> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.abbyy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Analyze images

> Analyze batch images before building a FlexiLayout: find reliable backbone objects, pick an identifier, and plan the order and grouping of elements.

Analyze the images in the batch to find objects which can form the backbone of your FlexiLayout, that is, objects which are present on all of the images and which can be reliably detected.

Another important decision you need to make when analyzing the images is in which order to describe the objects, as this order determines the order in which the elements will be used when [matching the FlexiLayout with images](/flexi-capture/fls/settings/analyze).

## Analyze the images in a batch

<Steps>
  <Step title="Look through the images in the batch" />

  <Step title="Find objects that occur once on most images">
    Visually try to find objects which are present on most of the images and occur on each image only once. Elements for such objects will be created at the beginning of FlexiLayout creation.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Find an identifier object">
    Find an object (or objects) which can be used as the identifier. This can be the title or any other object which unambiguously identifies the document as belonging to a particular type. The identifier object must be present on all of the documents and, if possible, recognized without errors.

    Mark the element that describes the identifier object as a [required element](/flexi-capture/fls/template/elements-optional). If the object corresponding to this element cannot be found, FlexiLayout matching stops, which means that the document does not belong to the document type described by the FlexiLayout.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Plan the order of the elements">
    Consider the order in which you will create elements and how they will be arranged in the FlexiLayout tree. The order of elements in the tree will determine the order in which the corresponding objects will be searched for on the images.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose search methods for each object">
    Consider the methods that can be used to find each of the objects. In the FlexiLayout, these methods will be described by element properties. Start with the most reliable objects, that is, those which are present on most of the images and which do not occur too often on the same image. Later they can be used as starting points, or reference elements, to look for less reliable elements.

    Be sure to select the strictest search criteria, so that the most reliable [hypothesis](/flexi-capture/fls/hypotheses/hyp-general) can be formulated.

    <Tip>
      To prevent an uncontrollable growth of the tree of hypotheses, keep the default value in the [Number of surviving hypotheses](/flexi-capture/fls/template/elements-properties) field.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Plan Group elements">
    Consider grouping some of the elements into [Group elements](/flexi-capture/fls/template/elements-compound). Group elements are convenient for testing parts of the FlexiLayout which are independent of one another.

    For example, a FlexiLayout made up of a total of 100 elements may include only 3 Group elements at the highest level: the title, the body, and the bottom of the document. Each of the three Group elements may be made up of Group elements which describe smaller portions of the document. Such nesting of Group elements reduces the number of possible search combinations and makes debugging the FlexiLayout easier, as you can work with each part of the FlexiLayout independently.
  </Step>
</Steps>