Attempts to determine conditions or processes within alginate gel beads often suffer from inaccuracies due to an improper roundness of the analysed beads. Therefore, a novel solvent-based method for the preparation of alginate beads with improved shape was developed: An aqueous solution of 2% (w/v) alginate in water was injected into a solvent layering consisting of hexane, n-butanol, n-butanol with 1% (w/v) CaCl(2) and finally 2% (w/v) CaCl(2) in water. Beads of up to 3.5 mm in diameter obtained with this method had a roundness which was similar to5% better than comparable beads prepared by dropping an alginate solution into a CaCl(2)-hardening bath. This was determined by a software supported quantitative analysis of bead size and shape. Additionally, the novel solvent-based method allows for highly reproducible preparation of alginate beads with exactly predictable sizes. The biggest beads obtained with this method were 9 mm in diameter. Thus, With the solvent-based preparation of alginate beads it is now possible to easily obtain beads of exactly the type needed for a specific analytical purpose.