Product Release Notes - January 2023 – Appen Success Center

The cml:audio_transcription tool now requires the parameter type.
- Available types currently are 'transcription' and 'labeling'. More Info
We are thrilled to announce the addition of multipage PDF support document transcription in our cml:image_transcription tool.
- This new feature allows users to upload and annotate multiple PDF document pages, streamlining the workflow and improving productivity. With this update, users can now switch between pages, add annotations, and save changes, all within the same job. This will make the annotation process more efficient and effective for our users. More Info
Introducing the Custom Shape Drawing feature!
- Now you can draw shapes (ellipses and boxes) beyond the boundaries of an image (or video) in our cml:shapes Image Annotation tool. With this new update, users can customize their shape drawings and place them anywhere on the canvas, regardless of the size of the image. This opens up new possibilities for annotating images and streamlines the workflow for users who need to draw shapes that extend beyond the boundaries of the image (or video). By default, we have it disabled, meaning we will not allow annotators to draw shapes outside the boundary by default. Now job designers can use the disable_image_boundaries CML attribute by setting it to disable_image_boundaries="true". More Info
Hotkeys just got hotter!
- We are excited to announce the release of customizable hotkeys in our annotation tools. This new feature allows users to personalize their hotkey assignments to suit their individual workflow needs. This update will enable users to increase efficiency and speed up their annotation process by using hotkeys to access the annotation classes they use most frequently quickly. More Info
We're excited to announce two major custom validators for our annotation tool.
- Min/Max Instance Limits
  - The Min/Max Instance Limits allow users to set restrictions on the number of class instances created during annotation. For edge cases, annotators can mark classes as "not present" and add this information to the output, ensuring accuracy and consistency in your annotation process.
  - This feature is available in the cml:video_shapes tool, cml:shapes Image Annotation tool, and cml:image_transcription tool.
- Shape Type Limiter
  - The Shape Type Limiter allows users to limit which shapes can be used to annotate with a certain class. You can now manage these limitations from the Ontology Manager, and when creating a new class, you can select which shapes will be allowed for that class.
  - This feature is available in the cml:video_shapes tool, cml:shapes Image Annotation tool, cml:image_transcription tool, and cml:tiled_image_annotation tool. These updates are designed to ensure high-quality labels. More Info