Annotation Workbench
Understand the shared shell, item state, controls, and navigation.
Watch the multimodal Workbench in action
See how Unitlab brings modality-native editors into one operating model for ontology, item state, automation, review, and reproducible delivery.
Open the full-screen Unitlab AI explainer.
The Workbench is the shared execution environment for annotation and review. It keeps ontology, item state, instructions, comments, issues, navigation, and workflow actions consistent while loading the native editor required by the active data.
Choose an annotation workspace
Select the guide that matches the data and decision you need to produce.
How this area fits into production
The center canvas changes by modality; ontology, item status, contextual collaboration, navigation, and workflow actions remain part of the same operating shell.
What this area controls
Across modalities, Unitlab keeps a recognizable operating model:
top-center previous/next work-item navigation;
active class or annotation type;
Multiview mode and layout controls;
object/class or event/entity inspection;
item properties;
object properties and relations;
comments;
tags;
appearance and visibility controls;
save and version-history controls;
workflow actions appropriate to the active stage;
project instructions and issue context.
The active native editor supplies the modality-specific toolbar, timeline, player, page controls, and inspector content. The surrounding Workbench stays stable when navigation crosses data families.
Annotation keyboard shortcuts
Press H in the active annotation panel to open Annotation Shortcuts. The dialog adapts to the current editor. In Multiview, activate the panel you want to work in before using shortcuts.
Use Ctrl on Windows/Linux or Cmd on macOS wherever Ctrl/Cmd is shown. Alt is Option on macOS. Tool availability also depends on the annotation type, selection, and whether the panel is editable. When typing in a field, use the field's normal text-editing controls.
Common actions and view controls
H
Open Annotation Shortcuts
Active editor
Ctrl/Cmd + Z
Undo
Annotation edits in the active editor
Ctrl/Cmd + Y or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Z
Redo
Annotation edits in the active editor
Delete or Backspace
Delete the selected annotation
During LiDAR path drawing, removes the last point instead
Ctrl/Cmd + C / X / V
Copy / cut / paste an annotation
Visual, audio, text, HTML, tabular, and LiDAR editors; native text copy takes priority when text is selected
Shift + V
Hide or show annotations
Active editor
1–9
Activate the class assigned to that number
Image, video, medical, document, pathology, geospatial, audio, text, HTML, and tabular editors
= / − / 0
Zoom in / zoom out / reset the view
Visual canvases, LiDAR, and time series; the zoom-in key is displayed as + in the dialog
Shift + H
Go to Home
Image, video, medical, document, audio, text, HTML, and tabular editors
Numeric keys use the hotkey assigned to a class, rather than its position in the class list. A compatible selected visual object can also be reassigned to that class. Audio class switching releases an interval selected under another class.
Clipboard support follows the annotation type. Raster brush masks can be pasted within the same file. LiDAR geometric objects can be copied individually or as a group; painted point segments cannot be copied.
Use the explicit workflow actions in the header to submit, review, or reject work. R and K are tool or editing shortcuts in several editors.
Visual annotation tools
Here, visual canvases means image, video, medical, document, pathology, and geospatial editors. LiDAR tools are listed separately below.
V
Pan and select
Visual canvases
B
Bounding Box
Visual canvases
N
Cuboid
Image, video, document, pathology, and geospatial
F / E
Brush / Eraser
Visual canvases
P
Polygon
Visual canvases
L / J / U
Polyline / Skeleton / Keypoint
Image, video, document, pathology, and geospatial
M
Magic Touch
Image, video, medical, pathology, and geospatial
S
Detect all objects
Image, video, pathology, and geospatial; requires a supported active class
T
Toggle crosshair
Visual canvases
C
Comment
Visual canvases
D
Select PDF Text
Document only
[ / ]
Decrease / increase brush size
Visual canvases
G / K / X
Overlay / Preserve / Overwrite brush mode
Image, video, medical, and document; use between brush strokes
Shift + P
Show or hide Spectral Profile
Geospatial raster with pinned spectra
For Magic Touch, click to include an area and use Shift + click to exclude it. In pathology and geospatial editors, Brush and Eraser operate on vector mask geometry. Select an existing mask or polygon and enter its edit mode before modifying it.
