A Dossier forms the basis of creating a story and is used for gathering all files that are related to the story.
Also, uploading files to Studio Server using Studio is done from within a Dossier.
This article describes how to work with Dossiers in Studio. The following topics are discussed:
- Creating an empty Dossier
- Creating a Dossier based on a template
- Creating a Dossier template
- Dossier thumbnails
- Viewing modes
- Adding files to a Dossier
- Removing files from a Dossier
- Filtering files by using labels
- Changing the settings of a Dossier
- Opening all Dossiers to which a file belongs
- Adding Notes to a Dossier
- Viewing which Studio files are linked to a Dossier
- Bookmarking Dossiers
- Sharing a Dossier link with other users
- Opening Dossiers in a new tab
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Creating an empty Dossier
Figure: An empty Dossier.
In this method, an empty Dossier is created (as opposed to a Dossier based on a template (see below), which adds specific files for starting to work on a story straight away).
Step 1. Click Create new... at the top of the page.
The Create New dialog appears.
Step 2. Click the Dossier icon.
Two fields appear:
- Filter templates by Brand
- Choose a template
These fields are used for basing the Dossier on a template and are not used for creating an empty Dossier.
Step 3. Make sure that the Choose a template list is set to Default. and click Next.
The Create new Dossier dialog appears.
Step 4. Fill out all necessary details and click Create. The Dossier is created and automatically opened.
Creating a Dossier based on a template
The most efficient way of creating a new story is by creating a Dossier that is based on a template that has been previously set up.
This ensures that the Dossier contains all relevant files and that these files themselves contain the relevant styles, components, properties, and so on.
Note: This process is also known as 'instantiating a template'.
Two processes are available: a quick process and a more manual process.
Quick process
Info: This requires Studio 11.228 or higher.
Step 1. Locate the Dossier template that you want to base the Dossier on.
Step 2. Do one of the following:
- Double-click it
- Use keyboard shortcut E, Cmd+E (macOS), or Ctrl+E (Windows)
The 'Create New' dialog is displayed. The Dossier type and template is already preselected.
Step 3. Verify the settings and click Next.
The Properties dialog appears.
Step 4. Fill out all necessary details and click Create. The Dossier is created and automatically opened.
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Manual process
Step 1. Click Create new... at the top of the page.
The Create New dialog appears.
Step 2. Click the Dossier icon.
Two fields appear:
- Filter templates by Brand
- Choose a template
Step 3. (Optional but recommended) Choose a Brand from the Filter templates by Brand list. This reduces the number of templates to choose from in the Choose a template list. This is especially useful when you have access to many Brands.
Step 4. From the Choose a template list, choose a template and click Next.
The Create new Dossier dialog appears.
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Notes:
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Step 5. Add or change the properties and click Create.
The Dossier is created and automatically opened.
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Creating a Dossier template
Tip: How to check the version of Studio that is installed.
Creating a story for a publication typically starts by creating a Dossier and adding the necessary files such as an article and layout containing the correct components and styling. Other files may also have to be added such as Tasks. The properties of all these files should also be correctly set such as the Brand, Issue, Workflow Status, and so on.
Instead of manually creating Dossiers and their content, Dossier templates can be set up on which a new Dossier can be based.
Step 1. Click Create new... at the top of the page.
The Create New dialog appears.
Step 2. Click the Dossier icon and then click Create template.
Step 3. Fill out all necessary details and click Create. The Dossier template is created and automatically opened.
Step 4. Add all files that are relevant to that story and the output it is meant for.
Note: These files will typically include one or more articles or article templates and — when the story is printed — one or more layout templates. Make sure that all files contain the relevant styles, objects, and components, and have the relevant properties set such as the Brand, Workflow Status, and so on.
Step 5. Add labels as a way of filtering the files in the Dossier. See Filtering files by using labels.
Dossier thumbnails
When viewing the search results in thumbnail view, Dossiers can be recognized by their grid design.
Figure: A Dossier in thumbnail view. It contains a layout, an article, plus 4 additional files.
When a Dossier contains files, the large preview on the left and the smaller preview in the top right of the grid show a preview of the most important files of the Dossier, such as a layout and an article.
The additional number of files that the Dossier contains is shown in the bottom right corner of the grid.
Viewing modes
The files that are shown in a Dossier can be viewed in the following modes:
- Thumbnail view. Shows a thumbnail of each file or, when no thumbnail is available, the file icon.
- List view. Shows all files as a list. For more information, see Working with List View mode in Studio.
- Story view. Shows articles as a story. For more information, see Showing an article as a story in Studio.
Each mode can be accessed by clicking its button in the toolbar:
Figure: Choosing a viewing mode in a Dossier.
Adding files to a Dossier
Adding files to a Dossier can be done in the following ways, depending on where they are stored:
- Adding files that do not yet exist in Studio Server
- Adding files that already exist in Studio Server
- Moving files from one Dossier to another Dossier
- When creating a new article, automatically add it to a Dossier
- Adding files that are stored in Assets Server
Adding files that do not yet exist in Studio Server
Files that do not yet exist in Studio Server (such as files stored on your local system) can be directly uploaded to an existing Dossier. For details, see Uploading files to Studio Server in Studio.
Adding files that already exist in Studio Server
Files that already exist in Studio Server can be added to an existing Dossier in the following way:
Step 1. Select one or more files that you want to add to an existing Dossier.
Step 2. Right-click any of the files and from the menu choose Add to Dossier.
A window appears from which you can choose the Dossier to add the files to.
Step 3. Do one of the following:
- Use the Search box to search for an existing Dossier
- Choose a Dossier from the list of recently opened Dossiers
Tip: Hover the mouse over a Dossier to see to its Status, Brand, and Issue.
