User:Ben Mills/MakingMolecules

I've had a few messages on my talk page asking how to make 3D images of molecules like the ones I upload.

Here's how:

Either download and open an existing 3D file in a format such as .mol or .pdb.
Or draw a structure in ChemDraw (or equivalent), then copy and paste it to DS Visualizer, which will make it 3D for you.
Or, finally, in DS Visualizer, go View > Toolbars > Sketching and some pencil-like icons will appear. Use these to make add atoms, chains and rings of carbon atoms. Use the periodic table button, or right-click, to get a list of elements to which you can change any of these carbons.

Orient the molecule in the way you'd like it to appear in your final image
Choose a style in which to render your molecule: CPK (van der Waals radii), ball and stick, stick, polyhedra or wire
Check what you see in front of you is how you want the completed image to look
Select File > Save As and choose a filename
Set the file type as Image Files (*.png, *.jpg, *.jpeg, *.bmp)
Select an appropriately large image size - I use 1100px height
Save the image
Edit the image in, for example, Photoshop
Resize the image to something sensible for Wikipedia, like 1000px width
this is better than saving the image to 1000px width from DS Visualizer because it makes for a smoother, antialiased image
Add a border of 50px to top, bottom, left and right (i.e. 100px extra height and 100px extra width)
Save as a high-quality PNG-24 and upload to the Commons

If this is insufficient information to get you going, just let me know and I'll do my best to help.

Have fun making molecules!

Ben