Separating Appearance From Measurement
"Looks deep" is not a measurement. A cell can appear strongly recessed because of shadowed carbon deposits while the actual trench is shallow. Surface observation and dimensional measurement answer different questions, and the ledger should keep them in separate fields so that a confident visual note is never mistaken for a verified dimension.
Visual observations still carry weight: they flag which cells deserve micrometer or profilometer time, and they capture qualities — sheen, discoloration bands, residue film — that instruments miss.
A Vocabulary for Surface Marks
Shared terms prevent every operator from inventing private descriptions. A practical vocabulary covers four families:
- Contrast: faint, moderate, high; uniform or mottled across the cell.
- Edges: sharp, feathered, melted, raised, or chipped boundaries.
- Relief: flush mark, perceptible recess, or raised re-cast ridge, judged by fingernail or raking light.
- Surface condition: residue film, soot halo, discoloration ring, gloss change, cracking, or blistering.
Lighting and Inspection Method
Diffuse overhead light hides shallow relief and exaggerates contrast. Raking light — a single source at a low angle — exposes texture, edge bulges, and film residues. A 10x loupe resolves what the eye debates. Recording which method was used makes an observation interpretable: "no visible relief under raking light" is stronger than "looks flat."
Writing Observation Notes
Effective notes are short, structured, and anchored to a cell or region rather than the grid as a whole. "Cell B4: uniform dark mark, sharp edges, light residue ring, no perceptible recess" beats a paragraph of impressions. Photos complement notes but never replace them — a captionless photo invites later misreading.