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OPEN SOURCE · ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

PyReconstruct

An open-source desktop application for tracing, annotating, and 3D reconstruction of serial-section and volume electron microscopy (EM) data.

Windows, macOS & Linux Free and open source

Who it's for

Neuroscientists and EM researchers who trace neural structures across stacks of serial sections, measure morphology, and build 3D reconstructions of cells, organelles, and synapses.

01

Trace & annotate

Outline structures across serial sections. Refine segmentation, organize objects, and keep your annotations together.

Learn the tracing tools

02

Align & reconstruct

Align your image stack and build 3D views to understand how structures connect across sections.

Explore 3D reconstruction

03

Measure & explore

Inspect object measurements and work with large autosegmented series in the .jser series format.

Work with your data

Install

Stable release v1.22.3. Choose the build for your computer.

Windows

64-bit · Windows 10 or later

Download for Windows

Includes Python. Builds are unsigned; see the first-launch instructions if Windows shows a SmartScreen warning.

macOS

macOS 12 or later

Apple Silicon Intel

Includes Python. See the first-launch instructions.

Linux

64-bit · glibc 2.28 or later

Download for Linux

Requires Python 3.11. Extract and run bash install.sh.

Installation help · All releases & checksums · Stable & Beta channels

About this distribution

PyReconstruct is the modern successor to Reconstruct. This site documents an independently maintained distribution that tracks SynapseWeb/PyReconstruct, with performance improvements, installers, and ongoing interface updates.

Citation

The upstream PyReconstruct project was developed in the Kristen Harris Lab at The University of Texas at Austin and introduced in PNAS (2025).

Read the paper · Project credits