CrystalSleuth is interactive software meant to read a previously created datafile created from Raman or Infrared spectroscopy or by X-ray diffraction. The file format should be plain text, line fed data-pairs with comma, space, or tab as the delimiter.

Toolbar Many of CrystalSleuth's functions are accessible from the toolbar near the top of the window.
Opening files Open a file with the "Open button" in the toolbar, or drag and drop a file into the program window. CrystalSleuth permits multiple files open in the same program instance. To open an additional file select Open Another from the File menu or press the "Open Another button."

Save and Print CrystalSleuth has the familiar save and print buttons, though several buttons may look unfamiliar.

(download toolbar cheat sheet.)

Modes There are four primary modes in which to use CrystalSleuth: File Manager mode, Edit mode, Raman mode, and X-ray diffraction mode. These can be accessed under the Mode Menu, or by their buttons.

Data handling tools
Reverse x-axis - This tool allows the user to toggle between ascending and descending values along the x-axis to accommodate whichever view is more convenient for the operator.
Reduce background - The background is reduced using a library called razor by Spectrum Square Associates.
Remove cosmic ray event [CRE] - The automatic CRE remover seeks very narrow spikes (that do not have the shape of a peak), and removes them. Because a CRE is the result of a very small particle exciting the detector, it inherently affects only one pixel. The automatic CRE remover will handily dispose of these unwanted artifacts. Due to certain software routines applied to the data by the collection software, these peaks can be artificially widened to more than one pixel. If this is the case, manually remove the CRE using the edit mode.

Zooming Patterns can be viewed in greater detail if the user zooms-in to a region. To zoom-in to a region the user must draw a box containing the portion of the pattern of interest. (Left Click, and drag, then release) To zoom-out, the user again draws a box, but this time, the box should not include any of the pattern. No special tool need be selected to draw a box. The program remembers up to twenty zoom positions. In order to zoom out from multiple zoom-in events, the user can repeatedly draw empty boxes, select the Zoom-out button from the File manager, or select Zoom Full from the right click menu.

Scrolling While zoomed-in the user can scroll left or right using the scroll buttons. The movement left or right is a shift of magnitude equal to one third of the window width. By default the vertical scale is automatically adjusted to fit the minimum and maximum data-points in the selected region, so relative intensity is less apparent while scrolling.

Trimming The user may wish to trim the data before reducing background for better results. Double-click near the edge to trim. Use the arrow keys to finely adjust left or right. From the right-click menu, select Trim, then choose to remove pixels left or right of the cursor position.

Raman Quick Start Open your file. Select Raman mode. Trim as desired. Click the background reduction button. If you have not yet done so, click the Compile button. Otherwise click the Search button. After a short while the searching is complete, and the user is presented with the best matches. Please remember that we cannot guarantee CrystalSleuth's use for the identification of minerals. This software shows the closest matches to samples within our database. It is entirely possible that the sample is not represented in our database, and also possible that the best achieved match belongs to a sample whose identity is not yet confirmed. Users are urged to follow-up on matches they receive to watch for updates.

X-ray Diffraction See X-ray diffraction help page.

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