Studio quick start

This article describes the main features of Studio and is aimed at users who are new to Studio or are upgrading from a previous version.

For large topics such as searching for files, opening files, creating files, and so on, a summary is given and links to articles with more detailed information are provided.

Accessing Studio

Studio is installed on a central server and therefore requires no installation steps on your system.

You access Studio by opening a link (URL) in a compatible Web browser. This link is provided by your system administrator.

Example: http://localhost/StudioServer/contentstation

When accessing the link, the log in page appears on which you can log in to access the system.

Logging in

Making use of Studio and the files to work on is done by logging in (see The Studio concept).

The process of logging in depends on how the server to which you log in has been set up: with or without single sign-on (SSO).

• With SSO support. When accessing the link to Studio, you will be automatically logged in when you are already logged in to the authentication provider. Else, you will be guided through the process by various messages that appear on screen. Follow the steps until the process is completed.

• Without SSO support. To log in, enter your user name and password, choose the Edition you want to log in to and click Sign In.

Figure: The Sign In page.

After logging in, the main screen appears.

Logging in to a different server

The link that you use to access Studio with is directly linked to that instance of Studio Server. Accessing a different instance requires a link to that other server.

Searching for files

One of the actions that you will perform most often in Studio is searching for files.

Searching is mainly done by using the Search box, the Filter, and tags.

Figure: Searching for files is mainly done by using the Search box (A) and subsequently fine-tuning the results using the Filter (B).

Search box

Use the Search box to quickly find a file by typing a search term and pressing Enter. To find all files, clear the Search box first.

To quickly find files of a particular type, simply type 'image', 'dossier', 'layout', and so on.

Filter

Use the Filter to narrow down your search by only searching in a particular Brand, Category or Issue or by filtering on file type, Status and so on.

Note: In order to filter on Category, Issue or Status, select a Brand first.

Tags

Each time you perform a search by using the Search box or narrow down the search results by using the Filter, a tag is created.

To quickly change your search results, remove one or more tags.

For more information, see Searching for files in Studio.

Linked files

A file in Studio Server could be part of one or more Dossiers, placed on one or more layouts, and so on.

For seeing which files are related to a selected file, the Linked Files panel can be used.

Figure: The Linked Files panel shows to which files in Studio Server a file is linked.

For each file, the relation to the selected file is shown: 'Part of' for files that are part of a Dossier, 'Placed on' for files that are placed on a layout, and so on.

For more information, see Viewing to which Studio Server files a file is linked using Studio.

Opening files

Another often used task in Studio is opening a file to edit it in some way. This is done by 'checking out' a file. During this process, the file is downloaded to your local system and locked for other users so that they cannot edit it. Typically, the file is also automatically opened in its editor.

When done editing the file, the changes can be saved back to the original file. The file is then also unlocked for others so that they can edit it.

For more information, see Opening files for editing (file check-out and check-in) using Studio.

Working with file names

When creating or editing an article, image, Dossier, or any other type of file or object, be aware of the following restrictions:

• The name cannot be longer than 63 characters
• Some characters are not allowed

For more information, see Restrictions for naming files in Studio.

About 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.

Creating Dossiers, articles, and layouts

The first step of creating a story is to create a Dossier: a virtual folder in which all files that are related to that story are kept.

Creating the content for the story is done by creating an article and optionally a layout for outputting to print.

To create a new Dossier, article, or layout, click 'Create new...' in the toolbar. In the window that appears choose to create a Dossier, article, or layout as well as a template to base the article or layout on. Click Next to continue. You will then see a screen in which you can enter details such as the name and where in the system to save it.

Note: The file name may not contain characters such as “ ` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ * \ | ; : ’ < > / ?. For a full overview, see Invalid file name characters in Studio Server.

For more information see:

• Working with Dossiers
• Working with Digital articles
• Working with Print articles
• Invalid file name characters in Enterprise
• Working with layouts

Creating Tasks

Getting a story published is teamwork and involves many people with different skills: from researchers gathering the initial content, to a journalist doing interviews, a photographer taking photos, a designer laying out the page, and so on.

To make sure that each person is aware of what needs to be done to get the story published on time, Tasks can be created and assigned to a user or user group.

In a typical workflow, one or more files are assigned to the Task. These files can either be files that already exist in the system and that the user needs to work on (such as articles that need to be reviewed), or they could be new files that a user has created as a result of receiving the Task (such as images from a photoshoot).

To create a new Task, click 'Create new...' in the toolbar. In the window that appears choose to create a Task. It is not necessary to select a template. Click Next to continue. You will then see a screen in which you can enter details such as the name and where in the system to save it.

For more information, see Working with Tasks in Studio.

Using the Print editor

The Print editor of Studio — used for working on articles that are published to print — is straight forward and self explanatory. Some points to be aware of are listed below.

For more information, see Working with articles in Studio.

Figure: The Print editor of Studio with the Edit window (A), the Preview window (B), article components (C) and the Status bar (D) with the name of the active article component shown.

Saving your work

Saving your work manually is not necessary; in fact, there is not even a Save button.

Instead, all your changes are automatically saved for you and when not working on the article for a short period of time, the article is automatically checked in.

Layout previews

For articles that are placed on a layout, a preview is automatically shown. When making changes to the text, the preview is automatically updated.

