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The objective of the present work was to compare the determination of the length of maize seedlings performed through the System of Analysis of Seedlings (SAPL) and the traditional method in the evaluation of the vigor of seeds of the species. Seven seed lots of corn were used and, for physiological characterization, germination, first germination, cold test, electrical conductivity and seedling length tests were used. The experimental design was a completely randomized design with four replications. The response variables were correlated by the Pearson test and the methodologies to determine the length of coleoptile, root and whole seedlings were compared by the F test at 1 and 5% probability. For the comparison between lots, the means of the results were submitted to analysis of variance and, when a significant effect was verified, were compared by the Tukey test at 5% of probability. There was no difference between manual and automated seedling measurement. The use of image analysis in corn seedlings provided data compatible with those obtained in the tests routinely used in the evaluation of seed vigor and therefore can be considered an efficient and time-saving approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]