Count pipes from an image online, free

What the pipe counter counts

It counts round pipe and tube ends seen end-on: steel pipe, PVC and other plastic pipe, electrical conduit, copper tube, scaffold tube and round hollow sections, loose in a rack or strapped in a bundle. You count pipes from an image online the same way whatever the material, and tube counting works just the same: the ends face the camera, and it rings each one.

It uses the round-ends model, the same one behind the rebar counter. The model was trained on thousands of photos of pipe and bar bundles. Steel pipe and rebar make up most of them. Plastic pipe bundles, the kind stacked in a hardware store, are less common in the training photos, so check those counts a little more closely.

It does not count:

• Pipes seen along their length, such as installed runs or pipes lying side by side on the ground. Only the ends tell it where one pipe stops and the next starts.
• Square and rectangular tube. Use the lumber counter, which is made for flat-sided ends.
• Fittings, valves and coils. They are not round ends.

How to photograph a pipe bundle

Four things decide most of the count. They are the same four the iPhone app's camera coaches.

1. Face the ends. Stand square to the bundle, not off to one side. From an angle, the front pipes hide the ones behind them.
2. Get the whole bundle in the frame. Leave a margin all round. A pipe cut by the photo edge counts only when at least half of it shows; less than that is flagged for you to decide.
3. Get close. Each end should be a clear ring, not a speck. Step closer rather than zooming in, since digital zoom adds no detail.
4. Even light. Deep shadows across the ends hide the rims. In a yard, keep the sun behind you or wait for cloud.

Two pipe-yard problems need their own answer:

• A rack with several bays. Photograph one bay at a time and add the counts up.
• A bundle too big for every end to be clear. If you can't fit the whole bundle and still see each end, count it in two halves. Chalk the ends along the split first, so no pipe is counted twice.

The step-by-step guide to counting pipes in a photo goes through each of these with examples of what goes wrong.

How accurate is it on pipes?

The round-ends model scores 91% count accuracy before you check anything. Count accuracy is 100% minus the average counting error, measured in the browser on held-out photos with 10 or more objects that the models never trained on, before any checking. Its test set is the smallest of the five categories, so read the figure as a rough guide rather than a promise.

It rarely rings something that is not a pipe end. Most of its misses are tiny, blurred ends deep inside very dense bundles. Getting closer, or splitting the bundle, is the fix. Then the Check step walks you through the spots it was unsure about, one at a time.

Who counts pipes from a photo

• Pipe yards and steel stockists doing a stock-take without climbing the racks.
• Receiving a delivery. Count each bundle as it comes off the truck, check it against the delivery note, and save the image with the count as a record.
• Plumbing and electrical contractors checking how much tube or conduit is on site before a job.
• Fabrication shops keeping track of tube stock.

Looking for a pipe counting app for Android? This counter works in any current browser, Android phones included. Nothing to install, and the photo stays on your phone.

Other counters

Counting rebar or steel bars? Same model, different tips: count rebar from a photo. Log piles have their own counter at count logs in a photo, and square tube and boards go to the lumber counter. For flanges, couplings or other stock, tap one in the Anything counter and it finds the rest. If you are moving from CountThings or CountPipes, see how the free counter compares.

In the yard every day? The pipe counter app for iPhone

The web counter is free for as many photos as you like. If counting pipe is part of your day, the Counting Master app for iPhone saves steps:

• Count straight from the camera. It shows when the phone is level and square to the ends, and warns about blur and glare before you count. It works with no signal, in a yard or a basement store.
• Teach it your own items. Stock something the round-ends model does not know, like a ribbed duct or an odd profile? Count it by tapping one example and save it as an item. After 20 checked counts, your iPhone trains a counter for it, and it counts by itself from then on.
• Keep a history of every bundle you counted, on the phone.

iPhone, iOS 17 or later. The first three counts are free. Get Counting Master for iPhone