TLC RF Calculator

1. Load a plate image from the ELN or by uploading a local file.
2. Optional: click Plate Area and drag a box around the plate. Detect Lines and Detect Spots then ignore everything outside it, which helps a lot on photos with much background. It does not place the reference lines. While a plate area is set, lines and spots must stay inside it — drawing or redrawing the box clamps the lines to it and drops any spots that fall outside.
3. Click Detect Lines to propose the Min Line (baseline, where samples were spotted) and the Max Line (solvent front, how far the solvent ran), or place them yourself. Drag them into place if needed.
4. Click Detect Spots — it searches only between Min and Max — or Add Spots to mark spots. Review and adjust.
5. Optionally add V-Line (lane) and H-Line (compound) markers. Pick a type from the list, add free text, or both; click the ✎ beside a marker to change it later. Each spot is assigned to the nearest lane and compound marker. An unlabelled lane is left blank; an unmarked compound shows as “Unknown”.
6. Click Calculate RF, then export as CSV / image or send to the ELN.

Drag spots or lines to reposition; double-click (or double-tap on touch) a spot to delete it. Rf runs from 0 (on the baseline) to 1 (at the solvent front); spots outside that range are left out.

Crop view zooms the work area to the plate box for easier marking. It only affects what you see here — the saved image keeps its full original dimensions (including any rotation).

Results are numbered: the number beside each spot on the annotated image is the row number in the table and the CSV, sorted by lane label and then by Rf. Tick full labels to also print each spot's Rf, compound and lane on the image. Text size (10–500%) scales the labels in both the preview and the saved image, relative to the size auto-computed from the plate resolution.

Rotate (before you annotate): pick a quarter turn, then fine-tune the angle (±45°; the arrows step by 0.5°) until the baseline is level — Rf compares heights, so a tilted photo gives lane-dependent errors.

Your annotations are kept in this browser as you work: loading the same photo again offers to restore them. Annotations (export) saves them as a file; Open annotations loads such a file back onto the same photo.

Detected lines and spots are candidates from two trained models (TLC-LineDet and TLC-SpotDet). Nothing is calculated until you have reviewed them and clicked Calculate RF.

After you calculate, changing any annotation marks the results out of date — a banner appears and export is disabled until you click Calculate RF again, so you never save a stale image.

Undo / redo your edits with the toolbar buttons or Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y (Ctrl+Shift+Z).