research group must choose a folder structure that works for you.

  3. In Empiria Studio, select the Data Folder (e.g. "Data Folder 1").

Create a Project Empiria Studio projects icon

From the Home page, click Project and create a Project Projects contain Experiments. A Project is needed to begin analysis.. A Project is needed to begin analysis.

Import Acquisitions from LI‑COR Acquisition Software

  1. Return to the Home page.

  2. Open the Image Gallery Image gallery icon.

  3. In the Image Gallery, click Import LI-COR Zip Files to import Zip Files exported from LI‑COR Acquisition.

  4. Select files to import.

Analyze images

  1. Return to the Home page.

  2. Open Projects Empiria Studio projects icon and then open the Project you just created.

  3. Click Create New Experiment to start analysis.

  4. Click the Assay type for the Acquisition you imported to analyze images in that Acquisition.

    Multiwell Plate Multiwell Plate Experiment types include: In-Cell Western Assays (also used for On-Cell Western assays), ELISA, and Cell Analysis.

    Quantitative Western Blot Makes relative comparisons between protein samples to accurately measure changes in protein expression.

    Qualitative Western Blot Use Qualitative Western Blot Experiment workflows for lane and band signal analysis.

    Signal Analysis Use the Signal Analysis workflow to analyze assays such as dot blots and slot blots.

    Protein Gel Analyze a protein gel image.

    Nucleic Acid Gel Analyze a nucleic acid gel image.

    Microscope Slide Examine, organize, and annotate slide images.

  5. Follow the steps in the Experiment workflow to analyze your assay.

    Each column header of the Analysis Table includes a tooltip with a summary about how quantification and other values were calculated. Hover over the header to see the calculation summary.

Export Data and Images

After completing the Experiment workflow, the results will be available on the Review and report page.

  • Click the Export button above a table to export a CSV file or a spreadsheet file.

  • Click the Export button above an image to export a TIFF or PNG image. These image formats should not be used for analysis.

On the right side of the window, there is a menu with three export options.

  • Click PDF Report to export a PDF of the images and data on the Review and report page.

  • Click Experiment File to export all the images, quantification steps, and data from this Experiment to a single file that can be imported into Empiria Studio on another computer.

  • Click All Report Images to export all images from the Experiment to separate files for use in print publications or digital media (such as a slide presentation). Do not use these images for analysis.

    In the export dialog, click Browse to find a parent folder for the images and enter a name for a new folder in the Folder Name field. The images will be exported into the new folder, which will be inside the parent folder.