Working with Annotations

Creating & Updating Annotations

Creating an annotation requires an interaction with the item itself, from drawing a bounding box over an image, classifying a video scene over time, or correcting a text prompt. For detailed information, refer to the respective annotation-tool documentation page.

• Create: Before creating a new annotation, an annotator must have:

  • A selected label from the labels list.
  • An active annotation tool.

• Edit/Update: For editing/updating an existing annotation, the active annotation tool must be that of the annotation.

Selecting Annotations

Selecting from the Annotations List

Selecting an annotation from the list allows you to apply operations, and reflects in having their controller turned ON over the image/video. The list enables 2 selection modes:

• Single Selection: Click anywhere on an annotation to have it selected, replacing any previous selection you may have.
• Multiple Selection: Use the checkbox to add annotations to your selection, or use Ctrl+mouse to click on multiple lines.

Selecting from the Canvas

• Single Selection: Selecting an annotation from the canvas requires activating its tool first. For example, to select a box, you must activate the bounding-box tool first. When hovering over an annotation, it is highlighted and its controllers become visible. You can then click anywhere on the annotation to select it.

• Multiple Selection: Activate the selection tool from the left-side panel, and draw a box over the canvas. All annotations even partially included in the box will be selected.

Moving Annotations

• Single Annotation Movement: When the respective tool is active (for example bounding-box tool for moving box annotations) use the mouse left button to drag and drop an annotation directly on the canvas.
• Moving Multiple Annotations: Moving multiple annotations is designed to enable position refinement, for example when copying annotations between sequential frames. Use Shift+Mouse or the Arrow keys to move annotations in small steps.

Applying Actions

Actions can be applied to annotations in several ways:

• List: Directly from the annotations list on specific annotations, one at a time only.
• Controller - on a specific annotation, from its controller in the canvas
• Action buttons - on multiple annotations at once, from the common action buttons

You can do the following actions:

1. Changing to a different label (from the list, controller, and action buttons)

2. Cloning: Create copies of selected annotations (controller, action buttons).
3. Set Issue, Review, and Approve statuses during QA processes (list, action buttons).
4. Show/hide annotations (list, action buttons).
5. Delete annotations (controller, action buttons).
6. Set object ID (controller only).
7. Applications (action buttons only - 3-dots action button).
8. Parenting (controller only).

Copying Annotations

You can copy and paste Annotations over the same items, as well as between different items.

1. Use the traditional Ctrl+C to copy and Ctrl+V to paste one or more selected annotations - paste in the same item, or into any other item within the assignment.
2. Use the Clone action to create a copy of selected annotations without even touching the keyboard.
3. Import All annotations from the previous item into your current one by clicking the “Import annotations from previous item” button, located on the top-right side of the annotation studio.

Annotation Attributes

Setting Attributes Using Annotation List

When attributes are defined in the recipe, and annotation is selected (annotation is also selected immediately after it’s created) the attributes section will be visible, allowing the user to set them.
The attributes section starts with the first ‘section’ open with its attributes/answers.

1. Select the attributes relevant to the object.
2. Click the chevron to close the section. Selected attributes are shown.
3. Click the chevron to open the next attribute section, and repeat until completing all attributes.
4. Skipping a ‘mandatory’ attribute will show a yellow flag, to highlight it for the user.

Reviewing Attributes

• Annotations with attributes will be marked with an 'A' sign, hover over it to see the attributes. For mandatory attributes, the 'A' will be highlighted in yellow.
• Click on the 'A' button on the bottom left to toggle the display of all the annotation's attributes on the canvas.

Set Object ID

Object Id is a numbering system that helps distinguish between similar annotations (since they already have a unique annotation ID, mostly used by developers).

• Hover over an annotation controller to find the Object ID feature. Click the icon and type in any ID number up to 4 digits (i.e., 0-9999), or click the "plus" button to assign the next number available in a sequence, and then press ENTER.
• When activating the ‘auto-assign object id’ option in the recipe, every new annotation created will be assigned an object ID, that can be changed by the user.
• Object-IDs are displayed in the annotations list, and in the annotation controller.

Parenting Annotations

Setting Parenting Relations

Parenting allows the creation of hierarchical relations between annotations. Any annotation can be set as a child’ and a parent to others at the same time.

• To set an annotation as a child of another:
  • Select one or more annotations (for example -using the selection tool)
  • Hover the mouse over the designated parent annotation - its controller will appear
  • Click the Parent icon from the controller.

• To disconnect an annotation from its child connections (all at once)
  • Hover over a parent annotation. Its controller will become visible.
  • Click the Disconnect all children icon, to remove all its connections to child annotations.

• To disconnect an annotation from its parent annotation
  • Hover over a child annotation. Its controller will become visible.
  • Click the Disconnect from parent icon, to remove its connection to a parent annotation.

Review Parenting Relations

When selecting one or more annotations with parenting relations, those relations will be visualized as arrows connecting them to their respective parent/child annotation. The arrowhead is always on the parent.

Switch Annotation Labels

1. On the right-side panel, select the annotation from the annotations list.
2. Click on either the Change label & attributes icon from the top (above the Search Annotations field) or the Edit label icon (pencil icon) from the right-side of the annotation. A pop-up window is displayed.
3. Make sure you are on the labels tab, and select the desired new label to switch to.
4. Click Save Changes.

Delete Annotations

1. Select the relevant annotation(s) from the annotation list.
2. Click Delete and confirm it.