Copying Boxes and Templates

Images of a series often show the same parts in nearly the same place. Copying the boxes and moving them a little is much faster than drawing them again.

Copying boxes from the previous image, onto the next images, and placing a box template (no sound)

The Copy ▾ menu below the image collects the ways to copy:

Menu Copy with the entries Boxes from the previous image, Copy these boxes to the next images, Copy all boxes and Paste boxes

Boxes from the previous image

V (or Copy ▾ → Boxes from the previous image) puts the boxes of the image before this one in the list onto the open image. If the open image has boxes already, you choose: Add them or Replace these.

Then adjust what moved and save. The copy is one step of undo: Ctrl+Z takes it back.

Copy to the next images

For a series where the parts do not move, Copy ▾ → Copy these boxes to the next images… saves the boxes of the open image directly onto the next images of the list:

Number of next images

How many images after this one, in the order of the list (images the list does not show are skipped).

Also replace boxes those images have already

Off (default): images with boxes keep theirs. On: their boxes are replaced.

Images someone else has open right now are skipped; the status says how many. Open the images afterwards with D and correct what differs.

Save and copy to next (Alt+S) does the same for one image at a time: it saves, opens the next image and puts the boxes on it, unsaved, so you see each image before it is saved.

Copy and paste

  • Ctrl+C copies the selected box, or all boxes if none is selected.

  • Ctrl+V pastes them on the open image, at the same position. It works on any image, also in another browser tab of the same browser.

Ctrl+V pastes when no box is selected. With a box selected, Ctrl+V keeps its meaning from the desktop tool (height − 1 pixel); copying a box deselects it, so Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V pastes. On a Mac, Cmd+C and Cmd+V always copy and paste.

Box templates

Parts of a fixed size get boxes of nearly the same size and orientation on every image. A template remembers that size and orientation per label.

  1. Draw one box of the label carefully, with the bottom edge on the correct side of the part (see Box orientation).

  2. With the box selected, click Save as template in the Selected box panel (project admins). The label list marks labels with a template with ▭.

  3. From then on, T places a box of the current label at the mouse pointer: the label of the selected box, or the one clicked last. Place … template in the Labels panel does the same in the middle of the image.

  4. Move the box into place (drag, or the arrow keys) and turn it if needed (Ctrl / Shift + U / O).

Templates are part of the project settings, where they can also be changed or removed.