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This documentation provides specific information on annotating and reviewing Data Groups - including multi-modal groups in the Label Editor.

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Review Data Groups

Reviewing Data Groups requires you to switch between tiles to view annotations on each data unit. You can switch tiles by:
  • Selecting the tile in the left-side menu.
  • Clicking Review from this tile on a specific tile.
Both methods are synchronized. For example, clicking Review from this tile on a tile also selects it in the left-side menu.

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Options and Settings

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Synchronized Zoom

When working with a Data Group, you can synchronize the zoom level and pan position across all tiles simultaneously. When enabled, zooming or panning in one tile automatically mirrors the same viewport to all other tiles in the Data Group.
Zoom synchronization applies to tiles containing images and videos. Tiles with 3D scenes or other non-2D content are not affected.
To enable synchronized zoom:
  1. Open the Data Group in the Label Editor.
  2. Navigate to Settings.
  3. Enable the Sync zoom across tiles toggle.

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Synchronize Playback

You can synchronize playback for all audio and video files. When enabled, playback on all media files occurs simultaneously.
  1. Open the Data Group in the Label Editor.
  2. Click the Synchronize timeline across files button in the top-right corner.
To ensure all data units remain in sync, make sure they are all the same duration.

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Single Editor Timeline Setting

To display only a single editor timeline for groups of data:
  1. Click Synchronize timeline across files in the Label Editor toolbar.
  2. Navigate to the General Settings.
  3. Enable the Single synchronized timeline toggle.
The single editor timeline only shows annotations on the tile currently selected for annotation or review.

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Rearrange Tiles with Drag and Drop

When working with a carousel Data Group, you can drag items from the carousel strip and drop them into any mosaic tile pane. This lets you arrange DICOM series, PDFs, and other media across the multi-tile layout to suit your workflow.
1

Open a Data Group in the Label Editor

The carousel strip appears on the left or top of the editor, depending on your layout settings. Each item in the carousel displays a thumbnail preview.
2

Drag a thumbnail into a tile pane

Click and hold a thumbnail in the carousel, then drag it over the tile pane where you want to display it. A drop overlay highlights the target pane as you drag.
3

Release to open the item in that pane

Release the thumbnail over the target pane. The item opens in that tile, and the mosaic layout updates to reflect the new arrangement.
Thumbnails for items already open in a tile pane are not draggable. Only items that are not currently displayed in the mosaic can be dragged into a new pane.

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Equalize the Mosaic Layout

The Equalize Mosaic Layout button in the editor header redistributes the available space equally across all open content panes. Use this to quickly reset an uneven layout after adding or rearranging tiles.
1

Open a Data Group with multiple tiles visible

Ensure you have more than one content pane open in the mosaic layout.
2

Click the Equalize Mosaic Layout button

Click the Equalize Mosaic Layout button in the editor header. Encord redistributes the pane sizes so each content tile receives an equal share of the available space. Carousel strip panes retain their configured size and are not affected.

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Cross-Tile Object Instantiation

When working with data groups, you can instantiate objects across multiple tiles for supported file types. This feature allows you to create annotations that span across different data units within the same group. The Instantiate object in frame button appears in the annotation toolbar when:
  • You’re working with a data group containing supported file types
  • Single synchronized timeline is enabled
  • You have an object selected that can be instantiated across tiles

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Select Tiles

When using the configurable editor with a Data Group, the object table header includes a tile picker dropdown. This control lets you filter the instance list to a specific tile and set it as the active tile without leaving the object table.
  • Select a specific tile from the dropdown to filter the instance list to that tile’s annotations and set it as the active tile.
  • Select All tiles to view instances across all tiles in the group.
  • When All tiles is selected, the Detect with SAM (sparkles) and Auto annotation (wand) buttons in the object table header are disabled. Select a specific tile to enable them.
The tile picker in the object table header and the tile picker in the Bulk Operations drawer use the same underlying control. Selecting a tile in either location sets the active tile for the editor.
The tile picker only appears in the object table when working with Data Groups in the configurable editor. For single data items, the object table shows all instances directly.

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Read-Only Tiles

A dataset manager or admin can mark individual tiles in a Data Group as read-only when configuring a dynamic data group. When a tile is read-only, you can view its content but cannot add labels to it.
If you cannot annotate a tile in a Data Group, a dataset manager may have marked it as read-only. Contact your dataset manager if you believe this is incorrect.

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Label-Branch Overlay for Data Groups

You can use the label-branch overlay button in the Label Editor header to visually compare labels from different branches across all tiles in a Data Group simultaneously. When you select an overlay branch, the Label Editor renders that branch’s labels in the branch’s color on top of the active branch’s labels, across every tile in the group at the same time. This behavior matches the branch overlay already available for single-asset 2D modalities (images, video, DICOM) and 3D scenes.
1

Open a Data Group in the Label Editor

Navigate to the Data Group asset you want to review.
2

Click the label-branch overlay button in the editor header

The overlay button appears in the annotation editor header. Click it to open the branch selector.
3

Select a branch to overlay

Choose the branch whose labels you want to compare. Encord renders that branch’s labels in the branch’s color on every tile in the Data Group simultaneously, on top of the active branch’s labels.
4

Deselect the branch to clear the overlay

Click the overlay button again and deselect the branch to remove the overlay from all tiles.
The label-branch overlay button is only visible when the branch overlay feature is enabled for your environment. Contact your Encord administrator if you do not see the button in the editor header.

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View Metadata for Data Groups

When working with Data Groups, you can view metadata for different data items within the Data Group using the metadata panel. Access Metadata Panel:
  1. Click the Metadata button in the Label Editor header to open the metadata panel.
  2. The panel displays on the right side of the editor.
Select Data Items for Metadata: When viewing a Data Group, the metadata panel includes a tile selector dropdown that allows you to choose which data item’s metadata to view:
  1. Open the Metadata panel.
  2. Use the dropdown at the top of the panel to select between:
    • Data Group - Shows metadata for the entire Data Group
    • Individual data items - Shows metadata for specific files within the group
The tile selector only appears when working with Data Groups. For single data items, the metadata panel shows information for that item directly.