1. A method comprising: providing an image of a target, the target being an object to be tracked using image based detection and tracking; identifying an undesirable portion within the target, wherein the undesirable portion is one of a texture-less surface, repetitively textured surface, or a variable area on product packaging; generating an image mask for the undesirable portion within the target; extracting features from the target in the image of the target to create a feature dataset for the target and using the image mask to exclude features within the undesirable portion within the target from the feature dataset for the target, wherein extracting the features from the target in the image of the target to create the feature dataset for the target and using the image mask comprises overlaying the image mask on the undesirable portion within the target in the image of the target and extracting the features within unmasked areas of the target or extracting the features within all areas of the target in the image of the target and using the image mask to remove the features extracted within the undesirable portion within the target from the feature dataset; and storing the feature dataset for the image based detection and tracking of the target, wherein the undesirable portion of the target is excluded from the stored feature dataset and features from remaining portions of the target are included in the stored feature dataset.