Select, edit, and confirm
Enter on a selected visual object
Enter edit mode where the on-canvas Edit action is available; press again to confirm the edit
Esc during a supported canvas drawing or edit
Finish or confirm the current annotation, then release the selection as appropriate
Z during an armed visual-object edit
Leave edit mode and discard the changes made in that edit
Arrow keys with a selected visual annotation
Move it by 1 pixel; Shift + arrow moves it by 5 pixels
Ctrl/Cmd + drag in Pan mode
Select multiple visual objects; add Shift to extend the selection
Esc with a multiple-object selection
Clear the group selection
Selected-object movement takes priority over image or frame navigation. Deselect the annotation before using arrows to navigate. Escape is context-sensitive: a menu, active gesture, or review panel may handle it first. Use the visible Clear and approval controls to resolve staged AI predictions.
Object ordering
W
Bring selected annotation to front
O
Bring selected annotation one level forward
I
Send selected annotation one level backward
Q
Send selected annotation to back
These commands apply to overlapping annotations on visual canvases. LiDAR uses W, O, and Q for different actions because 3D objects have no canvas stacking order.
Navigation and playback
Image, audio, text, HTML, tabular
← / →
Previous / next work item
Document
← / →
Previous / next page
Document
Shift + ← / →
Previous / next document
Video, medical, LiDAR
← / →
Previous / next frame or slice; video navigation follows the configured frame step
Video, medical
Shift + ← / →
Previous / next work item
Video, medical, audio, LiDAR
Space
Play / pause
Video, medical
D / R / Y
Track forward / backward / both directions for a supported selected annotation
Video
Alt + M
Mute / unmute native video audio
Video
Alt + ↑ / ↓
Raise / lower native video volume
Audio
Shift + ← / →
Rewind / forward by the skip duration in View Settings
Audio
Alt + M
Mute / unmute
Audio
↑ / ↓
Raise / lower volume
Audio
Alt + → / ←
Increase / decrease playback speed
Audio
L / P
Toggle loop / autoplay
Audio
S / T
Toggle spectrogram / timeline
Audio
Ctrl/Cmd + O / I
Zoom waveform in / out
Tracking follows the selected annotation's current range and is unavailable when there are no frames to process in that direction. Use the top-center navigation controls to move between work items in editors without an item-navigation shortcut.
LiDAR tools and box editing
V
Pan/select mode
N / O / P / L / U
Cuboid / Sphere / Polygon / Polyline / Keypoint
M / E
Paint points / Erase point labels
C
Comment on a location in the scene
[ / ]
Decrease / increase brush size
K / X
Protect existing point labels / Overwrite labels
W / S
Move the selected cuboid forward / backward along its own length
A / D
Move the selected cuboid left / right along its own width
Shift + W / S
Raise / lower the cuboid
Alt + W / S
Make the cuboid longer / shorter
Alt + D / A
Make the cuboid wider / narrower
Alt + Shift + W / S
Make the cuboid taller / shorter while keeping its bottom in place
F / G
Turn the cuboid left / right by 1°; add Shift for 15°
Q
Fit the selected cuboid to the points inside it
B
Toggle Batch View for a selected cuboid in a multi-frame scene
T / R / Y
Track the cuboid forward / backward / both directions
Ctrl/Cmd + A
Select all objects on the current frame in Pan mode
Cuboid moves and size changes use 0.05 m steps. Hold a key to repeat the adjustment; releasing it commits the edit as one undo step. These box keys follow keyboard positions.
In Pan mode, drag empty space with the left button to orbit and the right button to pan. While a drawing or painting tool is active, the right button orbits. Drag an object to move it, or use Alt + drag to move it vertically. Use Ctrl/Cmd + click to toggle an object in a group, or Ctrl/Cmd + drag to select a group; add Shift to extend it.
Click successive points for a polyline or polygon. Finish with a double-click, Enter, or Esc; a polygon can also close on its first point. Backspace/Delete removes the last point while drawing. Between gestures, Esc saves pending painted labels and releases the selection. During a drag or brush stroke, Esc cancels that gesture. In Batch View, Esc closes the view.
