AN ATLAS OF SMALL DISCOVERIES
The hidden art of mushroom spores. Discover subtle colors, explore radial patterns, and preserve nature’s impressions in your own spore print atlas.
Explore the lab ↗Browse the six studies ↓NO SIGN-UP · PHOTOS STAY IN YOUR BROWSER
THE STUDY COLLECTION
A small exhibition of generative studies. Pick a trace to explore in the lab.
All studies are illustrations, not photographs of verified biological specimens.
01 / THE OBSERVATION LAB
Choose a photo. Sample its colors. Give this small discovery a place in your archive.
Click image to sample. Keyboard: arrows move the crosshair; Enter samples. Background preview does not remove the photo background.
Drop a photograph here, or choose a file.
Image sample, not calibrated spore color
Observed image color
NEW OBSERVATION
Original file preserved. Browser storage can be cleared: export a backup.
Observation only. Colors and visual similarity cannot confirm species, toxicity, or edibility. All six built-in examples are illustrations, not verified specimens.
02 / PERSONAL COLLECTION
Your observations, kept on this device. Open a card to continue observing; export originals and notes together.
Compare visual features only. A match does not establish the same species.
03 / SPORE CHROMATIC MAP
Your collection becomes a color landscape. Each point is an observation: select it to return to the image. Lighting, white balance, and paper affect every color.
Vertical: image lightness · Horizontal: image saturation · Position estimates are not laboratory measurements.
04 / THE FIELD GUIDE
How to observe, photograph, and record a mushroom spore print.
01 / CAPTURE
A spore print is a deposit of spores released by a fungal fruiting body. For a simple educational observation, use a known cultivated mushroom or an educational specimen. Place the cap with its spore-bearing surface down on paper, cover it to limit air movement, and observe after several hours. A print may remain faint or fail to form.
02 / OBSERVE
White and cream prints are easier to see on a dark surface; dark deposits are easier to see on a light one. Photograph both when possible. Use diffuse light, avoid filters, and include a gray reference or ruler. Keep camera distance and exposure consistent. The cap’s visible color is not a reliable substitute for its spore print color.
03 / ARCHIVE
Record the date, substrate, lighting, background, elapsed time, and visible pattern. Distinguish a visual color note from a sampled pixel value. Preserve the original photograph before adjusting brightness or rotation. “Faint,” “no visible print,” and “uncertain” are useful results, not failed records. Export a backup after each observation session.
Handle specimens away from food preparation areas, avoid unnecessary wild collection, and wash your hands afterward. This atlas offers no consumption advice or species identification.
Further reading: Australian National Botanic Gardens / Spore prints ↗ · Macroscopic features ↗
05 / QUESTIONS FROM THE FIELD
Spore color can be one useful observation, but it cannot establish a species or whether a mushroom is safe to eat. This tool does not identify mushrooms.
Lighting, camera white balance, exposure, and the paper influence the recorded color. Photograph a reference card and record what you see with your eyes separately from the extracted HEX value.
Maturity, dryness, specimen condition, and observation time can affect the result. Record the conditions and mark it as faint, absent, or uncertain. The app cannot diagnose the cause.
The atlas processes chosen photographs in this browser and saves observations in IndexedDB on this device. English and Korean pages share the same local collection. Clearing site data, private browsing, or changing devices can remove or separate records. Export JSON backups and store them securely.
No. An opaque photo keeps its original background. The setting changes only the viewer canvas. For genuine dual-background observation, take separate photographs on light and dark material.