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Create from a Template

You can create a Project from a template from the Home page or the Projects > Project Templates page. Templates provide streamlined process to create your Projects with Ontologies, Workflows and Custom Layouts so you can start annotating immediately. Each template can be customized after creation. To use a template:

1. Go to Home or navigate to Projects > Project Templates.
2. Browse or search the available templates.
3. Click a template card. Encord creates the Project automatically and opens it.

Template	Best for	Description
Video classification	Tracking scene actors across video with clip-level labels.	Includes bounding-box tracking of scene actors, with clip-level quality and event-type classifications.
Pairwise comparison	Side-by-side evaluation of two outputs.	Configured for comparing two items and recording a preference or score.
VLA workflow	Robotics training data: vision, language, and action labeling.	Pre-configured for vision-language-action (VLA) labeling. Includes target-object bounding boxes with category and instance attributes, and frame-level action classifications. Suitable for manipulation and navigation tasks.
Multi-step data extraction	Structured field extraction from identity documents across multiple review steps.	Runs extraction across two annotation steps: the first step captures front-of-card identity fields, the second captures back-of-card details. Use this as a pattern for any multi-step document extraction workflow.
Document annotation	Text region labeling in documents with entity and sentiment analysis.	Annotates text regions for sentiment and named entities, plus document-level type and language classifications. Suitable for contracts, reports, forms, and other structured documents.
Survey	Collecting structured viewer or reviewer feedback.	Captures overall impression, free-text feedback, and a recommendation rating in a structured survey format. Use for content review, data quality audits, or preference collection.
Audio captioning	Speaker-level transcription and audio quality assessment.	Annotates audio regions per speaker with a transcript field, and captures an overall audio quality rating. Use for ASR training data, podcast transcription, or audio QA workflows.
2D object detection with SAM	Detecting vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists with scene-level context.	Provides bounding-box classes for vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists, along with scene-level classifications for scene type, weather, and time of day. Includes SAM-assisted labeling for faster segmentation. Use as a base for any autonomous driving or smart-city detection Project.
Real or generated	Classifying media as authentic or AI-generated.	Labels media as real or AI-generated, with a confidence rating and multi-select attributes for tell-tale signs (e.g. artifacts, unnatural lighting). Use for content moderation, synthetic data audits, or AI-detection benchmarking.

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After creating a Project

Regardless of how the Project was created, you can:

• Edit the ontology under Project settings > Ontology.
• Modify the workflow under Project settings > Workflow.
• Invite collaborators under Project settings > Team.
• Add data by attaching datasets to the Project.

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Editor Layouts

An editor layout defines how the annotation interface is presented to labelers inside a Project. It controls what panels appear, where media is displayed, which classification fields are visible, and how those elements are arranged on screen. Every Project created from a template comes with a pre-configured layout. You can use it as-is or customize it to match your workflow.

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Access the layout builder

1. Open your Project and go to Settings.
2. Select Editor layout from the left sidebar.
3. The layout builder opens, showing the current layout and a palette of components on the left.

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Layout structure

A layout is a tree of containers and items.

• Containers hold other containers or items. They arrange their children either horizontally (side by side) or vertically (stacked).
• Items are the leaf nodes — they render a specific piece of UI, such as a media player or a classification field.

You build layouts by dragging components from the palette into the canvas and nesting them inside containers.

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Palette components

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Stack

A vertical container. Children are arranged top to bottom. Use a Stack as the top-level wrapper for most layouts, or to group related fields below the media player.

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Columns

A horizontal container. Children are arranged left to right. Use Columns to place the media player and classification fields side by side.

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Media

Renders the media player for the current task — image, video, audio, or document. Every layout should include exactly one Media component. You can configure:

• Controls — full shows all playback controls; minimal shows only essential controls.
• Autoloop — automatically loops video or audio when playback reaches the end.

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Field

Renders a single classification field from the Project ontology. When you add a Field component, you select which ontology classification it maps to. The display style depends on the field type: You can also mark a field as read-only, which displays its value but prevents labelers from editing it.

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Multi-step

Renders a sequential step-by-step wizard. Each step contains its own set of fields. Use Multi-step for workflows where data must be captured in a specific order — for example, first annotating the front of a document, then the back.

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Edit a layout

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Add a component

Drag a component from the palette and drop it onto the canvas. Drop zones appear as you drag to indicate where the component can be placed.

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Move a component

Drag an existing component to a new position within the canvas.

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Configure a component

Click a component to select it. Its configuration options appear in the panel on the right. Changes take effect immediately in the preview.

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Remove a component

Select the component and click the delete icon in the configuration panel, or use the context menu on the canvas.

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Edit as JSON

Toggle JSON editor to view and edit the layout as raw JSON. This is useful for copying layouts between Projects or making bulk changes. The editor validates the JSON structure on save.

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Default layout

When you create a Project from scratch, the layout defaults to a vertical stack containing a Media player at the top and an empty horizontal row below it. Add Field or other components to the empty row to build out the layout.

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Template layouts

Each template ships with a layout pre-configured to match its ontology. The layouts are described below.

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Video classification

Vertical stack with a Media player (full controls, autoloop enabled) at the top, followed by classification fields for clip-level quality and event type arranged below.

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Pairwise comparison

Vertical stack with a Media player, a single-choice select field for preference (radio display), and a multiselect field for observations (checklist display).

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VLA workflow

Vertical stack with a Media player followed by classification fields for action category at the frame level. Object-level annotations are handled in the canvas overlay rather than the layout panel.

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Multi-step data extraction

Vertical stack with a Media player and a Multi-step component with two steps: the first step captures front-of-card identity fields, the second captures back-of-card details.

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Document annotation

Vertical stack with a Media player (document viewer) followed by classification fields for document type and language at the document level. Region-level sentiment and entity fields appear in the annotation detail panel when a region is selected.

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Survey

Vertical stack containing a Media player, an overall impression select field (radio), a free-text feedback field (text area), and a recommendation select field (radio).

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Audio captioning

Vertical stack with a Media player (minimal controls) and a transcript text field per speaker region. An overall audio quality rating field appears below.

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2D object detection with SAM

Vertical stack with a Media player followed by scene-level classification fields for scene type, weather, and time of day. Object-level class fields (vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist) appear in the annotation detail panel.

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Real or generated

Vertical stack with a Media player, a single-choice select field for real vs. AI-generated (radio), a confidence rating field (slider), and a multiselect field for tell-tale signs (checklist).

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Tips

• Keep the Media player as the primary element. Labelers should not need to scroll past the player to reach key fields.
• Use Columns to show fields alongside the media for tasks where labelers need to reference the media while filling in fields.
• Use Multi-step for long forms where ordering matters — it reduces cognitive load compared to a single long scrollable panel.
• If you have many fields, consider grouping related ones inside nested Stacks to create visual separation.