###What is Spectral Workbench?

[SpectralWorkbench.org](https://spectralworkbench.org) is a web based application to collect, archive, share, and analyze spectral data, for Public Lab [DIY spectrometers](/wiki/spectrometer) and other spectrometers.                                                                                                                                                   

With it, you can:

* connect your USB [Desktop Spectrometry Kit](/wiki/desktop-spectrometry-kit-3-0)
* scan and save samples
* wavelength calibrate your spectrometer
* plot light intensity as a function of wavelength (average digital consumer cameras have a range of 400 to 700 nm)
* create sets of multiple spectra to visually compare and analyze scans
* download CSV data for offline analysis
* view others' data and discuss
* find similar data in [a database of over 60k spectra](https://spectralworkbench.org/stats)

No download is required -- just a web connection. The Chrome browser works best, but most standard-compliant browsers are supported. It is possible to use from an Android smartphone, preferably with the Firefox browser which allows you to specify which camera to look through.                                                                                                                                             

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###Contents

* [Learn to use the software](/wiki/spectral-workbench-usage)
  * Learn about the [available tools](/wiki/spectral-workbench-tools)
  * Learn about [Calibration](/wiki/spectral-workbench-calibration)
  * Learn about the [Snapshots system](/wiki/spectral-workbench-snapshots)
  * Learn about the [Operations system](/wiki/spectral-workbench-operations)
* [Spectrometry in general](/wiki/spectrometer)
* [Applications & uses](/wiki/spectral-analysis)
* [Construction](/wiki/spectrometer-construction)
  * [Desktop Spectrometry Kit](/wiki/desktop-spectrometry-kit-3-0)
  * [Foldable Mini-Spectrometer](/wiki/foldable-spec)
* [Troubleshooting](/wiki/spectral-workbench-help)
* [API Docs](/wiki/spectral-workbench-api)

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###Intro video

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oRL-H5hTyug?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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## Development

Do you code? The codebase of Spectral Workbench is available at https://github.com/publiclab/spectral-workbench. The server is written in Ruby on Rails, with a lot of client side code in JavaScript. You can read about [the JavaScript API here](/wiki/spectral-workbench-api).

We really need more developers, so if you are interested, please get involved! A great place to start is the "plots-dev" mailing list for software developers: http://publiclab.org/wiki/developers

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## FAQ

We're collecting and working our way through a range of questions about Spectral Workbench -- if you can contribute your own questions, or answer others', please do!

[questions:spectral-workbench]

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## Troubleshooting

If you feel you've encountered a bug with the software -- very possible! Please look through existing issues listed here, file a new one if you don't see something similar, and help to add any observations to existing issues shown here.

Thanks for helping improve this open source software!

[questions:spectral-workbench-issues]