Multicolor Panel Building
Build better flow cytometry panels with confidence
Flow cytometry is a versatile technique for measuring the characteristics of individual cells or particles, with broad applications across research and diagnostics. Its key strength is multiplexing, but it can be a difficult concept to grasp, both for those new to flow cytometry and for those building larger panels on conventional and spectral instruments.
This resource hub is dedicated to multicolor panel building in flow cytometry. Whether you are new to the technique or looking to refine your approach, this page brings together essential articles, insightful blogs, best-practice guidance, and a curated selection of online tools to support your panel design and optimization. We also provide example data in our posters and tech notes, along with practical tips for easy panel building.
These resources are complemented by our highly validated antibodies and StarBright™ Dye reagents, including TrailBlazer™ Conjugation Kits, all designed to help you build bigger and better multicolor panels for your experiments with ease.
Expand your knowledge and bring greater confidence to your flow experiments with Bio-Rad.
Tools and Services
Flow Cytometry Design Tool
Our Flow Cytometry Design Tool streamlines the planning process by providing you with all the information you need, including protocols, resources, and products, specifically tailored to your experiment plus a customizable Experiment Planner.
Fluorescence Spectraviewer
Bio-Rad’s Spectraviewer uniquely supports flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, and western blotting in one customizable, multi-laser tool that visualizes spectra, spillover, and cross-laser effects while saving time with pre-loaded instrument settings.
Customized Flow Cytometry Panel Building Service
Building multicolor flow cytometry panels can be a daunting process as it can be complex and time consuming. Simply complete the form and we will be in touch to help build your panel free of charge.
Multicolor Panel Builder
Build optimized multicolor flow cytometry panels in minutes—simply select your instrument, choose your targets, and refine antibody options by clone, isotype, and format, or let IntelliPanel™ AI automatically design a balanced panel for you.
Human and Mouse Immune Cell Marker Tool
Easily switch between human and mouse markers, identify immune-cell-specific markers, select a cell lineage of interest, and explore detailed data for more than 200 immune cell markers.
Flow Cytometry Experiment Planning
To help you keep track of all your experimental details, Bio-Rad has generated a range of handy planners to organize, record, and streamline your flow cytometry workflow. Use them to document steps such as antibody selection, instrument settings, and analysis to ensure reliable and reproducible research.Popular Resources and Learning
Featured Webinar: To Boldly Flow
This step-by-step guide covers everything you need to plan, execute, and interpret your flow cytometry experiments, featuring Bio-Rad's Panel Builder Tool.
Browse our extensive flow webinar catalog to find more information on panel building, best practice, and StarBright Dyes.
Bio-Rad Academy — Fundamentals of Flow Cytometry
The online series supports the development of your skills and knowledge, led by Bio Rad's flow cytometry experts.
The courses cover the basics of flow cytometry and experimental best practice.
The series includes a dedicated course on multicolor flow cytometry, where you’ll learn tips for building panels and how to avoid common pitfalls.
Lab Crunches Blog: 10 Tips for Designing a Basic Flow Cytometry Panel
Check out our ten top tips to help you design your first basic multicolor flow cytometry panel.Flow Cytometry Basics Guide
Practical advice to get you started in flow cytometry
Keep up to date with recent advances by downloading our popular Flow Cytometry Basics Guide, which not only provides practical advice and best practice examples when planning multicolor experiments, but also a basic overview of all the important flow cytometry principles.
This comprehensive guide is split into nine easy-to-read chapters covering 54 pages, making this ideal for beginners wanting to gain confidence when planning experiments, and can also be used as a teaching aid.
Essential Flow Lab Poster
Fluorophores for Flow Cytometry
This free poster provides essential information on common fluorescent dyes, including optimal laser excitation, maximum emission, relative brightness, and practical tips for panel design.
Designed as a handy lab reference, this compact pocket guide helps you quickly assess dye compatibility and includes useful checklists and tips to support successful experiment planning.
Helpful Tips and Tricks
No Compensation Panels
No compensation panels are ideal small immunophenotyping panels for those new to flow cytometry.
Check out our example 5-color human and mouse no compensation panels to identify major immune cell populations.
Download a handy overview for easy reference of human and mouse panels.
10 Tips and Tricks for the Design of Multicolor Flow Panels
Learn how to design effective multicolor flow cytometry panels with 10 practical tips covering fluorophore selection, marker co-expression, and minimizing spectral overlap.
This guide helps you optimize panel performance, improve data quality, and avoid common pitfalls before starting your experiment.
5 Steps to Flow Cytometry Success
Discover the key steps to achieving reliable and reproducible flow cytometry results with this practical guide covering experimental design, sample preparation, controls, and data analysis.
Whether you're new to flow cytometry or looking to optimize your workflow, these expert tips can help improve data quality and experimental success.
Tech Notes
We have a diverse range of technical notes to assist and guide you in generating high-quality data from your flow cytometry assays using antibodies conjugated to StarBright™ Dyes and other fluorophores.
These include immunophenotyping panels ranging from a large 43-color human panel to a smaller 10-color porcine panel. They offer detailed protocols, gating strategies, and best practices for designing and executing your own panels.
Featured Products
StarBright™ Dyes
Bio-Rad’s innovative StarBright Dyes have been specifically designed to fit seamlessly into your multicolor panels.
36 dyes available across 5 common lasers allow you to build any panel with ease.
TrailBlazer™ StarBright Dye Label Kits
Don’t compromise, label your antibody of choice to superior StarBright Dyes.
With broad antibody compatibility, high performance, and long-term stability, gain flexibility in your assays.
VivaFix Fixable Viability Dyes
Exclusion of dead cells in flow cytometry and cell sorting experiments is critical to prevent false positives.
VivaFix Cell Viability Assays are suitable for conventional and spectral flow cytometry and are available in a large range of formats, enabling researchers to accurately discriminate between live and dead cells in both fresh and fixed samples.
Stay Updated with Our
Flow. Sorted. Newsletter
Sign up for our monthly dedicated flow cytometry newsletter and stay ahead with the latest product updates, expert insights, and valuable resources — delivered straight to your inbox. Designed to help you achieve more with confidence, our newsletter gives you access to:
- Free, practical resources including technical notes, posters, and expert tips
- Proven troubleshooting guidance to help solve real-world challenges
- Early access to innovative products and powerful new online tools
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Exclusive invitations to upcoming webinars and training events
