Upload and prepare your first assets

In this tutorial, we’re going to upload a small set of assets to the DAM, describe and tag them, and make them visible to the people who use your portals. Getting assets in, describing them well, and deciding when they go live is the core of an asset librarian’s work. By the end, you’ll have three assets with a type, a description, keywords, and usage notes, live in Content Portal for a set period.

This is part 1 of 3 in the asset librarian tutorials. Next: Build your first keyword category.

Prerequisites

To follow this tutorial, you need:

Access to Assets in Platform Administration, through the Admin role for Administration Panel. The Client Admin role preset includes this. The Asset Librarian role preset doesn’t, so asset librarians usually get it through a group. Each role’s permissions are listed in User role presets and permissions.
Three image files on your computer that you’re allowed to publish. Step 7 makes them visible to the people who use your portals, so don’t use anything confidential.

What we’ll create

We’ll upload three images as one named upload, find them again, and fill in their details. Then we’ll let AI describe one of them, and finally make all three live for the next month.

The tutorial takes about 30 minutes, including the videos, in seven steps:

Step 1: Open asset administration
Step 2: Upload three assets
Step 3: Find your upload
Step 4: Describe your assets
Step 5: Add keywords and usage notes
Step 6: Let AI describe an asset
Step 7: Make the assets live

Step 1: Open asset administration

Uploading and editing assets happens in Administration, not in the portals where people browse and download.

Open asset administration (27 s)

We’re going to open the list of every asset in the DAM.

From the main menu, select Administration.
Select Assets.

You’ll notice that the list includes every asset held in the DAM, including assets that people using your portals can’t see. This is the asset management area, and we’ll work here for the rest of the tutorial.

Step 2: Upload three assets

Now we’ll add our three images as a single upload, with a name we can search for later.

Upload assets (1 min 35 s)

Select Add Assets.
In the upload name field, enter Tutorial upload.
Turn smart tagging off.

We’ll run it on one asset in step 6, so we can compare it with the details we write ourselves.
Leave the availability dates and folder as they are.
Drag your three image files into the upload window, or browse for them.
Select Upload.
When the upload finishes, select Manage New Resource.

You’ll notice that:

The list now displays only your three new assets.
They’re in the Quarantined phase, which keeps them hidden from portal users until we make them live in step 7.

Step 3: Find your upload

A busy DAM holds thousands of assets, so it’s worth knowing how to get back to a particular upload.

Find existing assets (2 min 4 s)

We’re going to clear the view and find our three assets again with a filter.

Return to the full asset list by selecting Assets again.
Select Show Filters.
In the uploads filter, choose Tutorial upload.

You’ll notice that the same three assets appear, and nothing else.

The other filters work the same way. You can filter by upload date, keywords, asset type, privacy, and phase, and combine them to narrow the list further.

Step 4: Describe your assets

With our three assets in view, we’ll give them a type and a description.

Select assets to edit (54 s)

We’re going to edit all three at once.

Select the checkbox on each of the three assets.

Action icons appear at the top right of the list.
Select .

An editing panel opens on the right.

Assign an asset type (34 s)

From the type list, choose the type your workspace uses for images, such as a brand or campaign image type.

Asset types group similar content, and they decide which download formats are available.
Select Apply Changes, then Confirm.

Add a description (37 s)

With the three assets still selected, select again.
In the description field, enter Practice asset uploaded in the asset management tutorial.
Select Apply Changes, then Confirm.

You’ll notice that when an asset already has a description, you can choose to replace it or add your text to the beginning or end of it. Ours were empty, so the text is the whole description.

Select one of the assets to open its information panel. The type and description you set are listed there.

Step 5: Add keywords and usage notes

Keywords are what people filter by when they look for assets, so they matter more than any other detail. Usage notes tell people where and when an asset may be used.

Add keywords (55 s)

We’re going to give all three assets one keyword and a usage note.

Select all three assets, then select .
In the add keywords section, select Add.
Choose any keyword category in your taxonomy, then a keyword that suits the images.
Select Apply Changes, then Confirm.

Add usage notes (45 s)

With the three assets still selected, select again.
In the usage field, enter Internal training use only.
Select Apply Changes, then Confirm.

You’ll notice that the keyword appears on each asset’s information panel, alongside the usage note.

The usage note is information for people, not a rule. It doesn’t stop anyone downloading the asset.

Step 6: Let AI describe an asset

Writing a good description for every asset takes time. Smart tagging asks AI to write a description and suggest keywords from what’s actually in the asset.

Apply smart tagging (51 s)

We’re going to smart tag one of our three assets and compare the result with the description we wrote.

Clear the selection, then select the checkbox on one asset only.
Select the smart tagging icon, then select Confirm.

A notification confirms that the asset is queued for tagging.
After a short wait, select the asset to open its preview.

You’ll notice that:

The description now describes what is in the image, such as objects, setting, and any text in it.
New keywords may have been added, matched to your taxonomy.

The generated description is a starting point. To change it, edit the text in the details panel and select the tick icon to save.

Smart-tagged descriptions also make the asset easier to find with AI descriptive search. Understanding operational AI explains how smart tagging works.

Step 7: Make the assets live

Our assets are described, but nobody outside Administration has access to them yet. An asset appears in Content Portal only when its phase is Active and today falls within its availability dates.

Update the phase (42 s)

We’re going to make all three assets active, then limit how long they stay live.

Select all three assets, then select .
From the phase list, choose Active.
Select Apply Changes, then Confirm.

Set availability dates (45 s)

With the three assets still selected, select the calendar icon.
Set the start date to today and the end date to one month from today.
Select Apply Changes, then Confirm.

Now check the result where portal users would see it. Open an assets page in Content Portal and search for one of your file names.

You’ll notice that the asset appears, with the description and keyword you gave it.

What you see here depends on your workspace’s configuration. Each assets page displays only the assets its rules allow, so an asset can be live without appearing on every page. If your asset doesn’t appear, try another assets page, or contact your administrator.

On the end date, the assets drop out of Content Portal automatically. They stay in Administration, where you can set new dates at any time.

The finished assets

Here’s what we’ve built:

Upload: three images, grouped under the upload name Tutorial upload.
Details: an asset type, the description from step 4, a keyword, and the usage note Internal training use only.
AI description: one asset with a smart-tagged description.
Visibility: Active, live in Content Portal from today for one month.

If you don’t want portal users to see the practice assets, set their phase back to Quarantined. Keep them for now if you’re going on to the next tutorial, which tags them with a new keyword category.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you’ve learned how to:

Upload assets as a named upload.
Find an upload again with filters.
Edit the type, description, keywords, and usage of several assets at once.
Use smart tagging to describe an asset.
Make assets live with the phase and availability dates.

Next, continue with Build your first keyword category to create keywords of your own and tag these assets with them.

Upload assets, Tag and edit asset metadata, and Manage asset availability cover every upload and editing option. Understanding asset availability explains how phase and availability work together.