Software installation

The MLA™ can be controlled using the dedicated graphical user interface IMP MLA software or controlled using the Python API which comes bundled with the software. The software comes in two alternative packages “exe” and “zip”. The “exe” version comes bundeled with a Python environment and all the necessary modules and libraries, which make it easy to get started with. It is however limited to work on Windows operating systems and it is not possible to access the Python API from external scripts when using this version. It is also not possible to add additional Python modules for the internal script interface. For those cases the “zip” version, together with a user installed Python, should be used instead.

“exe” version

To install just double click on the installer file and follow the instructions. After installation is done you will have a link on the desktop called IMP MLA which start the software.

Note: You may be prompted with a warning that the installer file is not cryptographically signed with Microsoft. If you made sure you downloaded the file directly from an Intermodulation Products server (intermod.pro or intermodulation-products.com) you can be confident that the software is safe to run in any case.

“zip” version

This version requires installation of a Python environment on the system. On Windows and Mac OS we recommend Miniconda Python from Anaconda since they provide easy virtual environoment handling. The instructions below assume you are using Miniconda.

  • Extract the IMP MLA zip-file to a directory of your choice

  • Install Miniconda from https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html

  • Open an Anaconda Prompt

  • Create a dedicated Python environment for the software conda create -n imp python

    • If needed you can provide specific python version here, e.g. conda create -n imp python=3.10

  • Activate environment conda activate imp

  • Install required modules into the environment pip install wxpython numpy scipy matplotlib paramiko configobj

    • If you are installing the IMP Multifrequency AFM software (IMP AFM) some additional packages are needed pip install h5py scikit-learn

  • Change directory cd PATH where PATH is the directory where the zip was extracted to.

  • Start software using python start_mla.py (on Mac OS you may need pythonw start_mla.py)

When starting the software in the future you only need start Anaconda prompt, activate the environment and start the software from the correct path.