In order to make an annotation, you first have to select a time interval. ELAN
supports the following options:
Making a selection on an independent tier
There are several ways to make a selection. If you wish to only use the mouse, do
the following:
- Go either to the Waveform or the Timeline Viewer.
- Go with the mouse to the beginning of the time interval you want to
select.
- Click the mouse button, keep it clicked and drag it to the endpoint of the
time interval you want to select.
Figure 2.54. Making a selection
The video image will be continuously updated. The selected part is highlighted
in light blue color. You can use the shortcut SHIFT+A to put the
selection in the center of the Timeline Viewer.
The selection can be extended beyond the size of the current window. The display in
all Viewers will automatically move along.
You can change the beginning and endpoints of the selection. Choose one of the
following options:
- Either use the mouse: press the SHIFT key, keep it pressed
and click with the mouse to the left/right of the selected part. The selection
will be extended to include this point.
- Or enable the Selection Mode by selecting the
Selection Mode checkbox. When selection mode is
enabled, you can use the media controls to edit the selected part. When moving the
crosshair in Selection Mode, the current selection is narrowed or broadened,
depending on the direction the crosshair is moved to. For a complete overview of
the use of the media controls, see The Media Player options.
Figure 2.55. Change selection
If there is not already a selection, there is another way to make a selection. First
put the cross hair at a position where you want the beginning or the end of the
selection to be. Then press the SHIFT key and keep it pressed while
clicking with the mouse at the position where you want the other end of the selection
to
be. A selection between the cross hair and the click position is created.
Selecting multiple annotations
It is also possible to select an annotation as a whole by clicking on the annotation
unit. The annotation will then be selected. This way, it's also possible to make a
selection spanning multiple independent annotations. To do so, press and hold crtl+alt
(windows) or alt (osx) and click on the annotations you want to select. The selection
will expand accordingly. To remove an annotation from the selection, just click it
again
and it will be deselected.
Using the selection controls
The selection controls allow you to navigate through or to change the active
selection. For their use, see again The Media Player options.
Example: extending the begin of a selection with one second
Assume that you have made a selection and that you want to add a time interval of
1
second to the begin of it. In that case you should perform the following actions:
- Move the crosshair to the begin of the active selection
Figure 2.56. Crosshair on begin of selection
- Enable Selection Mode
Figure 2.57. Selection mode
- Go back one second by clicking the corresponding button from the media controls.
Figure 2.58. Back one second
- Turn off the selection mode and enter an annotation for the selection.
Figure 2.59. Selection mode off
Creating annotation units without gaps
It is possible to start a new selection immediately after a previous selection has
ended, i.e., the endpoint of one selection will be taken as the starting point for
the
next selection. Do the following:
- Make a selection on an independent tier (see Making a selection on an independent tier).
- Double-click on the selection.
- Optionally enter the content of the annotation unit. Press the keys
CTRL+ENTER. The selection is saved.
Figure 2.60. Annotation without gaps (steps 1-3)
- Press the keys ALT+SHIFT+C (or ALT+C) or
click on the clear selection icon to deselect the selection (see Deselecting a selection for deselecting a selection).
Figure 2.61. Annotation without gaps (step 4)
- Enable the selection mode. Then, play the video or sound file until the
playback stops. The new selection extends from the endpoint of the previous
selection until the point when the playback was stopped.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 to save the new selection.
Repeat steps 3 to 5 to add another selection.
Figure 2.62. Annotation without gaps (step 5)
Making and saving a selection on a referring tier
A referring tier inherits all its time alignments from its parent tier. To make and
save a selection on a referring tier, do the following:
- Select and save a time interval on the corresponding parent tier (see Making a selection on an independent tier and How to enter and edit annotations).
- Double-click somewhere within the time interval of the parent annotation at
about the height of the referring tier. The Inline Edit
box appears.
Figure 2.63. A selection on referring tier
- Do one of the following:
- Enter an annotation (see How to enter and edit annotations), and then press the keys CTRL+ENTER to save the
selection.
- Press the keys CTRL+ENTER (without entering an
annotation) to save the selection.
To deselect a selection, do one of the following:
- Use the Deselection icon from the selection controls:

- Use the shortcut key ALT+SHIFT+C or
ALT+C.
- Use the shortcut key CTRL+SHIFT+Z. This shortcut also cancels
selecting mode (see Making a selection on an independent tier).
Note
Whenever you select another time interval, the old selection is automatically
deselected, unless you enabled Selection Mode.
Changing the boundaries of an existing selection and annotation
By selection
In the timeline viewer, go through these steps:
- Click on an annotation unit to select it.
Figure 2.64. Select annotation unit
- Select the region where you want the modified annotation to be placed.
Figure 2.65. Region for modified annotation
- Right click on the original annotation and select Modify
annotation time or press CTRL+ENTER
Figure 2.66. Modify annotation time
- Now the length of the annotation becomes that of the selection from the second step.
