๐๏ธ Dataset - Annotation tool
Picsellia embeds an integrated Annotation tool that will allow you to create or edit Annotation
on any DatasetVersion
.
This Annotation tool is compatible with all Detection Types:
- Object Detection
- Classification
- Segmentation
- Line Detection
- Key Point Detection
1. Access the Annotation tool
Access to the Annotation tool can be done from the Details and Grid views on any DatasetVersion
through the pen icon when hovering on any Asset
:

Open Annotation tool

Open Annotation tool
2. Create or edit an Annotation
Annotation
When the Annotation tool is opening, by default, the Annotation
displayed is the one related to your user if it exists. Otherwise, it opens the latest updated one. If no Annotation
exists on the Asset
, a new one will be created for your user.
You can visualize the list of existing Annotation
and create yours (if not existing) using the dropdown at the top right corner of the tool.
As shown below, the header of the Annotation tool also provides you with the path of the currently displayed Asset
, the Detection Type of the DatasetVersion
, and the Asset
ID (useful for SDK use):

Create an Annotation
3. Navigation
1. Across the current Asset
Asset
The Annotation tool offers smooth navigation across the displayed Asset
. You can use the scroll wheel of your mouse or trackpad to zoom in/out and press the spacebar to drag and move around on the Asset
.
The initial view of the Asset
can be retrieved through the Reset Zoom button:

Reset Zoom
2. Across the Asset
of the DatasetVersion
Asset
of the DatasetVersion
At the bottom of the Annotation tool, you can use the gallery to visualize all the Assets
of your DatasetVersion
and click on any of them to open it in the Annotation tool.

Asset
gallery
You can also easily access any Asset
of the gallery by typing its position in the queue.
4. Draw an Object
While hovering over the displayed image in the Annotation tool, you can be in two modes:
- Selection to select and edit existing
Shape
, this mode is the default one when opening the tool (keyboard shortcut: E) - Draw to create a new
Shape
(keyboard shortcut: D)
Configure
DatasetVersion
firstBefore using the Annotation tool, you must ensure that your Dataset Version is set up with a Detection Type and
Labels
.
To draw a new Shape
in the current Annotation
, you just need to select the drawing mode (keyboard shortcut: D), select the Label
of the new Shape
, and draw it. For instance, let's create a Car Shape
:

Draw a Shape

Draw a Shape
You can abort the drawing of a Shape
while doing it using the Esc key.
When the Shape
is created, a new line is added to the Shape
list on the right side of the Annotation tool, and you can visualize the Shape
and its Label
on the Asset
.

Visualize a Shape
You can keep creating Shape
on your Annotation
. Before switching to another Asset
or leaving the Annotation tool, you must save your modified Annotation
with the save icon or with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl/Cmd + S.

Save Annotation
Now let's have a quick view of the characteristics for Shape
creation depending on the Detection Type.
A. Object Detection
For a DatasetVersion
in Object Detection mode, the Annotation tool allows you to create bounding box Shape
.
To do so, in drawing mode, the first click will create the top-left corner of the bounding box, and the second one will close the bounding box with the bottom-right corner.

Bounding box
B. Segmentation
For a DatasetVersion
in Segmentation mode, the Annotation tool allows you to create polygon Shape
.
To do so, in drawing mode, the first click will create the first point of the polygon, then each click will create a new point of the polygon. To close the polygon, you just need to click again on the first point of the polygon.

Polygon
C. Classification
For a DatasetVersion
in Classification mode, the Annotation tool allows you to classify each Asset
among the available Labels
.
By definition, an Annotation in Classification mode will contain only one
Shape
.
To do so, in drawing mode, the first click on the image will classify the Asset
with the selected Label
.

Classification
D. Point
For a DatasetVersion
in Point mode, the Annotation tool allows you to create point Shape
.
To do so, in drawing mode, a click will create a point Shape
.

Point
E. Line
For a DatasetVersion
in Line mode, the Annotation tool allows you to create line Shape
.
To do so, in drawing mode, the first click will create the beginning of the line, then each new click will create a new segment of the line, and a double-click will close the line Shape
.

