A system includes: an objective lens; a first light source to feed first illuminating light through the objective lens and into a flowcell (e.g., with a relatively thin film waveguide) to be installed in the system, the first illuminating light to be fed using a first grating on the flowcell; and a first image sensor to capture imaging light using the objective lens, wherein the first grating is positioned outside a field of view of the first image sensor. Dual-surface imaging can be performed. Flowcells with multiple swaths bounded by gratings can be used. An auto-alignment process can be performed.