Guidelines for identifying and drawing objects

To prepare a data set for training, use the drawing tools to define objects and add labels to your images and videos.

Table 1. Guidelines for identifying and labeling objects
Guideline	Description
Draw a box or polygon around an object.	A box is faster to label and train, but it is less accurate than a polygon. Note: Objects with polygons are supported only by Detectron2 and High-resolution models. If the new model does not support polygons, bounding boxes are defined and used in the new model.
Label every object.	When there is more than one object, label all the objects. The accuracy of a model decreases if you do not label all objects. For example, an image contains cars and motorcycles. Cars and motorcycles are defined as objects in the data set. Ensure that you label both the cars and the motorcycles.
Label objects individually.	Avoid drawing a label around multiple items. For example, an image contains two cars that are located next to each other. Draw a label around each car.
Zoom in or out for accuracy.	To help you draw accurately, zoom in or out when you are editing. Note: When you are zoomed in and at the edge of an image, click the arrow key several times in the opposite direction.
Change label settings for accuracy.	To help you draw accurately, change label settings. Label settings include the active and default color, preview contrast and brightness, capacity, and whether labels are shown. In the Objects toolbar, click the Label settings icon.
Capture video frames manually or by using auto capture.	Auto capture captures a video frame every n seconds, where n is specified in the Capture Interval \(seconds\) field. Note: The process can take several minutes depending on the length and size of the video and the interval that you specified. Manually capture frames to add them to an existing data set. Use manual capture if the Auto capture frame option does not produce enough frames that have a specific object type. Note: Captured frames always maintain a child-parent relationship with the original video.
Use ASCII labels for a video object preview.	The video object preview does not support non-ASCII labels. This limitation is part of the module that generates the displayed label from the label name. The result of the conversion of non-ASCII labels is a label that is all question marks: "?????".
Do not leave a blank space around an object.	Draw a box or polygon as closely as possible to an object. Note: Draw around objects that touch or overlap. For example, if one object is behind another object, label both objects.
Do not label a partial image.	Label an object when most of the object is visible. For example, an image of a car that is only partially in the frame.
Do not draw outside of the image or frame.
Do not draw a box or polygon so that it passes over the edge of an image or frame.

Editing defined boxes or polygons.

When a box or polygon is defined, you no longer see the points on the outline. To edit a defined box or polygon, exit drawing mode by using one of the following methods:

Click the object name.
Inside the defined area, press the Alt key or the Option key and click.

Drawing mode is enabled again when you move a defined point or click outside the area.

Adding, deleting, and moving points on outlines.

To delete a point from an outline, press the Control key or the Command key and then click the point.
To add a point to an outline, click the translucent white box between any two points on the outline.
To move a point on the outline, click the point and then drag it.

Copying and pasting defined boxes or polygons.

When a box or polygon is defined, you can copy and paste it into the same image or into a different image.

In the data set, select the image and then click Label objects. All of the selected images are listed in the image carousel.
Use the standard keyboard shortcuts to copy the defined box or polygon and paste it into a selected image.
Drag the box or polygon to the appropriate location in the image.