Embodiments relate to evaluating properties of tissues with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A MR image is used to measure a characteristic that influences a particular chemical property of a tissue. In an exemplary embodiment, tissue transverse relaxation values or relaxation rates, which can readily be measured from MR images, are used to evaluate iron deposition in tissue. Iron deposition influences the tissue transverse relaxation values (T2 or T2*) or relaxation rates (R2=1/T2 or R2*=1/T2*). A clinically relevant R2CR* map is calculated based on the known values of the effective R2eff*, the water R2w*, and the fat R2f* by incorporating the most relevant value for each individual image element of a plurality of image elements of an MR image of the tissue. The clinically relevant R2CR* map provides an accurate evaluation of iron deposition in any region of the tissue with the use of one map.