Label Tracks
Label Tracks can be used to either annotate an audio file, or define regions for editing and/or exporting. These tracks can be used for recording lyrics, markers, or notes, and most importantly they are used to save time selections. Essentially a "Label" is a point in time, or more often a selected region of track time that you've applied a name to (ie. a Label) in order to make record of such, to visibly display, and to enable further functions to be performed upon such selections.
These time markings require the creation of a Label Track first in order to proceed.
????? rewrite below ? While correct, 99% of time you would create the Label track when you wanted to add a label
To create a new and empty Label Track, select the Tracks/Add New... menu item from the Tracks Menu. Alternatively, simply click a point or select a region where you would like to place a label, and select Tracks/Add New... menu item from the Tracks Menu, and a Label Track will be created automatically if one doesn't already exist.
The Label Track dropdown box will let you rename the Label Track, select your font, and move the entire track within the project window.
You can add a new label to this track by either clicking in an audio track at a given point or selecting an area of it, then choosing Add label at selection from the TrackMenu. This command has a hotkey CTRL + B which you can remap at Preferences > Keyboard if desired. An area of track is selected by clicking in the track, then dragging a selection outwards with either the mouse or the keyboard arrow keys.
You can also add a label at the current playback position while the track is playing, by choosing Add label at Playback Position from the TrackMenu or CTRL + M. If you want to add a label at a selection area while the track is playing, you click in the track and drag a selection out as above, then choose the Add label at Selection command.
Type in the name of your new label immediately after the Add Label... command, and you will see what you type appear in the label.
When the label is complete you can press Enter to confirm the label, or if you have extra labels still to add, simply click in the audio track where you want to add your next label. Do be aware that some operating systems don't allow certain characters in filenames, so avoid using these in your labels. Most operating systems do not allow the colon : in filenames and Windows won't allow any of these characters
\ / : * ? " < > |
However if you do want to add a quotation mark you can use two ' characters instead.
NEED NEW SCREENSHOT
To edit the name of a label, click anywhere in it and re-enter a new name.
If there are too many labels crowded together and you are unable to click on the one you want, simply use the Zoom Tool to zoom in first and/or click-drag the edge of the Label Track open to open it up for better visibility. When a label is selected for editing, it looks like the first label below:
NEED NEW SCREENSHOT
Once a label is selected, you can move to the next label by pressing Tab, and move to the previous label by pressing Shift-Tab.
To delete a label or multiple labels, select the area containing the label flags you wish to delete, and choose Silence from the Edit Menu. Alternatively you can delete an individual label by clicking on it and pressing Backspace (or Delete) until you have deleted all of the characters in the label, and then keying one more time to delete the label entirely.
The label's points and selections can be adjusted either by dragging the label's start/end markers, or by adjusting the lower resolution time values found in the time windows along the bottom of the screen (Start, End/Length)
To move labels, simply select them and use the normal editing commands like Cut, Copy, and Paste.
If you wish to apply the region selection from the currently selected Label to other tracks in your Project as well (creating a cross-track selection), shift-click inside of the control area (below the track name) to the left of a track's waveform, and you will see your selection toggle on and off within that additional track as well.
Exporting and Importing label tracks
Label Tracks are saved when you save an Audacity Project, so if you wish to continue using the labels associated with a track, simply save the entire project. But you can also export the labels to a seperate text file, and transport them for use (along with the associated audio file) into other audio/media programs.
This .txt file also enables mass-editing of the labels data if necessary.
To export a Label Track, choose Export Labels... from the File Menu. The exported file will contain one line per label. Each line in the file will show (tab seperated) label data that indicates the label's start time (in seconds and microseconds), it's end time (same as start time if the label is just a timepoint marker), and then finally the name of the label itself. ie:
1.217995 3.921073 Bass intro 3.921073 7.584454 Guitar enters 7.584454 11.070002 Drums enter 11.070002 16.080003 Chorus
To import a Label Track into the current Project, choose Import Labels... from the File Menu.
nb. Make reference to the "Export Multiples" function enabled by labels as well
This (original) page (below) is badly in need of a re-write for 1.4 with updated screenshots of labels. Label Tracks can be used to annotate an audio file. They can be used for lyrics, markers, or notes, and they can even be used to save selections.
To create a Label Track, select New Label Track from the Project Menu. Alternatively, simply click or select where you would like to place a label, and choose Add Label at Selection from the Project Menu, and a Label Track will be created automatically if one doesn't already exist. To add a new label, click or select where you want the new label to appear, then select Add Label at Selection from the Project Menu, then type the name of the label, and finally press Enter or click outside of the label. File:Track example label a.png
To edit the name of a label, click anywhere in it. Zoom in first if there are too many labels crowded together and you are unable to click on the one you want. When a label is selected for editing, it looks like the first label below:
Once a label is selected, you can move to the next label by pressing Tab, and move to the previous label by pressing Shift-Tab. File:Track example label b.png
To delete a label or multiple labels, select the area containing the label flags you wish to delete, and choose Silence from the Edit Menu. Alternatively you can delete an individual label by clicking on it and pressing Backspace until you have deleted all of the characters in the label, then pressing Enter.
To move labels, use the normal editing commands like Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, and Silence. You can save a selection in a label. When you create a new label, the left selection edge determines the position of the label's flag. However, the right selection edge is also stored in the label, and when you click on it, the full original selection will be restored.
If you wish to apply this selection to only a subset of the tracks, shift-click in the label area to the left of each track's waveform to change whether each track is part of the selection or not.
Exporting and Importing label tracks
Label Tracks are saved when you save an Audacity Project, so if you just want to continue using the labels along with the same file, just save a project. But you can also export the labels to a simple text file, and import them.
This allows you to save information about the locations of events in an audio file for use in another program,
and also provides a way to mass-edit the labels if necessary.
To export a Label Track, choose Export Labels... from the File Menu. The exported file will contain one line per label, starting with the time offset in seconds, then a tab, and then the name of the label, for example :
1.217995 Bass intro 3.921073 Guitar enters 7.584454 Drums enter 11.070002 Chorus
To import a Label Track, choose Import Labels... from the File Menu.
Stuff moved off the Tracks page - needs integrating here.
To create a Label track, select New Label Track from the Project Menu.To add a new label, select a section of your audio using the Selection Tool, and then select Add Label At Selection from the Project menu (or use its keyboard shortcut).
Now you can name your label: anything you type will go into the current label. You can use the backspace and arrow keys to edit the text in the current label.
- Press Enter or Return to finish editing a
label.
- Use the left and right arrow keys to move from one label
to another.
- To select a label, click on it in the Label track.
- To remove a label, select it, then use backspace to get rid
of it, then press Enter or Return. Alternatively, you can select a range of labels using the Selection Tool and then select Silence from the Edit Menu.
Labels remember selections! When you create a label, the current selection gets "saved" into the label - and you can recall it again by clicking on the label.
