1. No category

How to succeed with
OpenAsset
-A White Paper
How to succeed with OpenAsset
How to succeed with
OpenAsset – A White
Paper
In order to succeed with OpenAsset it is important to
approach the project with the right strategy from the
start. This white paper will guide you through some of the
key decisions and strategies that need to be undertaken
when implementing OpenAsset within your business.
Key topics such as keywording your projects and
images, uploading images and how to encourage use of
OpenAsset within your business are all covered in this
document.
axomic ltd
56 compton st
london
ec1v 0et
T +44 (0) 870 850 0435
E [email protected]
www.axomic.com
VAT registered no. 811732750 axomic ltd registered in england and wales no. 4582960
How to succeed with OpenAsset
Contents
1
OpenAsset Uploading Strategy
4
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
4
4
6
7
8
9
Introduction
Data Migration
Who is responsible for uploading images
'Tips and Tricks' to help your uploading strategy
What Goes into OpenAsset
Related documentation
2 OpenAsset Keyword Strategy
10
10
10
10
11
11
12
12
13
14
16
16
17
18
3 Guide to Access Levels in OpenAsset
19
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
Introduction
Configuration
Benefits
Tips & Tricks
Related documentation
4 Guide to using Albums in OpenAsset
4.1 Introduction
4.1.1 Albums
4.1.2 Company Albums
4.2 Benefits
4.3 Tips & Tricks
4.4 Related documentation
5 Guide to encouraging use of OpenAsset
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
White Paper
10
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Getting Started
2.3 Keyword Types
2.3.1 Image Keywords
2.3.2 Project Keywords
2.4 Keyword Categories
2.5 Keyword Examples
2.5.1 Image Keywords
2.5.2 Project Keywords
2.6 Hints and Tips for structuring keywords
2.7 Data Migration – Get a head start
2.7.1 Project Images
2.7.2 Reference Images
2.8 Related documentation
Introduction
Benefits
Tips & Tricks
Case Study
Related documentation
19
19
21
21
22
23
23
23
23
24
24
26
27
27
27
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
1 OpenAsset Uploading Strategy
Uploading images is key to the success of OpenAsset. The more up to date and
relevant the image library the greater the chances of OpenAsset becoming a key
resource within your practice.
1.1 Introduction
Axomic are on hand to provide support for uploading images. Data migration
projects can be undertaken to ensure you get the best possible start. Once the initial
batch of images are in the system you need to choose which is the right uploading
strategy for your practice.
The purpose of this document is to provide information on what uploading strategies
have been implemented by OpenAsset clients, and tips and tricks on how to make
them a success.
1.2 Data Migration
Axomic provide data migration services to ensure OpenAsset is richly populated
with project images when the software is rolled out to users. This saves you time
and money managing data migration projects, and gets you up and running as
quickly as possible.
All of our clients are different, and have individual requirements for data migration.
OpenAsset data migration assessments are performed free of charge. We will liaise
with your marketing and graphics team to define the best strategy for moving
images into OpenAsset. Here's an example of the kind of migration project we can
do for you.
Project images are located in two areas on your company network:
●
\\Project_Images\Global
●
\\Project_Images2\Global
The images themselves are then held within sub-folders e.g:
●
\\Project_Images\Global\100 Smithsonian
Institution\USA\Washington\Portrait Gallery\High RES\John
Smith\NPG_USA_01.jpg
●
\\Project_Images\Global\100 Smithsonian
Institution\USA\Washington\Portrait Gallery\High RES\John Smith\NPG USA
01.Tif
After a short consultation we would then be able to migrate the images into
OpenAsset and tag the images with certain information as follows:
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
Image information
available in OpenAsset
Description
Original Filename
The original filename of the image prior to migration is
available in OpenAsset
Project code and
Project Name
The Project code and name is found in the sub-folder
under \Global\. Therefore \100 Smithsonian Institution\
translates as follows:
Project Code
100
Project Name
Smithsonian Institution
Description
The long description field against each image can be
populated with the sub-folder names that will help you
with keywording the images later. Therefore using the
examples above the following information would be
migrated into OpenAsset:
•
Global
•
USA
•
Washington
•
Portrait Gallery
Photographer
From the brief consultation it was confirmed that wherever
the name John Smith exists in a sub-folder the name John
Smith will be stored as the photographer on the image.
Only high resolution
(res) images
It was found that there are two versions of most images,
one a high res Tif file and a lower res Jpeg. Only the high
res images should be imported, but often there were
slight differences in the file names as above. E.g.
•
NPG_USA_01.jpg
•
NPG USA 01.Tif
Axomic will identify the Tif and any minor filenane
differences and only import the high res images.
Embedded Information Data such as IPTC data & EXIF data will be transferred
Data migration projects are all different so it's difficult to say how long they will take
but here's a basic outline:
Weeks 1-3:
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●
Install software
●
Establish remote access
●
Liaise with client on what images are for migration
●
Axomic submit proposal
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
Weeks 4-6:
●
Agree data migration strategy
●
Perform the migration
●
Client tidies up ‘data migration keywords’
To find out more about Axomic's data migration services contact a member of our
team.
1.3 Who is responsible for uploading images
Your existing images are now in OpenAsset, but how do you ensure the database
continues to be populated with up to date and relevant images? Obviously this is
key to the overall success of your OpenAsset project.
This is an issue that needs careful consideration, and attention, but it is well worth
the effort.
