> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.earthindex.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.earthindex.ai/search/plan-your-search.md).

# Plan your search

Decide what you want to find and which look-alikes to exclude before you add labels, and when to split a search into several projects.

You teach Earth Index by adding example labels on a map, and it finds similar tiles across your area. A few minutes of planning before you label saves many rounds of trial and error.

## Plan before you label

Some objects look alike in imagery, such as a blue swimming pool and a blue basketball court. Labelling the right features as positive and the look-alikes as negative filters your results.

1. Write down what you are looking for, in one sentence.
2. List its key features: shape, colour, texture and where it appears.
3. List the objects that look similar and that Earth Index may confuse with your target.
4. Note what tells your target apart from each look-alike.
5. Fill in the table below. Use it to choose your first positive and negative labels.

| Features of what you are looking for    | Objects that look similar                | What tells them apart                 |
| --------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Your target's shape, colour and setting | The objects people often confuse with it | The details that only your target has |

Here is the table for the [logging roads worked example](/search/worked-example-logging-roads.md). The target is logging roads.

| Features of what you are looking for       | Objects that look similar | What tells them apart                                                                                                                                                           |
| ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Dirt road; winding; mirrors the topography | Rivers; roads             | Surrounded by deforestation at the ends of roads; irregular in shape, not perfectly straight; not paved, with no painted street markings; red in colour; only in forested areas |

{% hint style="info" %}
Stuck on this step? Ask on the [Earth Index Discord](https://discord.gg/UZZSuxaS7P). Many users have faced the same question and share tips.
{% endhint %}

## One project per look

To find every example of your target, create several projects, each with different input labels. You can label everything on one map, but the results get less useful. For example:

1. Single logging roads can behave differently from jumbled logging roads. The jumbled ones sit near the clearing site, and the single ones are the access road.
2. Roads in a village can produce different results from roads in a forest.
3. For mining, create separate projects for large mines, small mines and skinny mines on small tributaries.

## Related

* [Label tiles](/search/label-tiles.md): add positive and negative labels.
* [Choose good examples](/improve-your-results/choose-good-examples.md): pick labels that teach the search well.
* [Worked example: logging roads](/search/worked-example-logging-roads.md): a full search from start to finish.