ICDD PDF-4+ 2012 Instructions

11. Click on the appropriate Past Search Filter to select a relevant subsection of the
data.
12. Click Apply Filter and wait while the software searches for matches. Clicking ‘No
Filter’ to search against the full database.
A list of results appears, ranking the database entries in the order in which they most closely
resemble your data by some ‘Goodness of Match’ score. This does NOT mean that the top
result is definitely a match for your sample – just that its XRD pattern most closely matches
your experimental data. It is much more important that the chemistry matches what is
reasonable or expected for your sample!
Double-­‐clicking any entry in the list will display the PDF database card for that entry.
To reiterate: you will now have a list of possible matches to your sample, organised by the
‘Goodness of Match’ score – bear in mind that the software only knows what you tell it
about your specimen, and so the top answer is NOT necessarily correct – garbage in,
garbage out!
You can also add a specific PDF card number to the list in SIeve+ if you wish to compare
against something specific:
1. In the SIeve+ window, click on the Matches menu
2. Click Add PDF ...
Multi-­‐phase samples
Follow all the instructions in the previous sections!
If you have a multi-­‐phase sample, you can then click on the ‘handshake’ button at the top of
the SIeve+ window to accept a card that you think is a good match for one of the phases in