Carbon–carbon triple bonds exhibit a distinct Raman response in the region of 1,800–2,800 cm−1, known as the cellularly silent region. This unique chemical signature, coupled with the small size of alkyne moieties, presents these tags as useful imaging alternatives to bulky fluorescent probes. This Primer discusses the various Raman scattering processes used to image alkyne tags in cells, including the optical set-up required, how to choose an alkyne tag and imaging results from different cellular environments.