> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.9pic.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# FaceFind & BibTrack

> Run AI photo search at production scale on Pro

## Why This Matters

FaceFind and BibTrack are the two AI capabilities that make 9Pic galleries usable at scale. Participants don't browse 5,000 race photos linearly — they upload a selfie or punch in a BIB number and get just *their* photos in seconds. On Pro you get production-grade accuracy on both, so the operator's job is mostly about **turning them on at event creation** and knowing how to debug when something looks wrong.

## Before You Begin

* You're on **Pro** and have at least one event created.
* For **FaceFind**: every photo needs a recognisable face crop. Wide-angle crowd shots still work, but the closer the face, the better the match score.
* For **BibTrack**: every BIB number needs to be readable in the photo. If your event uses non-standard BIBs (very small, on the back only, partial obstruction), test with 50 sample photos before processing the full set.

## How They're Configured

Both features are **per-event toggles**, set when you create the event (and editable later from the event's Configuration tab):

| Toggle            | Where                                                        | What it does                                                                  |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Selfie Search** | Create New Event → Photo Memories card                       | Turns on **FaceFind**. Each processed photo runs face detection and indexing. |
| **BIB Search**    | Create New Event → Photo Memories card (Running event types) | Turns on **BibTrack**. Each processed photo runs BIB OCR.                     |

You can flip both on, both off, or just one — and you can change your mind later from the Configuration tab. Toggling a feature on after some photos are already processed will queue those photos for re-processing.

For the underlying pipeline reference, see [AI Analysis](/dashboard-guide/photos/ai-analysis).

## Recommended Settings by Event Type

| Event type                       | FaceFind | BibTrack | Notes                                                                                      |
| -------------------------------- | :------: | :------: | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Marathon / half marathon / 10K   |    On    |    On    | Default. Selfie + BIB covers virtually every participant.                                  |
| Triathlon / cycling event        |    On    |    On    | BIBs may be on the front of the bike — confirm photographer angles cover that.             |
| Trail run / ultra                |    On    | Optional | BIB visibility is hit-or-miss in trail conditions; selfie search alone often works better. |
| Wedding / private event          |    On    |    Off   | No BIBs at weddings (we hope).                                                             |
| School sports day / college fest |    On    | Optional | Toggle BIB on if you have visible jersey numbers.                                          |
| Corporate event / conference     |    On    |    Off   | Selfie search only — IDs and lanyards rarely have a clear printable identifier.            |
| Photo booth / product launch     |    On    |    Off   | Selfie search nails this.                                                                  |

## Steps to Tune for an Event

<Steps>
  <Step title="Toggle Selfie Search and BIB Search at event creation">
    On **Create New Event → Photo Memories**, flip on the searches you need. You can change these later — they're not one-way switches.

    <Frame caption="Photo Memories search toggles">
      <img src="https://assets.9pic.ai/docs/pro-guide/photo-memories-search-toggles.webp" alt="Photo Memories card on Create New Event showing Selfie Search and Bib Number Search toggles turned on for an endurance event" />
    </Frame>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run a small test batch first">
    Add **30–50 sample photos** to the event's image source and click **Sync Images**. Once processing finishes, search by:

    * A teammate's selfie (FaceFind).
    * A known BIB number from one of the test photos (BibTrack).

    If both return the right photos, scale up to the full set.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Process the full set">
    Add the remaining photos to the source folder and click **Sync Images** again. Only the new photos consume credits — already-processed photos are skipped automatically.

    <Tip>
      For events over 10,000 photos, sync in waves of \~2,000–3,000 so you can spot-check results between batches. If something looks off in batch 1, you can fix it before paying for batch 2.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify the participant search experience">
    Open the public event page (use **Open Link** from the event header) and run a search as a participant would:

    * Upload a selfie → confirm a clean set of matching photos comes back.
    * Type a BIB number → confirm the right photos surface.

    If results are off, see the troubleshooting section below.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## When Search Results Look Wrong

| Symptom                                                               | Likely cause                                 | What to do                                                                                                                                                                       |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Selfie search returns "no results" for someone clearly in the gallery | Face too small / blurry / partially obscured | Ask participant to use a clearer selfie; the photographer's angle may simply not include a clean face crop.                                                                      |
| Selfie search returns matches with the wrong face                     | Lighting / angle confused the model          | Try a different selfie. False positives are rare on Pro but happen at scale.                                                                                                     |
| BIB search returns the wrong BIB                                      | OCR misread digits (`1` vs `7`, `0` vs `8`)  | Confirm the printed BIB is readable in the source photo. Bib font and print quality matter more than you'd think.                                                                |
| BIB search misses a participant's BIB                                 | Number too small in frame, or hidden         | This is usually a photography-side fix — ask photographers to capture identifiable BIB shots.                                                                                    |
| Search is empty for a whole batch                                     | Processing didn't actually run               | Check the **Processing** tab on the event. If credits ran out or sync failed, status is shown there. See [Troubleshooting](/dashboard-guide/troubleshooting/search-not-working). |

For full search-debugging walkthroughs, the dashboard guide has dedicated pages: [Search not working](/dashboard-guide/troubleshooting/search-not-working).

## Production-Scale Tips

* **Standardise photographer briefs.** Photographers who shoot for 9Pic galleries get noticeably better results when they're told: "wide enough to capture the BIB or face clearly, but not so wide the face is \< 100 px."
* **Batch your processing per source.** If you have three photographers dropping into three different folders, process each source separately so you can spot-check per-source quality.
* **Never re-process for "fun."** Re-processing already-processed photos doesn't consume new credits, but it does add load. Only re-process when you're toggling FaceFind or BibTrack on for an event that previously didn't have it.
* **Watch credit consumption mid-event.** If you're at 80% of your credit balance, top up *before* the next sync. Processing pauses partway through is the most common operator pain point. See [Credits & Top-ups](/pro-guide/credits).

## Common Questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is FaceFind / BibTrack accuracy on Pro the same as Enterprise?">
    Yes. The model and the indexing pipeline are identical across all paid plans. Pro and Enterprise differ on platform features (Checkout, custom gateways, SLAs), not on AI quality.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does each photo cost extra credits if both FaceFind and BibTrack are on?">
    No. **1 processed photo = 1 credit**, regardless of how many AI indexes are applied. Toggling both searches on does not double-charge.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I turn BibTrack on after processing has already finished?">
    Yes. The dashboard will queue the existing photos for BIB indexing on the next Sync. No extra credits are charged for re-indexing photos already processed for the photo pipeline.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can a participant search by both selfie and BIB number?">
    Yes — they're independent search modes. The participant gallery shows both options when both are enabled on the event.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does FaceFind store participants' selfies?">
    Selfies uploaded for search are used only to compute a temporary face embedding for the search query and are not retained as gallery photos. For specifics, see the [API Reference: Face Search](/api-reference/face-search).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Motion & Flow" icon="film" href="/pro-guide/motion-flow">
    Layer short videos and AI reels on top of FaceFind / BibTrack.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AI Analysis Reference" icon="book" href="/dashboard-guide/photos/ai-analysis">
    Deep reference for the AI indexing pipeline.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting Search" icon="wrench" href="/dashboard-guide/troubleshooting/search-not-working">
    Specific debugging steps when search misbehaves.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Buzz, Certify, Select" icon="wand-magic" href="/pro-guide/buzz-certify-select">
    Stack creative tools on top of search.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>