If you’ve ever spent an afternoon adjusting representations, tweaking color schemes, and hiding unwanted atoms just to get a single static image of your molecular system that looks the way you want — you’re not alone. Molecular modelers often face a repetitive and time-consuming process just to make a structure presentation-ready. Visual presets in SAMSON were designed exactly to address this challenge.
Whether you’re preparing publication images, teaching materials, or just want a consistent view across projects, visual presets offer a simple way to achieve high-quality, customized representations with minimal effort.
Ready-made styles for molecular systems
In SAMSON, visual presets are pre-configured collections of settings that determine how a molecular system is displayed. These include choices about:
- What parts of the molecule are shown
- Which visual models are applied (e.g., ribbons, van der Waals, licorice)
- What color scheme is used (e.g., per chain, constant color)
- Whether certain nodes are hidden, labeled, or zoomed in
The result? A visual style applied in seconds that can reflect the kind of system you’re working with — like a protein-ligand complex, for example.
How to apply a visual preset
To apply a preset, simply go to Home > Visual preset or Visualization > Visual preset and choose one from the list. If nothing is selected in your document, the preset will apply to the entire molecular system. Otherwise, it will only affect the selected elements. This gives you fine control when needed, and speed when you prefer automation.
But what if the default isn’t quite right?
The real power of visual presets comes from creating your own. Let’s say you always want to highlight polar atoms in ligands with a constant color and apply a specific visual model to them — you can do that by creating a custom preset. Hop into Visual Preset Editor, and:
- Select the nodes you wish to focus on (e.g., ligands)
- Apply actions (like hiding all hydrogens or labeling key atoms)
- Choose a visual model (like “Licorice”)
- Pick a color scheme (say, “Per occupancy” or “Constant”)
Repeat this to add as many steps as needed. Once saved, your custom preset loads with SAMSON every time, becoming an extension of your own workflow.
Why this matters
Molecular visuals are often the first thing people see when reviewing your research. A clear, well-structured visual aids understanding, and when you can generate them in seconds, you focus more on exploring science — and less on fine-tuning scenes.
Visual presets bring consistency, efficiency, and customization to molecular modeling. You can easily switch between styles or share them across teams to ensure everyone works with the same visual language.
To explore all the options or create your own presets, check out the documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can get SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.