Text icons

For objects that cannot be displayed in the text, icons are shown instead. Hover the mouse pointer over it to see the name of the object shown in a tooltip.

Examples:

	Table
	Link1
	Note
	Graphic
	Anchored object
	Unknown object

¹ Hover over the icon to show the hyperlink text in a tooltip.

In Studio, articles consist of one or more components, each containing specific content. A typical article for a newspaper for example consists of a "head" component containing the header, an "intro" component containing a short introduction, and a "body" component containing the main text.

When working on an article in Studio each component is indicated by a vertical bar on the right side of the article (see figure above).

When placing your cursor in a component, the name of the component is shown in the Status bar at the bottom of the screen.

Using the Digital editor

The Digital editor is used fro creating channel-neutral content for output to digital and print channels. Editing Digital articles mainly involves adding components to the article and adding content to these components.

To add a component, hover your mouse over an area between two existing components until you see an orange plus sign appear. Click it and choose the component that you want to add from the window that appears.

Figure: Adding a Slideshow component to the story.

For more information, see Working with Digital articles.

Uploading files

Uploading files to Studio Server can be done from within in an existing Dossier.

Step 1. In an opened Dossier, do one of the following:

• Locate the files on your local drive, network, or in Assets, and drop them anywhere in the Dossier
• Click the Upload button and select your files

After adding the files, the Uploading Files window appears. Each file is automatically uploaded to Studio Server and the upload progress is shown for each file while at the bottom of the window the overall progress can be followed.

Figure: The Uploading Files window makes it possible to make final changes to the settings of each file.

When uploading files of different formats, files of the same format are grouped together.

Step 2. (Optional) Change the settings for each file by:

• Assigning a different Workflow Status (done per group of files)

• Assigning a user (done per group of files)

• Selecting a single file and changing its settings in the right side of the window

• Removing a file from the upload process by selecting it and clicking the X-icon

Step 3. Click Finish.

For more information, see Uploading files to Studio Server in Studio.

Previewing files

To preview a file in fullscreen mode, do one of the following:

• Select a file and press the Spacebar
• Right-click a file and choose Preview
• Double-click a layout in the Publication Overview application

Many of the tools that are found on the Preview page are self explanatory. Note that the zoom tools in the bottom right corner appear when moving the mouse and automatically disappear when keeping the mouse stationary.

Closing the preview mode

To close the preview, press the Spacebar, press Escape or click the X-icon in the top right corner.

Showing or hiding the Workflow Status of placed objects

Any article, image, and spreadsheet that is placed on a layout (and stored in Studio Server) can be highlighted when viewing the layout in fullscreen mode. The color used is the color of the Workflow status that is assigned to the object.

This gives a good overview of how far the layout and the publication as a whole is progressing.

Enabling or disabling this feature is done by doing the following:

• Control which objects should be highlighted by making a selection in the Layout Settings menu, accessed by clicking the three dots in the top right corner..
• Make sure that you are not in Place Articles mode.

Figure: Controlling the display of the Workflow Status is done by setting the switch (A) to 'Show status' and defining the objects to highlight in the menu (B).

Figure: Articles and images highlighted when viewing a layout in fullscreen mode.

Previewing multiple files

Up to 3 different files can be simultaneously previewed.

Figure: Previewing 3 files. From left to right: a layout, an image, and an article.

Working with objects placed on layouts

When previewing a layout that contains placed objects such as articles or images, you can left-click such an object to make the toolbar appear at the top of the frame.

Note: To make this work, make sure that 'Show placed objects' is enabled (see above).

From the toolbar you can access often used actions as well as the context menu for that object.

Modes for viewing files

When searching for files or opening a Dossier or Task, the files that are shown can be viewed in the following ways:

• 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. (Only available in Dossiers) 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:

Changing file settings

Changing the settings of a file, such as its name, can be done in the Properties panel.

Tip: Changing the name of an article can also be done by clicking it at the top of the page in the editor.

Select a single file, make sure that the Properties panel is open by clicking its icon on the right side of the screen, and change any of the available settings. Your changes are automatically saved.

Figure: Change the settings of a selected file by opening the Properties panel (A) and changing any of the settings (B).

For more information, see Changing the properties of an object or file.

Working on routed files

Working on a publication is team work. In a typical workflow therefore, your team members will regularly send you files that you need to edit or review.

Files that have been routed to you can be viewed in the Inbox.

The Inbox icon at the top of the page shows how many files are currently in your Inbox.

You access the Inbox by clicking the Inbox icon at the top of the page.

Figure: The Inbox shows all files that have been routed to you. It is accessed by clicking the Inbox icon at the top of the page (A).

For more information, see Processing routed files using the Inbox in Studio.

Using Applications

Studio is designed in such a way that the most important tools to work with are readily available.

Tools that are used less frequently are located in the Apps menu of the toolbar at the top of the screen.

Figure: The Apps menu.

Note: You may see many different Applications in the menu than shown here, or you may not even see the Apps menu at all. This all depends on how the menu has been configured.

One Application that is added by default is the Publication Overview: an application that gives you a general overview of how far the production process of a publication has progressed. For more information, see Using the Publication Overview Application in Studio.

Keyboard shortcuts

For an overview of the keyboard shortcuts that you can use with Studio, see:

• Keyboard shortcuts for Windows
• Keyboard shortcuts for macOS