6-Well Plate Tool

6-Well Plate Template & Layout Maker

Describe your layout — or ask for a blank template — and get a publication-ready 6-well plate figure: the 2 × 3 grid with rows A–B and columns 1–3, each well coloured by condition, with a legend.

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.