Disclosed are methods and apparatus for acquiring and displaying whole slide images of crystalline samples. In some embodiments, a slide is placed upon an imaging device with a motorized stage, and a digital imaging device, and all parts of the specimen are imaged and reassembled to display the entire slide as a single image, displayable on PC and transmittable across local and wide area networks and the Internet, then facilitating the acquisition multiple whole slide images of the slide under crossed polarizers rotated at different angles, with each image displayed to the viewer at the angle of polarization.
