---
title: "Create Plot & Sample Design (Error creating project)"
url: "https://openforis.support/questions/3176/create-plot-sample-design-error-creating-project"
tags: ["collectearthonline"]
status: "answered"
score: 0
answer_count: 1
asked: "2021-06-26T12:01:46"
last_activity: "2021-06-29T17:07:49"
source: "Open Foris Support - Q&A Forum"
license: "Copyright Open Foris, 2026. Some rights reserved under creative commons license."
---

# Create Plot & Sample Design (Error creating project)

Asked by Bin_WA on 2021-06-26

Hey, I attempt to create a project by uploading my own plots and sample points (in .shp files). There are 6 plots with 8000+ sample points. 

Those files were succefully uploaded, but the project was failed to be created. A pop-up window/message showed  
*Error creating project:*
*-This action will create 4046/3 samples per plot. The maximum allowed for the selected sample distribution is 200.0*

The[manual/guideline](https://collect.earth/downloads/CEO_Manual_InstitutionProject_EN_20210331.pdf)was followed, and the required columns in the vector data were included for plots (**PLOTID**) and sample points (**PLOTID, SAMPLEID, LONGITUDE, LATITUDE**). The manual also stated: *Using .csv and .shp files, the maximum number of plots is 50,000 and the total sample point limit is 350,000.* So I thought my plot and sample design is acceptable. Has anyone come across this error? 

Any suggestion/solution will be much appreciated. Thank you


## Answer (score 0, by mspencer on 2021-06-29)

Link: https://openforis.support/questions/3176/create-plot-sample-design-error-creating-project/3177

The error message you are getting is valid.  You cannot create a plot with 1348 samples in it.  The limit for number of samples in a plot is 200.  Above this number, it is not practical for a user to be able to select the samples in the map while answering questions.

Consider using more plots to define the same amount of samples.