6-Well Plate Tool

6-Well Plate Template & Layout Maker

Produce a 6-well plate template or layout of the six large wells, two rows (A and B) by three columns, each well shaded by condition. Suited to transfection, colony formation and scratch assays, and for teaching cell culture.

Example 6-well plate figures

A blank template and an siRNA knockdown layout, each a real render — click a card to load the prompt that drew it.

Blank template

Knockdown layout

What is a 6-well plate template?

A 6-well plate template is a figure of the 6-well culture plate — 2 rows lettered A and B and 3 columns numbered 1 to 3, with well A1 at the top left. With each well coloured by condition and a legend it becomes a plate layout: the record of what each of the six large wells received.

Key facts

A 6-well plate has 2 rows lettered A and B and 3 columns numbered 1 to 3.
It is built on the same 127.76 × 85.48 mm ANSI/SLAS footprint as a 96-well plate.
A Corning 6 well is 34.8 mm across with about 9.5 cm² of growth area; Thermo Fisher lists 9.6 cm².
Corning recommends 1.9–2.9 mL of medium per well; Thermo Fisher gives 1–3 mL.

How does the 6-well plate maker work?

Describe the layout

Name each well — control in A1, reagent only in A2, siRNA #1 in B1 — or give a row to one condition. The tool knows the 2 × 3 grid and its headers; a blank request gives an empty template.

Pick a style

The default is a flat publication plate — white background, one outline weight, a legend. Or choose grayscale print, pastel, dark slide, hand-drawn or 3D labware.

Refine and export

The figure opens in your workspace, where you can recolour wells, edit the legend on the canvas, regenerate with a changed layout and export in high resolution.

6-well plate dimensions, volumes and cell numbers

The footprint is standardized; the well figures below are the manufacturers' own, so two sources are given where they differ.

Dimension	Value	Source
Grid	2 rows (A–B) × 3 columns (1–3)	Plate convention
Footprint	127.76 × 85.48 mm	ANSI/SLAS 1-2004
Well diameter (bottom)	34.8 mm	Corning CLS-AN-209
Growth area per well	9.5 cm² (Corning); 9.6 cm² (Thermo Fisher)	Corning CLS-AN-209; Thermo Fisher
Total well volume	16.8 mL	Corning CLS-AN-209
Working volume	1.9–2.9 mL (Corning); 1–3 mL (Thermo Fisher)	Corning CLS-AN-209; Thermo Fisher
Seeding density	About 0.3 × 10⁶ cells per well	Thermo Fisher
Cells at confluency	About 1.2 × 10⁶ per well	Thermo Fisher
Well pitch	Not standardized — set by the manufacturer	ANSI/SLAS 4-2004 covers 96, 384 and 1536 wells only

Cell numbers depend on the cell line — treat the seeding and confluency figures as a starting point, and quote well dimensions from the datasheet of the plate you used.

6-well vs 12-well vs 24-well plates

The three formats share one footprint. Each step from 6 to 12 to 24 wells roughly halves the growth area per well, trading cells per condition for conditions per plate.

Feature	6-well	12-well	24-well
Grid	2 rows × 3 columns	3 rows × 4 columns	4 rows × 6 columns
Row letters	A–B	A–C	A–D
Growth area (Corning)	9.5 cm²	3.8 cm²	1.9 cm²
Working volume (Corning)	1.9–2.9 mL	0.76–1.14 mL	0.38–0.57 mL
Typical use	Culture, transfection, colonies	Culture, transfection, coverslips	Culture, transfection, imaging

Growth areas and volumes from Corning application note CLS-AN-209, flat-bottom plates.

Where are 6-well plate figures used?

Six large wells mean enough cells per condition for protein, RNA or colony readouts — and few enough conditions that each well gets its own label.

Transfection and knockdown

Controls and constructs well by well; the layout is what the western blot lanes are later matched against.

Colony formation and scratch assays

Wide wells for clonogenic and wound-healing assays — the figure pairs each well with its treatment next to the result images.

Teaching and lab notebooks

A blank 6-well template prints large enough to write on by hand, and a filled one is a clear record of the day's plating.

Common questions about 6-well plates

How many rows and columns does a 6-well plate have?

Two rows lettered A and B and three columns numbered 1 to 3 — 2 × 3 = 6 wells. Wells run from A1 at the top left to B3 at the bottom right.

What is the surface area of a 6-well plate well?

About 9.5 cm² by Corning's figure and 9.6 cm² by Thermo Fisher's, with a Corning well 34.8 mm across at the bottom — close to a 35 mm dish.

How much medium goes in a 6-well plate?

Corning recommends 1.9–2.9 mL per well (16.8 mL total well volume); Thermo Fisher gives 1–3 mL of growth medium. 2 mL per well is a common default.

How many cells should I seed in a 6-well plate?

Thermo Fisher's reference figure is about 0.3 × 10⁶ cells per well, reaching about 1.2 × 10⁶ at confluency. Adjust for your cell line's size and doubling time.

What are the dimensions of a 6-well plate?

The same 127.76 × 85.48 mm ANSI/SLAS 1-2004 footprint as a 96-well plate. The well spacing is not in the standard — ANSI/SLAS 4-2004 covers 96, 384 and 1536 wells — and is set by each manufacturer.

When should I use a 6-well plate instead of a 96-well plate?

When each condition needs many cells — protein or RNA extraction, transfection for a western blot, colony formation. Use 96 wells when you need many conditions and a plate-reader readout.

How should I describe a 6-well plate layout?

Name the wells. "Control in A1, reagent only in A2, scrambled siRNA in A3, siRNA #1–#3 in B1–B3" places every condition exactly, each with its own colour and legend entry.