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Documentation Index

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The Polygon tool draws arbitrary polygon shapes to outline objects with complex boundaries. It provides more precise object delineation than bounding boxes while remaining straightforward to use.

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When to Use

Use polygons when:
  • You need precise object outlines for instance segmentation or panoptic segmentation
  • Objects have irregular shapes that bounding boxes cannot represent well
  • You need a balance between precision and annotation speed
  • The downstream model requires polygon annotations (e.g., Mask R-CNN with polygon input)
Consider a different tool when:
  • Rough localization is sufficient — use the Bounding Box tool
  • You need pixel-perfect boundaries on complex textures — use the Segmentation tool with SAM assist
  • The object has very simple rectangular shape — bounding boxes are faster

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Usage

  1. Press P or select the Polygon tool from the toolbar
  2. Click to place the first vertex
  3. Continue clicking to add vertices along the object boundary
  4. Close the polygon by:
    • Clicking the first vertex (a highlight appears when hovering)
    • Pressing Enter
  5. Assign a label

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Editing Vertices

  • Move a vertex: Click and drag any vertex handle
  • Add a vertex: Click on an edge midpoint (shown as a smaller handle)
  • Delete a vertex: Right-click a vertex and select Delete Vertex
  • Move entire polygon: Click inside the polygon and drag

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Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
PActivate the Polygon tool
Enter or double-clickClose the polygon
EscapeCancel current polygon
Delete / BackspaceDelete selected polygon
Ctrl+Z / ⌘ZUndo
Ctrl+Shift+Z / ⌘⇧ZRedo

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Common Mistakes

  • Too few vertices on curves: Curved edges look jagged with too few vertices — add more points to smooth them out
  • Too many vertices on straight edges: Straight edges only need two endpoints; extra vertices add noise without improving accuracy
  • Not closing the polygon: Forgetting to close leaves the annotation incomplete — always close with a click on the first vertex or press Enter
  • Cutting corners on occluded boundaries: Trace the visible boundary carefully; do not shortcut across occluded areas

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Advanced Tips

  • Double-click to finish the polygon (equivalent to pressing Enter)
  • Press Escape to cancel the current polygon and start over
  • For very complex shapes, consider using the Segmentation tool with SAM instead — it can be faster for highly irregular boundaries
  • Zoom in on tight areas before placing vertices for better precision
  • In video mode, polygon vertices can be tracked across frames for object tracking workflows
  • Bounding Box — For quick rectangular localization
  • Segmentation — For pixel-level masks (especially with SAM assist)
  • Polyline — For open line annotations (lanes, paths)
  • Keypoint — For pose estimation with skeleton structures