Step 4. Add the file by doing one of the following:
- Double-clicking the Dossier name
- Selecting the Dossier and clicking Add to Dossier.
Moving files from one Dossier to another Dossier
When you come across a file in a Dossier that should actually be part of another Dossier, it can be moved in the following way:
Step 1. In the Dossier, select one or more files that you want to move to another Dossier.
Step 2. Right-click any of the files and from the menu choose Move to other Dossier.
A window appears from which you can choose the Dossier to move the files to.
Step 3. Do one of the following:
- Use the Search box to search for an existing Dossier
- Choose a Dossier from the list of recently opened Dossiers
Tip: Hover the mouse over a Dossier to see to its Status, Brand, and Issue.
Step 4. Move the file by doing one of the following:
- Double-clicking the Dossier name
- Selecting the Dossier and clicking Move to Dossier.
When creating a new article, automatically add it to a Dossier
When creating a new article, it can be quickly added to a new Dossier or to an existing Dossier. This is done through the Dossier field in the Create New Article window.
Use the field in the following ways:
- Choose New Dossier to create a Dossier with the same name as the article and to automatically add the article to that Dossier.
- Choose an existing Dossier to add the article to it (type any part of the name to quickly find a Dossier).
- Leave the field blank to not add the article to a Dossier.
Adding files that are stored in Assets Server
When Assets Server is integrated with Studio Server, files can be added from Assets Server to a Dossier in Studio in the following ways:
- Open the Dossier and drag the file from Assets to the Dossier.
- When placing images on an article, drag an image from Assets onto the Images panel or directly onto an article on the layout. During this process, the image is automatically added to the same Dossier in which the article is located.
Removing files from a Dossier
Select one or more files, right-click any of them and from the menu choose Remove from Dossier.
Changing the settings of a Dossier
Changing the settings of a Dossier, such as its name, can be done in the following ways:
- By using the Properties pane on the Search page. Select a single Dossier, make sure that the Properties pane is open by clicking its icon on the right side of the screen, and change any of the available settings.
- By opening the Dossier and clicking the name at the top of the page to change it.
- By opening the Dossier and clicking Properties at the top of the page to open the Properties window to change any of the Dossier settings.
Figure: Changing the settings of a selected Dossier by opening the Properties pane (A) and changing any of the settings (B).
Figure: Changing the properties of a Dossier within a Dossier.
Figure: The name of a Dossier can be quickly changed by clicking the name within the Dossier.
Knowing the difference between the 'Used in' and 'Publish in' properties
The properties 'Used in' and 'Publish in' can appear to be very similar, but the way they are used is quite different. Knowing how the values of these properties change for a Dossier and the files they contain is essential to working with Dossiers.
We recommend to read the full explanation found in The difference between the 'Used in' and 'Publish in' properties in Studio.
Filtering files by using labels
Dossiers typically contain many files whereas you may only want to work on some of those files. To filter out files that you do not want to see at that time, labels can be used.
Example: Labels could be 'Photo shoot 1', 'Photo shoot 2', 'Inspiration', 'Draft content', and so on. Imagine for instance that you need to work on images taken during the second photo shoot. To show all the files related to that photo shoot, all it takes is clicking the label that has been set up named 'Photo shoot 2'.
Figure: A Dossier in which files are filtered based on their label. Here, only those files are shown that have the label 'Photoshoot 2' assigned.
For more information, see Filtering files in a Dossier using labels.
Opening all Dossiers to which a file belongs
A quick way of opening all Dossiers to which a file belongs is by doing the following:
- Select a file outside of a Dossier, right-click it and choose Open Dossiers
- In the Publication Overview, Alt+double-click a layout
All Dossiers in which the file is added (if any) are automatically opened in their own tab.
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Notes:
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Adding Notes to a Dossier
Notes can be added to a Dossier in the form of a chat box, typically as a way of conveying the content of the Dossier to other users or for discussing the content with them.
For more information about using Dossier Notes, see Working with Dossier Notes in Studio.
Viewing which Studio files are linked to a Dossier
A Dossier typically contains multiple files and a file can be part of one or more Dossiers.
To see which files a Dossier contains without opening the Dossier, or to see to which Dossiers a file belongs, use the Linked Files panel.
Figure: The Linked Files panel shows to which files in Studio Server a file is linked.
For each file, the relation to the selected article is shown: 'Part of' for a Dossier that the article that is part, 'Contains' for a file that is part of a Dossier, and so on.
For more information, see Viewing to which Studio Server files a file is linked using Studio.
Bookmarking Dossiers
When opening a Dossier, the link in the address bar of the Web browser points directly to that Dossier. For easy and quick access to it, simply create a bookmark for it in your Web browser.
Sharing a Dossier link with other users
Similar to bookmarking the link of a Dossier, you can also share the link with other users, or click on a link that you have received from someone else.
Note: Of course, the person who uses the link needs to have sufficient permissions to access the Dossier.
Opening Dossiers in a new tab
When working with Dossiers, it can sometimes be helpful to open a Dossier in its own tab so that you can continue working in Studio in the other tab.
To do this, right-click a Dossier and choose 'Open in new tab'.
Note: This can also be done when multiple Dossiers are selected, but your Web browser may block the opening of multiple tabs. It will inform you that 'pop-up windows are blocked' (you may have to click an icon near the address bar to see this message). When receiving such a message, choose to 'always allow pop-ups' for Studio.
Revisions
- 30 September 2026: Added section 'Quick process' to section 'Creating a Dossier based on a template'.
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