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ARTiMiS Device

Where your samples are saved, and how to use a USB drive for extra space and exporting.

External Storage

Sample runs save images and per-particle data to the instrument, and these files add up quickly. Your ARTiMiS comes with a large built-in drive for sample storage, and you can plug in a USB drive for extra space or to carry samples to another computer.

Where your samples are saved

By default, ARTiMiS saves each run to its high-capacity internal storage. You don’t need to configure anything — it just works.

You can see and change where a run will be saved in the Save path field when you set up a run (the Configure panel on the Sample run bar in Operate). The field also shows how much free space remains at that location.

If the usual save location is ever full or unavailable, ARTiMiS automatically falls back to another writable drive so your run is never blocked — you’ll see a short notice when this happens.

Using a USB drive

Plug a USB drive into any USB port on the instrument. Within a few seconds it appears as an available storage location in the app — no setup or ejecting ritual required to start using it.

Once a drive is connected you can:

  • Save runs to it — pick the drive in the Save path field when configuring a run.
  • Browse to it — it shows up in the folder picker wherever you choose a location, along with its free space.
  • Export samples to it — see below.

Drive formats

Most common USB drives work out of the box. If a drive doesn’t appear:

  • Make sure it’s formatted with a common filesystem (exFAT is a safe, widely-compatible choice for drives you’ll move between computers).
  • Try re-inserting it, and give it a few seconds to be recognized.
  • Confirm the drive isn’t write-protected.

Tip: exFAT-formatted drives are readable on Windows, macOS, and Linux, which makes them the easiest choice for moving samples to another computer.

Exporting samples to a USB drive

To copy finished samples onto a USB drive:

  1. Plug in the drive and wait for it to be recognized.
  2. Go to Samples.
  3. Click Export…, then select the samples you want.
  4. Follow the wizard and choose your USB drive as the destination.

Each selected sample is copied as its own ZIP archive into an artimis-export folder on the drive. The export can optionally verify each copy before removing the original, which is a tidy way to free up space once you’re sure the copy is safe.

When the export finishes, you can unplug the drive and open the ZIP archives on any computer.

Freeing up space

If storage is running low:

  • Export older samples to a USB drive (above), optionally removing them from the instrument afterward.
  • Upload samples to your PhycoSight cloud organization from the sample page, then remove the local copy.
  • Plug in a USB or additional drive and point new runs at it via the Save path field.

If a run is blocked or warned because space is low, see the storage section of Troubleshooting.

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