What is this "Pool" mentioned in Delta2D?

The "Pool" is the place and structure, where Delta2D saves your analysis data on your computer. You can think of it as some kind of database, although actually it is simply a folder containing subfolders and files in a certain defined structure. In this structure Delta2D saves:

• the imported gel images
• their meta data (description, import path, their association to sample, gel, channel, etc.)
• activation keys in case of consumable mode
• calibrations eventually connected to images
• their organizational structure in groups, projects, etc.
• their warping relationships (automatically found, manually specified, ...)
• spot boundaries and quantitations detected and calculated
• labels associated to them
• scout data

Right after installation Delta2D starts opening its demopool. This is a pool containing prepared demo data, intended to enable you to start right away when evaluating Delta2D. This demopool is created automatically by Delta2D for every new user starting Delta2D in his own user home, if it is not already there. Its exact location on your computer can be seen in Delta2D's Title Bar, which always shows the path to the pool you are currently working on.

For working with your own data, we always recommend to create your own pool; maybe on a place other users of this computer can access as well, so that they all can work at the same data. This way you are also aware of where your data is, e.g. for including it into backup plans.
Likewise we recommend to create a new pool if you are starting a completely new context, e.g. a new organism, whose gel images won't be compared to the existing ones anyway.

Create your own pool by choosing from Delta2D's main menu: 'Pool -> Change Pool', navigate to new place, click on "Create Folder", rename that folder and hit [OK] while the new folder is selected.

Images are saved in the pool and are organized in projects and groups within projects. If once imported, there is absolutely no need to re import an image again if you want to use it in another project. The image, and all work you (or somebody else) already invested in it (warping, detection, spot editing, quantification, labeling etc. ) is already there and can be reused in as many projects as you like. In a new project, simply create the groups as needed, right click on the group and pick "Add New Gel Images ...", and locate your image in the list of already imported images. You can use the search bar to type any part of the name or description of the image you are looking for.

The only exception, where a repeated import would make sense, is e.g. to compare intentionally two or more variants of the same image at the same time; e.g. with different despeckling or a different spot set.