Audio, text, HTML, tabular, and time-series tools
Audio
V / R / C
Pan / Interval / Comment
Text, HTML, tabular
V / T / R / C
Pan / Entity / Relation / Comment
Time series
V / R / P / C
Pan / Range / Point / Comment
HTML Interact mode
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Enter
Capture the current state for annotation
Pointer and timeline controls
Image and document canvas
Mouse wheel
Zoom around the pointer
Medical stack
Mouse wheel / Shift + wheel
Change slice / zoom
Audio waveform or spectrogram
Mouse wheel / Ctrl or Alt + wheel
Pan / zoom around the pointer
Time-series chart
Ctrl/Cmd + wheel
Zoom around the pointer
Time-series chart
Shift + wheel or horizontal scroll
Pan through time; ordinary vertical scroll moves through the chart stack
Focused timeline
← / →
Seek backward / forward
Focused timeline rows
↑ / ↓, Home / End
Move through visible rows or reach the first / last row
Focused timeline group row
← / →
Collapse / expand the group
Timeline
Ctrl/Cmd + wheel / Shift + wheel
Zoom / pan horizontally
Timeline resize handle
↑ / ↓
Increase / decrease the timeline height
For a focused timeline annotation, use Shift + F10 or the Menu key to open its available actions. Esc cancels an in-progress timeline edit. Pressing Esc in a fullscreen Workbench panel exits fullscreen once no more specific interaction has consumed the key.
Annotation View Settings
The View Settings panel controls how the active editor looks and responds without changing the source file. Available sections adapt to the resource family and Workbench mode.
Canvas / Rendering
Pixel Perfect
Preserves one-to-one pixel rendering for supported standalone image views; hidden where it does not apply, including medical and multi-panel layouts
Annotation Display
Display object names; Show properties & attributes; object-label font size; selected-object opacity; object-edge opacity
Controls labels and visual emphasis without changing saved geometry
Annotation Tools
Handle size; primitive keypoint sensitivity; show polyshape angles; ruler around cursor
Adjusts editing precision, control-point size, angle visibility, and local measurement guidance
Auto zoom
Auto zoom on timeline click; auto zoom on object-list click
Centers and enlarges the selected annotation when the corresponding navigation action is used
Image Adjustments
Color Map; Invert Image; Brightness; Contrast; Image Saturation
Changes the inspection view only; source-image properties remain unchanged
Video
Default annotation length; Jump frames
Sets the initial temporal span for a new annotation and the number of frames used by jump navigation
Hounsfield unit presets
Built-in preset selection; custom preset name; Save W/L; delete custom preset
Applies and stores medical window/level presets
3D Viewer Settings
Threshold; Opacity
Controls the medical 3D rendering
Projection (MIP)
Single slice, MIP (max), MinIP (min), Average; slab thickness
Controls multi-slice projection when a medical volume is available
Windows Levels
VOI LUT mode; histogram; window-width/level range; reset
Controls the displayed intensity range for medical-image inspection
Settings persist as annotation-view preferences. They alter rendering, navigation, or editing ergonomics; they do not rewrite the uploaded media.
Work-item status
Item status is derived from the item’s current workflow stage, not maintained as an unrelated manual field. User-facing status buckets include:
New;
In annotation;
In Review;
AI Review where applicable;
Processing;
Complete;
Archived;
Error.
Task-level status can further show Reopened, Skipped, Pending, Dispatched, Running, Paused, Succeeded, or Failed. An Invalid sub-state appears when the latest saved history fails required-property or value validation. Validation is non-blocking: the save succeeds, the item is marked for correction, and the workflow can route it appropriately.
7. Multiview Workbench UX
Multiview is the default project annotation experience for all six data families. It is a persistent workspace containing the project header, work-item navigation, mode/layout selector, resizable panel grid, one active editor, and one or more passive inspection panels.
