Ferrofluidic screens and magnets for forming images on the screens are known. In such apparatus, magnetically active particles are disposed in a dispersion medium which substantially precludes travel of the particles throughout the medium yet permits the particles to orient themselves under the influence of a magnetic field. The dispersion medium and particles are typically disposed within an enclosure with at least one side of the enclosure forming a transparent or translucent screen. When a magnetic field is imposed on the magnetically active particles, the particles will orient or align themselves in the dispersion medium along the flux lines of the magnetic field. This alters the light transmission characteristics through the screen. The ferrofluidic screens were primarily developed for industrial application to display the magnetic field of magnetized materials (such as multi-pole magnets) as an aid for quality control during the production of magnets. A typical use of a ferrofluidic screen is to imploy a magnet in the form of a pen such that the pen, when moved along the screen surface, aligns the magnetically active particles to form an image, i.e., the magnetic pen writes on the ferrofluidic screen. The present invention adapts the ferrofluidic screen and magnet phenomena to a scanning apparatus for viewing from one side of an opaque surface element otherwise not visible on the opposite side of the surface.