Create and configure projects

1. Create a project.

2. Import data into Label Studio.

   For small projects, testing, or proof of concept work, you can import local files directly into Label Studio through the UI. You can do this during the project creation workflow.

   However, for larger projects, we recommend setting up cloud storage. You will need to create the project first, and then add storage from the project settings. For more information, see Sync data from external storage.

3. Customize your labeling interface.

   We recommend that you begin with a pre-configured template and modify it, but you can also create your own custom template using our tag library.

   If enabled, can start by describing to the Label Studio AI assistant what your are looking for and let it generate the XML on your behalf.

4. Configure project settings.

   Next, you will want to configure what information annotators and reviewers can see, and how automated you want their workflow to be.

   By default, any annotator who is a member of project can begin labeling as soon as it is published, and each task only requires one annotator before being considered complete. To customize this, see the Annotation section of the project settings.

   By default, reviewers do not need to be assigned to completed tasks, and each task only needs one accepted annotation. To customize this, see the Review section of the project settings.

5. Add members to your project or workspace.

   Users in the Owner and Admin role can see all projects. But users in the Manager, Annotator, and Reviewer role must be added to a project or its parent workspace before they can access it.

6. Publish your project.

   Users in the Manager role can see unpublished projects if they are members of that project. But users in the Annotator or Reviewer role are unable to see or access a project until it is published.

Configure high-impact settings

By design, Label Studio is highly customizable and there are numerous configuration options for a project. To configure project settings, open a project and click Settings in the upper right.

To avoid getting overwhelmed, focus on the following settings. They have the most impact on your labeling experience.

Annotation settings

Annotators are the users who are labeling project tasks.

• Distribute labeling tasks

  Located under Annotation, this determines whether annotators must be manually assigned to a task in order to label it.

  If you are using Auto distribution, project members can begin labeling as soon as the project is published. Otherwise, they must be manually assigned.

• Allow empty annotations

  Located under Annotation, this determines whether annotators can complete tasks without first adding a label.

  By default, annotators are allowed to submit empty annotations. You can change this setting so that all tasks require a label.

• Annotations per task minimum

  (This is only applicable if you are using Auto distribution).

  Located under Quality, this determines how many annotators must submit a task before the task is considered completed.

  By default, each task only requires one annotator to submit. You can configure a higher task overlap, meaning that each task must have a minimum number of annotators before being considered complete.

For a description of all the settings available for annotators, see Project settings - Annotation and Project settings - Quality.

See the following video for a brief overview of automated task assignments:

Review settings

Reviewers are the users are reviewing the annotators’ submissions for accuracy.

• Mark task as reviewed after it has at least 1 accepted annotation or
  Mark task as reviewed after all annotations are processed

  Configure what action determines that a task has been reviewed. By default, the reviewer only needs to accept one annotation for the task. You can change this so that the reviewer must accept or reject submissions from all annotators.

• Review only manually assigned tasks

  By default, reviewers are able to begin reviewing as soon as there are labeled tasks available to review. However, you can change this so that reviewers must be manually assigned to a task.

For a description of all the settings available for reviewers, see Project settings - Review.

Add members to a project

You can add members to a project in two ways:

• Add members at the workspace level. Workspace membership is inherited by projects.
• Add members at the project level.

To add members to a specific project:

1. Navigate to the project settings and select Members.

2. Use the search functionality to locate the user that you want to add to the project.

3. Select the checkbox next to their name and click the > arrow to add them. Click the opposite arrow < to remove members.

4. If the user’s organization-level role is Annotator or Reviewer, you can use the drop-down menu to assign them a role specific to this project.

   Project-level roles are Annotator or Reviewer. So, for example, a user can be an Annotator in one project and a Reviewer in another project.

5. Click Save.

Users are not sent notifications when they are added to a project.

For more information, see Project settings - Members.

Publish a project

In Label Studio Enterprise, you can hide projects from annotators so that you can fully configure the project before anyone can start labeling. When you’re ready for annotators to start labeling, publish the project.

1. Open a project and select Dashboard in the upper right.
2. Click Publish.