Editing the appearance of your sequence maps

Although we think that the default appearance of sequence maps in MacVector is very pretty, sometimes the defaults are not to everybody’s taste! If you think this way, then changing how maps look is very easy. As usual with MacVector, there are many ways to quickly edit the appearance of a feature or multiple features. […]

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The Importance of Topology

MacVector understands the difference between circular DNA molecules and linear DNA molecules. Not just from the standpoint of how the molecule is displayed on the screen, but also in regard to how the analysis algorithms handle the junction at the ends of the circle. The Topology button controls the underlying linear versus circular state of […]

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How to increase the number of graphics levels to stop features overlapping.

MacVector tries to optimize the Map graphics layout using a trade-off between performance and minimizing unnecessary white space. Sometimes the default settings we have chosen are not ideal, particularly if you are looking at the Map tab of an Align To Reference window where you have a large number of reads overlapping the same region. […]

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The simplest way to export high quality graphics from the Map tab

So you’ve finally go the graphics for that new construct looking absolutely fabulous in MacVector and you want to get it into an image editing program (e.g. Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or even PowerPoint) ready for that critical presentation. How best to do it? The easiest way, by far, is to simply choose Edit->Copy to copy […]

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Tear-off Result Window Tabs

Starting with MacVector 13 all analysis results for an individual sequence are collected into a single tabbed result window to reduce window clutter. However, there are times when it is very convenient to have results displayed in side-by-side windows. For example, if you run a dot plot you can zoom in to view sections of […]

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The easiest way to get graphics out of MacVector

You can use MacVector to create beautiful graphical representations of sequences with control over colors, patterns, fonts, symbols and many other aspects of the layout. The easiest way to get the graphics into another application is to simply choose Edit | Copy, switch to the target application and then choose Edit | Paste. The graphics […]

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View sequences at the residue level in the Map tab

Many MacVector users do not realize that you can view sequences at the residue level in the Map tab as well as the Editor tab. This has the advantage that you can see restriction enzyme cut sites (including staggered sticky ends) along with the graphical display of features aligned to the residues. You can even […]

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Creating cloning construction flowcharts in third party applications

We’ve previously discussed how every ligation is documented. You get a “Frag” annotation that contains the date, source sequence, enzymes used and any end modification that was done to that fragment during the ligation. However, we had regular requests to make it easier for user to document their constructs in other ways. For example being […]

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101 things you (maybe) didn’t know about MacVector: #46 – How to increase the number of graphics layers in the Map tab

The graphical maps of heavily annotated sequences can get busy in a hurry. You may end up with so many features overlapping a specific location on a sequence that the graphical images for those features “pile up” on top of one another at the top or bottom of the display. While this can happen with […]

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101 things you (maybe) didn’t know about MacVector: #12 – Displaying Segmented Features

While most features you might encounter in DNA files have a simple start and stop location on the sequence, some features are segmented. For example, the coding sequence of a protein encoding reading frame containing introns is represented by a segmented CDS feature on the genomic DNA. MacVector has always understood that the individual segments […]

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