View ND2 files in your browser
The file Nikon's microscopes save through NIS-Elements, from time-lapses to multi-point screens. Open one right here, each channel in its color. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your image opens with each channel in its own color, mixed as the microscope's software shows them, with Z, time and scenes on sliders.
- Channels • Each in its color with its own levels
- Z, time and scenes • A slider each
- Measure • Lengths in µm, with a scale bar
- Export • Save the view as PNG or the plane as OME-TIFF
About ND2
Nikon's NIS-Elements saves what its Eclipse and Ti2 microscopes, A1 and AX confocals and spinning disks take as ND2. A long time-lapse, a Z stack at many stage positions or a screen of a whole plate often fits in a single file.
An ND2 is a chain of chunks with a map of them at its end. The attributes say each frame's size and depth, the experiment says how time, stage points and Z nest, the picture metadata names the channels, their colors and the pixel's size, and each frame's pixels sit in a chunk of their own, plain or packed losslessly.
Filepeek reads it in your browser. Each stage point is an image of its own under Images, each channel is mixed in its color on your graphics card with its own levels, Z and time go on sliders, Measure gives lengths in µm, and Export saves the view as PNG or the plane as OME-TIFF.
Nikon NIS-Elements ND2
.nd2
Format
- MIME type
- application/octet-stream
- Made by
- Nikon, for its NIS-Elements software
Inside the file
- Pixels
- 8, 16 or 32 bit, or color
- Holds
- Channels, Z, time and stage points
- Packed
- Plain or lossless
- Metadata
- The experiment and its optics
Opens in every browser
Filepeek opens ND2 in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. No browser shows it by itself.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open ND2
- WindowsNIS-Elements Viewer, free • Fiji with Bio-Formats, free
- MacNIS-Elements Viewer, free • Fiji with Bio-Formats, free
- iPhone and iPadNo app built in opens it
- AndroidNo app built in opens it
Questions
How do I open an ND2 file?
Drop it on this page or press Peek an ND2. It opens with each channel in its color, and only the frames on show are read, so a time-lapse of many GB opens too.
Where are my other stage positions?
Each XY point of a multi-point run is an image of its own under Images, named as NIS-Elements named it, and the Scene slider steps through them.
Why is my ND2 black in other apps?
Nikon's cameras keep 12 to 16 bits, far more levels than a screen shows. Filepeek sets each channel's levels from its own values, and Auto in Channels sets them again for the plane on show.
Can I play the time-lapse?
Drag the Time slider under the picture to move through it, with the time since the start beside it when the file keeps the interval.
Which ND2 files don't open?
Files saved with lossy compression and the oldest ND2 files, which keep their frames as JPEG 2000, don't. NIS-Elements opens them and can save them again as a plain ND2 or TIFF.