For molecular modelers, clear annotations can make the difference between smooth communication of insights and endless guesswork. Whether you want to identify specific atoms, highlight residues, or mark domains in your molecule, SAMSON offers robust label customization functionality to enhance clarity and streamline your work. Here is a dive into how to efficiently customize labels to make your molecular models more informative and aesthetic.
Why Labels Are Important
Labels act as visual guides to describe nodes or groups of nodes in your molecular model. For example, they can mark the names of molecules, identify residues, or highlight measurements like angles or distances. But what happens when labels clutter your workspace or fail to complement the visual style of your molecular representation? This is where customization options come into play, allowing you to fine-tune the appearance of labels according to your needs.
How to Change the Font of Labels
One of the easiest ways to make labels more readable or visually appealing is to modify their font settings. SAMSON provides flexible controls to adjust the font for all labels or target specific labels.
To change the font universally, follow these steps:
- Navigate to Preferences by going to Preferences > Rendering > Labels.
- Here, you can select a new font type, customize the number of decimal places for numerical values (useful for measurements), and apply these changes globally to all applicable labels.
To adjust the font for a single label or a specific group of labels, use the Inspector:
- Select the label(s) you’d like to modify.
- In the Inspector, click on Choose font… to select a new font.
- If you want to apply this to multiple labels at once, choose Edit all selected nodes within the same menu.
If needed, you can quickly reset the labels’ font to SAMSON’s default by double-clicking the Font option in the Inspector, as demonstrated below:
Conclusion
Customizing fonts is just one aspect of label adjustments in SAMSON. This essential feature ensures you can easily refine the clarity and visual impact of your molecular models. Whether you’re preparing a presentation, composing a publication, or simply organizing your molecular workspace, these tools will help you build clear, professional annotations in no time.
To discover more about label customization or other functionalities, visit the full documentation on labeling in SAMSON. Dive into SAMSON today for a smoother, more powerful molecular modeling experience.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON here.