Figure 2.67. Annotation length changed
By dragging with the mouse
If you press ALT, the active annotation is indicated in green and
becomes adjustable with the mouse:
- drag in the middle of the annotation and drop it somewhere else to move
it
- drag and drop the borders to change the boundaries of the annotation
unit
Figure 2.68. Changing selection boundaries with the mouse
Note
- Only the time-alignment of annotations on the following types of tiers can
be modified: annotations on independent tiers, and annotations on referring
tiers that fall under the Time Subdivision stereotype (but note that in the
latter case, the alignment cannot be extended beyond the boundaries of its
parent annotation, see Basic Information: Annotations, tiers and tier types).
- To modify the time alignment of annotations on all other tiers, change the
time alignment on the corresponding parent tier (following the steps above). The
time alignment on all referring tiers is automatically updated. The annotations
on the referring tier that are no longer within the borders of the annotation on
the parent tier are discarded. If you want to shift the annotations on a
referring tier in the same way as the annotation on the parent, use the methods
described in Shifting annotations.
- If two annotations are adjacent you can snap them by specifying the maximum
close-value in ms.
By entering a new begin and/or end time
The precise begin and end time of an annotation can be entered in the hh:mm:ss:ms
format in a window that can be invoked via the Annotation > Modify
Annotation Time... menu or the corresponding keyboard shortcut (by
default CTRL+SHIFT+M).
Figure 2.69. Modify annotation boundaries by typing
By entering a number of milliseconds for shifting
Annotations can be shifted to the left or the right by a number of milliseconds. See
Shifting annotations.
Changing selection boundaries with the shortcut keys
Use the shortcut key CTRL+J and CTRL+U to change
the left boundary of a selection to the left and to the right, respectively. To change
the right boundary use the shortcut key CTRL+SHIFT+J and
CTRL+SHIFT+U.
To shift a specific annotation, go through these steps in the timeline viewer:
- Click on an annotation unit to select it.
- Right click the annotation and select Shift Active Annotation
or press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.
- Enter a number of ms/ss.ms/mm:ss.ms/hh:mm:ss.ms (between -510 ms and 1080 ms)
by which the annotation should shifted. If the number is greater that zero, the
annotation is shifted to the right. If it is less that zero, is shifted to the
left.
Figure 2.70. Shift annotations
- Click on OK.
Note
The number of milliseconds you can enter is limited by the end of the annotation
to the left and the begin of the annotation to the right, or by the begin or end of
the timescale.
It is also possible to shift more than one annotations at once. To do so, first
decide which annotations you would like to shift:
- The annotations within a selection. In this case, select the annotations to
shift.
- The annotations to the left or to the right of a point on the timeline. In
this case, place the crosshair on that point.
Then click Annotation in the main menu and
select Shift >. This sub menu has the following options:
- Active Annotation: same as described above.
- Annotations on the Active Tier in the Selected Time
Interval.
- Annotations on the Active Tier, Left of
Crosshair.
- Annotations on the Active Tier, Right of
Crosshair.
- Annotations on All Tiers, Left of Crosshair.
- Annotations on All Tiers, Right of
Crosshair.
All these options result in a window as in Figure 2.70, “Shift annotations”. Enter a number of millisecond and click
OK. All annotations referred to in the
Annotation > Shift > menu option are now shifted by
the number of millisecond you entered.
A final option is to shift all annotations on all tiers. To do so, click
Annotation > Shift All Annotations.
Activating and deactivating the Bulldozer mode or Shift mode
ELAN supports three editing modes: Overwrite mode, Bulldozer mode and Shift mode.
These modes are somehow comparable to the Overwrite and Insert modes that are supported
by many text editor programs such as, e.g., Microsoft Word.
- Normal (i.e. overwrite) mode: if you extend a selection into a time interval
that is already occupied by an annotation, that annotation is (partly or wholly) overwritten.
- Bulldozer mode: if you extend a selection into a time interval that is already
occupied by an annotation, that annotation is moved to the right/left. Think about
it as a bulldozer which pulls all annotations together, discarding the spaces in between.
Figure 2.72. Bulldozer mode
- Shift Mode: like Bulldozer Mode, but the spaces between annotations are
preserved too. This resembles most to the insert mode of text editors (see also
Synchronizing video files).
The following conventions apply for the Bulldozer mode:
- Annotations are moved to the right if you extend your selection from left to
right. They are moved to the left if you extend your selection from right to
left.
- If a moved annotation extends into the time-interval of yet another
annotation, that other annotation is moved accordingly. If it extends into empty
space, no other annotations are affected.
Note
Moving annotations may thus affect the whole document, and may thereby destroy
previous time alignments. Please make sure that the Bulldozer Mode is not
accidentally switched on.
The Overwrite mode is the default mode. To switch to another mode, do the following:
- Click on Options > Propagate Time
Changes.
- Click on Normal Mode, Bulldozer
Mode or Shift Mode. A check mark
appears next to it. To switch back to the Overwrite mode, repeat steps 1 and 2
above. The check mark disappears.