We imaged neurons which were prepared by different methods using the contact mode and the tapping mode atomic force microscope (AFM) in air. The contact mode AFM resolved cells with very thin dendrites from the substrate, and sharpened pyramidal tips gave sharper images of the cells than pyramidal tips. Over the cell surface, the tapping mode AFM gave a higher resolution than the contact AFM. We could resolve particles several nanometers in width using the tapping mode AFM. Our results suggest that the resolution on the cell surface depended not only on the tip shape but also on the physical properties of the cell surface.