Line
5. Modify a Shape
Shape
Now that you are able to create Shape
in different Detection Types, let's see how to modify them.
A. Select the Shape
Shape
First of all, you need to select the to-be-modified Shape
. It can be done:
- Directly in Selection mode by clicking on the
Shape
directly on theAsset
. - By clicking on the
Shape
name in theShape
list located on the right side. - By clicking on the circle next to the
Shape
name in theShape
list located on the right side. This will automatically zoom in on the selectedShape
.

Shape
selection
In both cases, the selected Shape
will be highlighted, with all the potential points composing the Shape
. Additionally, the selected Shape
will also be indicated in the Shape
list with a double circle:

Shape
selected
B. Label
Label
You can change the Label
of the selected Shape
by:
- Right-clicking on the selected
Shape
on theAsset

Change Label
- Selecting the new
Label
in the dropdown located at the top-left corner

Change Label
C. Dimensions and position
When a Shape
is selected, all the points composing this Shape
are displayed. With your mouse, you can then click on those points to modify the Shape
dimensions. You can also move the Shape
anywhere in the frame of the Asset
.
It is not applicable to Classification
Obviously, the modification of dimensions and position of a classification
Shape
is not possible.
D. Delete
You can also delete any Shape
on an Annotation
. It can be done in several ways as soon as the Shape
is selected:
- Press the delete key
- Click on the trash icon

Delete Shape
6. Lock and Hide Shape
Shape
To facilitate the Annotation process, you can either lock or hide a Shape
.

Lock and Hide Shape
Obviously, a hidden Shape
is not deleted; it is only not displayed. Locking a Shape
prevents anyone from editing it. To unlock or make a Shape
visible, you just need to click again on the Hide or Lock icon.
You can also lock or hide all the Shape
of an Annotation
with the same Label
, as the Shape
are all grouped together in the Shape
list on the right side.
You can hide the
Label
on theShape
by unchecking the tickbox Show annotation labels
7. Group Selection
For practical reasons, the Picsellia Annotation tool offers the possibility to select several Shape
at a time and make modifications to a group of Shape
.
Multiple Shape
selection can be done:
- On the
Asset
by drawing within the Selection mode a rectangle over the to-be-selectedShape
; the selectedShape
will be displayed in theShape
list with a double circle.

Manual group selection
- By selecting all the
Shape
with a specificLabel
directly from theShape
list, asShape
with the sameLabel
are grouped together. So selecting theLabel
will automatically select all theShape
with thisLabel
, for instance, car:

Group selection by Label
Once a group of Shape
is selected, you can:
- Change the dimension and the position of those
Shape
- Change the
Label
of all the selectedShape
with the right-click or the Labels dropdown (located in the top-left corner) - Delete the selected
Shape
with the delete key or the trash icon
8. Quality review
To ensure the quality of your Annotation
and as Picsellia is a collaborative platform, you have the possibility to review Annotation
. The idea is to leverage the Annotation status field. This field can have three values:
- To Review
- Accepted
- Rejected
When an Annotation
is created, either through the Annotation tool or via Annotation import, Annotation
are by default with the status To Review.
To Accept or Reject an Annotation
, you just need to open the Annotation Tool on the Asset
that has the Annotation
to be reviewed and click on Accept annotation or Reject annotation.

Quality review
Once done, the Annotation
is considered reviewed, and as a consequence, it cannot be modified anymore (all Shape
will be automatically locked). However, if you want to be back to editing mode on a reviewed Annotation
, you just need to click on Clear review. The Annotation
will be back in To Review status, and all the Shape
unlocked.

Annotation
reviewed
Review status
The review status field is displayed in all
Assets
views and as a badge in the Annotation tool gallery.
In the end, an Asset
can have several Annotation
that can be in several states. For instance, one Annotation
with the status Accepted done by one user, and another one with the status Rejected done by a second user.
9. Keyboard shortcut
To make the Annotation process as smooth and efficient as possible on Picsellia, most of the actions related to the Annotation tool can be done using buttons on the tool but also through keyboard shortcuts.
The list of available shortcuts can be displayed through the keyboard icon:

Keyboard shortcuts
Updated 26 days ago