Using the Brand portal in Assets

The Brand portal in Assets is one of the ways of Accessing files stored in Assets Server through a Web browser.

It provides easy access to content that is stored in Assets Server and because of its limited features it is perfect for general use.

Figure: The Brand portal.

Setting up the Brand portal

The Brand portal will have been set up for you, ready for use. No installation or configuration steps are needed on your side.

Access rights

Depending on your role, you will have been given full or limited access to the available features in the Brand portal and the assets stored in Assets Server. You may therefore not see all of the features described here in this article or be able to use them.

Styling

The look and feel of the Brand portal can be changed to match the style of the brand that the Brand portal is used for, for example by matching it with the branding of a company, product or publication.

The following can be adjusted:

• The background image of the Sign In page
• The logo in the header
• The color of the header
• The highlight color (used for buttons, selections and various other small page items)
• The 'favicon' shown in a Web browser
• The 'Feedback' and 'Help' links

The Brand portal may therefore look different than shown here but the described features are the same.

Accessing the Brand portal

The link will look as follows:

<Assets Server URL>/app

Example: http://www.assets-server.com/app

After logging in, one of two things will happen:

1. When you have a Basic user license, the Brand portal will immediately appear.
2. When you have a Standard or Pro user license, or when you are a Super user, Assets appears. Click your Avatar and from the menu choose Brand portal.

Changing the font size

To slightly increase or decrease the default font size of the text in the Brand portal, use the options in the Avatar menu.

Figure: The options in the Avatar menu for changing the font size of the text in the Brand portal.

Getting started

Most features of the Brand portal are straightforward to use and self explanatory, but to get you started some of the main features are described in short below.

Searching for files

There are various ways of searching for files. The easiest way is to simply enter a search term in the Search box and subsequently press Enter.

Depending on how the Brand portal is configured, browse through the assets by using either the list of Categories or the list of taxonomies that is displayed on the left side of the page.

You can also start by first choosing a Category or taxonomy and to then only search within that group of assets.

Once files have been found, use the Filters to further narrow down the results, for example by choosing a tag.

Figure: In this example a search is done for the term 'flower' (A), in Category 'Fauna' (B) and the results are further narrowed down by choosing one of the available filters (C).

For more information, see Searching for files using the Brand portal.

Adding files to a Basket for later use

When you want to download or share multiple files that are stored in various locations, it is recommended to first add all these files to a 'Basket' so that you can easily work on them from within a single screen.

Figure: Downloading or sharing multiple files from various locations can most easily be done by first adding them to the Basket.

• To add a single file to the Basket, click the Basket icon in the thumbnail for that file.

• To add multiple files to the Basket, select some files and choose Add to basket from the menu bar.

• To remove a file from the Basket, click the Basket icon in the thumbnail for that file (anywhere in the Brand portal) or select them in the Basket and choose 'Remove from basket' in the menu bar.

When a file is added to the Basket, the icon in the thumbnail is blue.

A counter next to your Avatar tells you how many files you currently have in the Basket.

Accessing the Basket

To access the Basket, click the Basket icon next to your Avatar.

Downloading files

One of the tasks that you will probably perform most often in the Brand portal is downloading files. There are various ways of doing this:

• To quickly download the original version of the file, click the download icon in the thumbnail for that file.

• To download a preview of the file, the original file or a download in a particular format / dimension / resolution combination, select one or more files and choose Download from the menu bar:

About custom downloads and Download Presets

Sometimes you want to download a file in a different size, width, height or resolution than the original file. To do so, click Custom Download and make a choice from the available options.

Download Presets may also have been made available for you. These contain often used settings so that you do not have to go through the steps of creating a custom download each time. Such presets appear above the Custom Download option in the menu.

Sharing files

Sharing files with other people is done by creating a Share Link: a link to a Web page in which the files can be viewed and downloaded. Simply send the link to anyone who you want to share the files with and they will be able to access them straight away; no log in is required.

Figure: Share Links make it easy to share files with other people.

• To share a single file, click the 'Share file' icon in the thumbnail of the file.

• To share multiple files, select some files and choose Share from the menu bar.

A Shared Link is automatically created and shown in a dialog from which it can be copied. Share the link with others by pasting it into an e-mail, a chat box, and so on. The link expires automatically after 3 months, but this period can be configured by the system administrator.

Storing or sharing search results

If you have found a set of files and you want to save the search results for later use, simply create a Bookmark in your Web browser.

If you want to share your results with another Brand portal user or Pro client user, simple send them the link. When accessing it, they will see the exact same results as you (as long as they have sufficient access rights to the files of course).

Viewing metadata

Metadata is data that describes specific aspects of a file:

• When it was created
• Which application was used to create it
• Who created it
• What type of file it is
• What the size of the file is
• Which tags are assigned to the file
• What usage rights are associated to the file
• ...and much, much more

All this information is stored within the file itself and the Brand portal relies heavily on it, for example to allow you to quickly search for files.

With each thumbnail, only the file name and file size is shown. To view all metadata, preview the file and in the top right corner of the Preview window click the Info icon.

Figure: Viewing the metadata of a file can be done by clicking the Info icon in the Preview window.