The portable NMR community has introduced advances that have allowed for a variety of studies. Imaging of static and moving objects has almost become standardized. The inherent static field gradients of portable systems have, however, limited such studies to imaging of slices perpendicular to the main gradient; full volume imaging in transportable, open systems has not been actively pursued. We present a true three-dimensional image of a phantom in an ex situ, electromagnet-based system. The basic concepts and designs put forth here extend in a straightforward fashion to higher fields and imaging of larger samples by ex situ methodologies. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.