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This guide assumes your images are stored in AWS. To learn how to create integrations with other cloud providers click here. To learn how to upload files locally click here.

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STEP 1: Register Your Images

1

Set Up AWS

Before you can do anything with the Encord platform and cloud storage, you need to configure your cloud storage to work with Encord. Once the integration between Encord and your cloud storage is complete, you can then use your data in Encord.In order to integrate with AWS S3, you need to:
  1. Create a permission policy for your resources that allows appropriate access to Encord.
  2. Create a role for Encord and attach the policy so that Encord can access those resources.
  3. Activate Cross-origin resource sharing which allows Encord to access those resources from a web browser.
  4. Test the integration to make sure it works.
See our AWS integration documentation for a detailed explanation of setting up AWS to work with Encord.
You have the following options to integrate AWS and Encord:
2

Create AWS Integration in Encord

Create an S3 bucket to store your files if you haven’t already. Your S3 bucket permissions should be set to be blocking all public access.
In the Integrations section of the Encord platform, click +New integration to create a new integration.
Select AWS S3 at the top of the chooser.
It is essential you do not close this tab or window until you have finished the whole integration process. If you use the AWS UI for integration, we advise opening the AWS console in a separate tab.
See our AWS integration documentation for a detailed explanation of how to set up the AWS integration.
3

Create JSON file for Registration

See our documentation here for more comprehensive information
Create a JSON file based on the templates provided below. imageMetadata is optional unless you are using a client-only access integration.The title field is optional. If omitted, the audio file path and name are used as the default title. For example, if the file is located at https://encord-solutions-bucket.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/path/to/my/bucket/song2.mp3, the title defaults to /path/to/my/bucket/song2.mp3.
Key or FlagRequired?Default value
”objectUrl”Yes
”title”NoThe file’s path + title
”imageMetadata”No
”clientMetadata”No
”createVideo”Nofalse
imageMetadata must be specified when a Strict client-only access integration is used. In all other cases, imageMetadata is optional, but including it significantly reduces import times.
Keys / Flags that are not required can be omitted from the JSON file entirely.
{
  "images": [
    {
      "objectUrl": "/path/to/my/bucket/cutekitty.png",
      "clientMetadata": {
        "animal": "cat"
      }
    },
    {
      "objectUrl": "/path/to/my/bucket/cutekitty_2.png",
      "title": "my-custom-image-title.png",
      "imageMetadata": {
        "mimeType": "image/png",
        "fileSize": 124,
        "width": 640,
        "height": 480
      },
      "clientMetadata": {
        "animal": "cat"
      }
    }
  ]
}
4

Create a Folder to Store Your Audio Files

All files in Encord must be stored within folders. Therefore, you need to create a folder before registering any data with Encord. To create a folder:
  1. Navigate to Files under the Index heading in the Encord platform.
  2. Click the + New folder button to create a new folder. Select the type of folder you want to create.
  1. Give the folder a meaningful name and description.
  2. Click Create to create the folder. The folder is listed in Files.
5

Upload Your Images to Encord

To ensure smoother uploads and faster completion times, and avoid hitting absolute file limits, we recommend adding smaller batches of data. Limit uploads to 100 videos or up to 1,000 images at a time. You can also create multiple Datasets, all of which can be linked to a single Project. Familiarize yourself with our limits and best practices for data import/registration before adding data to Encord.
  1. Navigate to Files section of Index in the Encord platform.
  2. Click into a Folder.
  3. Click + Upload files. A dialog appears.
  1. Click Import from cloud data.
We recommend turning on the Ignore individual file errors feature. This ensures that individual file errors do not lead to the whole upload process being aborted.
  1. Click Add JSON or CSV files to add a JSON or CSV file specifying cloud data that is to be added.

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STEP 2: Set Up Your Project

1

Create a Dataset

  1. Click the New dataset button in the Datasets section in Annotate.
  1. Give your Dataset a meaningful title and description. A clear title and description keeps your data organized.
Toggle Looking to create a mirrored dataset? to create a Mirrored Dataset.
  1. Click Create dataset to create the Dataset.

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Attach files

You can add data to Datasets from the Files or the Datasets screens.
To ensure smoother uploads and faster completion times, and avoid hitting absolute file limits, we recommend adding smaller batches of data. Limit uploads to 100 videos or up to 1,000 images at a time. You can also create multiple Datasets, all of which can be linked to a single Project. Familiarize yourself with our limits and best practices for data import/registration before adding data to Encord.
  1. Navigate to the Datasets section under the Annotate heading.
  2. Click the Dataset you want to attach data to.
  3. Click +Attach existing files.
If the files you want have not been uploaded into Encord yet, click +Upload files to upload new files.
  1. Select the folders containing the files you want to attach to the Dataset. To select individual files, double-click a folder to see its contents, and select the files you want to add to the Dataset.
  2. Click Attach data to attach the selected files to the Dataset.
2

Create an Ontology

3

Create a Project

  1. In the Encord platform, select Projects under Annotate.
  2. Click the + New annotation project button to create a new Project.
  1. Give the Project a meaningful title and description.
If you are part of an Workspace, an optional Project tags drop-down is visible. Project tags are useful for categorizing and finding your Projects. Select as many tags as are relevant for your Project.
  1. Click the Attach ontology button.
  2. Select the Ontology you created previously from the list using the Select button.
  1. Click OK to attach the Ontology to the Project.
  2. Click the Attach datasets button.
  3. Select the Dataset you created previously from the list using the Attach button.
  1. Click OK to attach the Dataset(s) to the Project.
  1. Click the Load from template button to use a Workflow template.
  1. Select the template you want to use and click Load template.
  2. Click Create project to finish creating the Project.

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STEP 3: Label Your Images