Two modes
Current file
Multiple views of the same datasource
One active editor; sibling panels mirror its changes in real time
1×1
Multiple files
Neighboring work items from the current queue/filter scope
One selected panel is editable; other items remain passive previews
1×3
Layouts range from 1×1 to 4×4. Users can resize panel boundaries, fullscreen a panel, and switch modes from the Workbench header. Mode, layout, and panel sizes persist for the user.
Active and passive panels
Only the active panel can mutate annotations. It receives the full native editor: tools, hotkeys, selection, object/event/entity editing, player or page controls, comments, classes, properties, history, and workflow actions.
Passive panels can show media, annotations, labels, pages, frames, waveforms, text, or medical projections. In Current file mode they receive the active panel’s live annotation changes, but they cannot originate edits, change the active selection, save, control playback, change a PDF page, edit text entities, or alter waveform regions.
When the user activates a passive panel:
Unitlab visually selects it immediately.
Any in-progress save in the outgoing panel is allowed to settle.
Unsaved changes are saved or safely snapshotted.
The outgoing panel becomes passive and pauses modality-specific playback.
The incoming native editor loads and restores its panel state.
The route updates only after the editor is ready.
If hydration fails, Unitlab restores the previous active panel instead of blanking the workspace.
Current file flow
The user opens a work item from a dataset, Task Queue, Batch Queue detail, filtered grid, or direct link.
Unitlab creates multiple panel sessions for the same datasource without duplicating data or history.
One panel is active; the rest are read-only siblings.
Active edits are broadcast to siblings in real time.
The user can activate another panel to work from a different view, frame, page, or zoom state.
Saving refreshes the shared history and updates every sibling to the persisted result.
Current-file examples:
Image: compare the same image at different zoom or inspection states.
Video: inspect different frames of the same video while sharing annotations and downloaded frames.
Audio: inspect different time regions while one waveform editor remains authoritative.
Text: compare different windows of the same text while entity/relation changes remain synchronized.
Document: compare different PDF pages without confusing page changes with work-item navigation.
Medical: assign Axial, Sagittal, Coronal, and 3D views to separate slots with synchronized annotation state.
Multiple files flow
The user selects Multiple files and a layout.
Unitlab fills the grid with the active item and neighboring items from the current visible set.
The visible set preserves queue, upload-session, archive, search, status, class, and assignment filters.
The user activates any ready panel.
If the item belongs to another data family, the correct editor loads within the same Workbench shell.
Previous/next navigation continues through the filtered work-item sequence.
Empty tail slots and inaccessible items appear as panel-level states rather than replacing the whole page with an error.
This mode supports mixed review, such as an image, video, PDF, and audio item in one 2×2 layout, while guaranteeing that only the selected panel is editable.
Navigation hierarchy
Unitlab maintains three distinct navigation levels:
Top-center previous/next: changes the project work item and can cross data families or move between loose items and Data Groups.
Panel activation: changes which visible panel is editable without leaving the Workbench.
Within-item media navigation: changes a video frame, audio time region, text window, medical slice/view, or PDF page inside the current work item.
Keeping these levels separate is essential for predictable UX. A PDF page change must never advance to another datasource, and a medical slice change must never appear as another project item.
Grouped Workbench
A Data Group opens as one grouped Workbench whose layout is fixed by the Auto-Grouping builder. The header shows the group layout rather than the general mode/layout selector. Activating a tile never tears down the group route.
The project’s unified previous/next sequence treats each group as one work unit and excludes its member tiles from the loose-item sequence. Grouped saves remain attributable to the group.
Start with the right page
Learn universal controls
Start with keyboard shortcuts, view settings, item state, and workflow actions.
Annotate one modality
Continue to Image, Video, Text, Document & PDF, Audio, or Medical Annotation.
Work across files
Use Multimodal Annotations and the Multiview Workbench.
Improve speed
Use AI-assisted annotation only inside the same quality contract.
Operating boundary
Saving annotation state is different from routing the task to another stage.
Viewer navigation is different from project-item navigation.
A missing action can be caused by role, stage, selection, resource state, or configuration.
A production-ready handoff
An annotator can identify the active item, ontology, workflow stage, save state, navigation scope, and next valid action without leaving the task.
Explore related Unitlab capabilities: enterprise data annotation workflows · multimodal data annotation