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FAQ

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The fixations don't line up with the text

Words and fixations must use the same pixel coordinates and share trial IDs. If the fixations are shifted, mirrored or scaled against the words, the two tables are in different coordinate frames — a different origin, unit or offset — and no setting here fixes that; convert one of them (Data format → Units). If the alignment is right but the figure is framed or sized wrongly, the recording screen size is: set the resolution of the monitor used in the experiment under Data Management → Edit dataset → Recording setup. Estimate from my data only gives a lower bound.

The text is too big or too small

Text is drawn to scale from the word boxes and the recording screen size. Set the real resolution (see above); for OneStop it is 2560×1440. In Python, pass canvas_size=(2560, 1440).

A column was detected wrongly

The app guesses columns from their names. Pick the right one under Data Management → Edit dataset, or pass word_schema / fix_schema to load_scanpath_data.

Can I load only one table?

Yes. A Words table alone shows the text and any reading measures it carries; a fixations table alone shows gaze positions without text. Most features need both.

Can I open PoTeC or OneStop in the online demo?

No. The online demo has only the bundled demo data, and it doesn't download corpora. In the desktop app or a pip install, each public corpus downloads once, with one click, and stays on your computer.

My zip file is refused as too large

The app limits how far a .zip may decompress (32 GB per file, 64 GB in total). The error names the setting that raises it, for example SCANPATH_ZIP_MAX_MEMBER_GB=64 scanpath-studio.

Results

Does the app compute reading measures?

No. Corpus Analysis and Export show the measures your interest-area report provides, as your eye-tracking software defines them; Computations gives how Scanpath Studio would compute each.

Does Filters & highlights change my data?

No. It changes only what the figure draws. Your tables and measures stay as they are.

Export and sharing

PDF, GIF or MP4 export fails

These formats need Chrome, Chromium or Edge installed on the computer running the app. Installing one is enough. With a pip install you can instead run plotly_get_chrome -y once. HTML, and the current figure's PNG and SVG, work without a browser.

Yes, but the link does not contain your uploaded data, so they need to load the same dataset first. The bundled demo opens directly, and a public corpus opens if they have it set up.

Privacy and storage

Where does my data go?

When you run it locally or as the desktop app, nowhere: it stays on your computer. There are no accounts and no analytics. Don't upload identifiable data to the online demo. See Privacy.

Will a refresh lose my work?

Not on a local or desktop install: the app saves your datasets and settings on this computer (when it listens only on this computer, as scanpath-studio and the desktop app do — see Privacy), and Data Management → Saved on this computer shows what it holds. The online demo keeps nothing, and says so after your first upload, so export your annotations and settings before you leave (what to back up).

If one saved dataset's files go missing or are damaged, the rest of the session still comes back. The app names the dataset that didn't, keeps its saved copy as it is, and offers Retry and Remove saved copy. Saved metadata tables that can't be read are kept the same way. If the whole saved copy can't be read, the app opens without it and stops saving over it until you retry or clear it.

How do I stop saving, or delete what is saved?

Start the app with scanpath-studio run --no-persist to save nothing. To delete what is saved and start over, use Clear what is saved… under Saved on this computer, or close the app and run scanpath-studio cache --clear. See Recovery cache.

Help and versions

Where do I ask a question or report a bug?

Ask in Discussions → Q&A. Report a bug as a GitHub issue, with the version, your operating system and how you run the app (pip, the desktop app or the online demo). Help → About shows the version and links both; on the command line, scanpath-studio --version.

Scanpath Studio is in beta, so they may not. Until 1.0, any release may change the app, its share links and saved settings, the Python API and the CLI. The Changelog lists every change. To reproduce a result exactly, note the version you used and install that one: pip install scanpath-studio==<version>.

Citing

How do I cite Scanpath Studio?

See Cite for BibTeX and APA entries, and for the datasets you used.