The Big Idea Behind Counting Templates
A quick mental model to help you count right, every time.
We start with the simple concept of counting dominoes and move toward using Counting Templates to solve real-world complexity.
Introduction
When you ask someone to count from an image, you also need to explain what to count.
Example
Take a photo of Domino tiles with the dots facing the camera. Should we count the tiles or the dots (pips)?
How the App Works
The app needs the same instruction. A Counting Template tells the app what to look for and what to count.
If we choose the “Domino Tiles” Template, the app counts 12 tiles:
If we choose the “Domino Dots (Pips)” Template, the app counts 46 dots:
Moving beyond simple shapes to real-world complexity
Most people think of counting well-defined items like dominoes, which are nearly perfect and consistent. However, professional work usually involves items that are much more complex.
Real-world items often vary in appearance, and the background may contain patterns that look very similar to the items you need to count.
To solve this, we create Counting Templates using a "learn-by-example" method. This teaches the template exactly what to count and what to ignore.
While a single template often works across various environments, some arrangements and visual conditions require a more specialized approach.
We will work together with you to optimize a template for your specific use case to ensure fast and accurate results on a consistent basis. In most cases, we provide this service free of charge.
We also have over 250 counting templates ready to go that may not need any customization so you can start immediately.
How the App Recognizes Items
Before the app counts anything, it has to figure out what's an item and what isn't. To do that quickly, it doesn't look at every pixel in your photo — it learns a few key features that uniquely identify the item, the way you'd recognize a friend in a crowd by their hair and eyes without studying every detail.
Just as one key pixel identifies a number in the image above, our Counting Templates are trained to look for the unique edges, shapes, and center points of your specific materials.
Why a template might not match your photos
Sometimes the template name fits perfectly — "rebar," "pipes," "bottles" — but the count still comes out off.That usually isn't because the template is broken. It's because your visual environment is different from what it learned.Common reasons: lighting or shadows it hasn't seen, an angle it's not trained for, a background that visually competes with the item, or a finish or coating that's new to it.
We'll tune a template for your setup
While a single template often works across various environments, some arrangements and visual conditions require a more specialized approach.We train each Counting Template by showing it many real photos of the item across different lighting, angles, distances, and backgrounds.
Send us a few sample photos from your environment and we'll train a template tuned for your items, your lighting, your surroundings. We will work together with you to optimize a template for your specific use case to ensure fast and accurate results on a consistent basis. In most cases, we provide this service free of charge.
We also have over 250 counting templates ready to go that may not need any customization so you can start immediately.
- Search by Template ID: If you are collaborating with our engineering support team, they will analyze your sample images and recommend the exact template for your process. Simply enter the provided Template ID or keyword into the search bar at the top of the screen to load it instantly.
- Browse by Category: You can expand any of the industrial categories—such as Metal Products, Tubes, or Logs and Lumber — to browse our extensive library of pre-trained models and select the option that best fits your materials.
Browse through our Counting Templates Library.
Need a perfect match? If our existing options do not perfectly align with your parts or environment, you do not have to settle for "close enough." Click the link at the bottom of the screen to connect directly with our engineering team. We will work with you to optimize an existing template or build a new one tailored to your specific real-world visual conditions.