Annotations
Relay provides a full annotation system for marking up your data with shapes, text, segmentation masks, and comments.Annotation types
All annotations are stored in world coordinates, ensuring they stay aligned with the image regardless of zoom or pan.
Annotation scoping
Annotations can be scoped to:- Per Z-slice — visible only on a specific Z-plane
- Per time-point — visible only at a specific time
- All slices — visible across the entire Z-stack
Annotation features
Styling
- Fill color, stroke color, stroke width, and opacity
- Per-annotation style customization
Organization
- Z-order management — bring to front, send to back, move up/down
- Per-pane visibility — the same annotation can be shown or hidden independently per pane
- Copy across documents — copy annotations between different files
Segmentation metadata
Annotations from model outputs (like SAM3) include:- Instance ID
- Class label
- Confidence score
- Model name that generated the annotation
Document model
Annotations are organized into documents (collections):- Documents can be scoped to a tab or pane
- Multiple documents per pane, switchable
- Persisted locally in IndexedDB
Neuroglancer volumes
Volumes bound to a Relay asset use one persistent Relay annotations layer. Open the Inspector and select Annotations to manage the complete workflow:- Draw points, lines, boxes, ellipsoids, and polylines with the layer tools
- Move or delete geometry directly in the Neuroglancer viewport
- Edit labels, descriptions, related segments, classes, and typed attributes
- Approve, reject, or request changes during annotation review
- Focus the viewer on any saved annotation
- Import Relay annotation exports or Neuroglancer annotation JSON
- Export a versioned JSON file for backup or transfer to another asset
Comments
Relay supports threaded comments attached to specific locations in your images:- Position-linked — comments are tied to a specific view state and location
- Threaded replies — reply to comments to create discussions
- Resolve/unresolve — mark comments as resolved when addressed
- Per-pane modals — comment panels are independent per pane
- Server persistence — comments sync to the server for shared workspaces
- Read-only in shares — viewers can read but not add comments on shared links
Keypoint labeling
Relay includes a dedicated keypoint annotation workflow designed for creating DeepLabCut training datasets:- Session-based — create labeling sessions with defined keypoint schemas
- Frame navigation — step through video frames or image stacks
- Individual keypoint selection — click to place each keypoint
- Undo/redo — full history stack for corrections
- Color palettes — customizable keypoint colors
- Export — export labeled keypoints for model training