Choosing the right molecular visualization style can be unexpectedly time-consuming. From setting up color schemes to applying visual representations, it’s easy to get lost in the details — or worse, struggle to reproduce previous results. If you need a quick way to produce consistent, informative, or even publication-ready visuals, visual presets in SAMSON can save you hours.
Visual presets are predefined combinations of styles that you can apply in a couple of clicks. These presets instantly set up multiple visual models, colorizations, and rendering parameters tailored to common use cases like protein-ligand systems, DNA, and overall presentation clarity. You can even customize and save your own presets to reuse across projects — ensuring visual consistency and saving time.
Why Visual Presets Matter
Recreating the same visualization setup for presentation slides or publications can be tricky, especially in complex systems. With visual presets, you can:
- Apply consistent styling across sessions and projects.
- Save time by avoiding repetitive setup tasks.
- Communicate better by choosing templates optimized for certain kinds of molecular systems (e.g., highlighting ligands or showing secondary structure ribbons).
How to Apply a Visual Preset
To apply a preset, simply go to Visualization > Visual preset and choose from one of the default options. For example, the Protein-ligand preset shows a clear depiction of binding sites and ligand placement in complex systems, as shown in the animation below:
Beyond Defaults: Create Your Own Presets
SAMSON also lets you customize and save your own visual presets. Once you’ve adjusted the desired models, colors, and rendering options, you can save this configuration as a new preset. Next time you load a molecular system, just apply that preset and regain your preferred style in seconds.
Illustrative Style: A Special Highlight
Looking for something closer to the iconic Molecule of the Month figures? Try the Illustrate… visual preset. It mimics the hand-drawn, vibrant look popularized by David S. Goodsell, using van der Waals models with coloring by chain ID:
Used alongside the Illustrative rendering preset (under Visualization > Presets > Illustrative), you can even emulate artistic shading styles, complete with ambient occlusion and depth cues:
Tips for Efficient Use
- Combine visual presets with custom colorization for advanced control.
- Use presets as a base, then tweak them and save under new names.
- Don’t forget that presets affect both visual models and rendering effects (lighting, fog, etc.).
Next time you launch SAMSON, try applying a visual preset to your structures before doing anything else. Whether you’re working on a figure, preparing a lecture slide, or just trying to focus on key biomolecular interactions, presets make a difference.
To learn more about visual presets, visit the documentation or explore the complete Visualizing section here.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.