When working on molecular models, clarity is everything. Whether you’re preparing material for publication, sharing insight with collaborators, or simply trying to keep track of atomic measurements during a simulation, visual readability matters. In SAMSON, the ability to measure distances, angles, torsions, and charges is powerful—but how these measurements appear on screen can make a big difference. Thankfully, SAMSON offers fine control over the appearance of measurement labels.
This post explores how you can customize the fonts, colors, and appearance of molecular measurement labels for enhanced clarity, professionalism, or simply personal preference.
Why Customize Measurement Labels?
Default settings work well for quick inspection. But in dense models or presentations, overlapping labels in the same color and font size can be hard to read. Label customizations help with:
- Improving visibility in zoomed-in or zoomed-out views
- Distinguishing different types of measurements or regions
- Preparing clean visuals for papers and presentations
- Following dynamic changes in live simulations
How It Works
Measurements in SAMSON—such as distances and angles—can be saved as labels. These labels can be inspected and modified in the Inspector. Here’s what you can change:
1. Label Font and Size
You can pick a different font or size for each label via the Inspector. This helps you emphasize certain values or unify your visual style across models.
2. Label Text Color
Set a custom color for the text part of the label. To reset it to default, click on the X icon next to “Text color”.
3. Distance Line and Plane Colors
You can also control the color of the visual elements associated with a measurement:
- Lines connecting atoms for distances
- Planes illustrating angles and dihedrals
In the Inspector, locate the label and adjust the “Line color”, “Angle color” or “Planes color” fields accordingly.
4. Resetting Styles
To quickly revert any custom color, simply double-click on the corresponding element in the Inspector. This will reset the color to its default value.
5. Default Preferences
If you’d like to change the default font or precision globally (e.g., number of decimal places for angles and distances), head to Preferences > Rendering > Labels from the main settings. There, you can standardize how all labels appear across documents unless manually customized.
Wrap-Up
Label customizations in SAMSON give molecular modelers better control over data representation. Whether it’s improving label legibility during dynamic simulations or enhancing the quality of figures for publications, customizing measurement visuals can streamline your work—and help others understand it too.
To learn more about measuring and labeling in SAMSON, visit the full documentation page at https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/measuring/.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.