There’s no ‘single’ prescriptive way of uploading. We've discussed various options
with established OpenAsset users and a number of uploading strategies are
popular. Let’s take a look at how other users have done it:
Uploading Strategy
Single Person
Definition
OpenAsset is almost wholly managed by a single person
•
•
Head of marketing / graphics
Image librarian
One person has responsibility for:
•
Sourcing imagery
•
Uploading images
•
Keyword management
•
Keywording
Marketing Team Takes
•
OpenAsset is managed by the marketing and
Control
communications group:
•
Marketing
•
PR
•
Business Development team
•
Communications
Responsibility is shared for:
•
Sourcing imagery
•
Uploading images
•
Keyword management
•
Keywording
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
Uploading Strategy
Gatekeepers
Definition
OpenAsset is managed by a group of people with
different roles, this might include:
•
Director responsible for marketing
•
Marketing / graphics
•
Associates
•
Heads of ‘project groups’ or ‘studios’ (depends
on structure of your company)
Each 'project group' or ‘studio’ is then given an OpenAsset
gatekeeper who is responsible for uploading the team's
images
Project group is then responsible for putting images into
‘image dumping ground’ folders for the gatekeeper to
upload
Key Stakeholders
Key stakeholders such as project leaders are responsible
for uploading their own project images
Project leader puts them into system and is responsible for
keywording
Marketing team usually responsible for the management
of OpenAsset e.g. keywords, but uploading done by
project leaders
1.4 'Tips and Tricks' to help your uploading strategy
Once you've decided which uploading strategy to adopt you will need to filter this
knowledge throughout your practice. Communication really is the key. Here are
some ideas that might give you some inspiration:
Formalise the procedure for uploading images:
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●
Work together with all stakeholders on the project to create a well defined
procedure for uploading images
●
Document the procedure
●
Email this to your staff
●
Make sure staff know where to find this document
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
Perform in-house training and seminars to embed uploading procedures:
●
Lunchtime CPD sessions spread out over period of time
●
Tick everyone off for attendance! Do refresher courses 6 months after
implementation
Target key staff with focused training:
●
Key staff members will be vital to the success of the library
●
Target these people with in-depth training (at their desks if necessary!)
Include user friendly guides in your staff handbook:
●
Simplify the OpenAsset user manuals and include content for the staff
handbook
●
One client calls their staff handbook the ‘Idiot's Guide’ – Check with staff
that it is idiot proof!
Use your intranet to inform staff:
●
Create an image news page to remind staff to submit images and inform
them of new images on your system
●
Provide links to the OpenAsset user manuals and your handbook
Induction for new staff members:
●
Include OpenAsset training in the induction process
●
Make sure they have in-depth training when they first arrive so they are
familiar with your procedures
1.5 What Goes into OpenAsset
OpenAsset organises images into categories. The names of the categories can vary,
but here are examples of what you might have:
White Paper
•
Projects
•
Textures
•
Projects – Marketing
•
Materials
•
Projects – Site
•
People
•
Precedents
•
Staff
•
Reference
•
Plants
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Here are some ideas for the types of images for uploading into your categories:
Category
Project Images
Definition
•
•
•
•
•
General or Precedents
Images
•
•
•
•
Textures or Materials
Images
•
Staff or People Images
•
•
•
•
•
Professional marketing images taken by
photographers
Any image which has been issued to a client or
put in a document for publication
Key images that sum up the project and can be
used by the whole practice for the purpose of
marketing
Colourful drawings, anything for marketing or
publication
Not web images!
Mood board images
Images of other projects taken by staff members
on trips
Images which people regularly ask for e.g.
growing demand for sustainable and ecological
imagery
Keep an eye on which images are most
frequently used in material leaving the practice, if
people are always using the same images it
probably means you need to source more of this
type
Textures collections
Materials
Staff photos for CVs
Charity events
Staff trips
Social activities (Xmas party / company curry etc)
1.6 Related documentation
There are a number of related documents that you should have a look at if you
haven't already. Please contact Axomic to request any of the following:
●For information on how to upload images the OpenAsset User Manual will
teach you all you need to know.
●For all the administrative functions such as setting permissions for which groups or
users can upload images he OpenAsset Administration Manual has everything.
●General and Intensive training courses are available to train your users in how to
upload images and administer this function.
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
2 OpenAsset Keyword Strategy
Keywords are a fundamental feature of OpenAsset that allow you to tag your
images with specific information. This gives you powerful searching capabilities so
you can easily find any image you want to use based on the information it's tagged
with.
2.1 Introduction
Keywords are a fundamental feature of OpenAsset that allow you to tag your
images with specific information. This gives you powerful searching capabilities so
you can easily find any image you want to use based on the information it's tagged
with.
Keywords can be associated with the image itself or with an entire project
containing a number of images. Similarly keywords can also be associated with
other categories of images such as reference images.
This document is designed to help you to decide how best to structure your
keywords in OpenAsset so that you can get the maximum out of it.
2.2 Getting Started
If you've recently purchased OpenAsset don't be afraid to upload some images and
experiment with keywording as this will be invaluable. Rather than writing them
down or typing them into a spreadsheet or document try them out in OpenAsset.
Here's some reasons why:
●
You will learn much more quickly about keywording this way
●
Desired keywords can all be moved into your live system
●
It's easy to edit or delete any unwanted keywords
●
You will quickly understand how keywords are tagged to images
●
You can download your keywords from OpenAsset as a spreadsheet for
team review
2.3 Keyword Types
Keywords can be broken down into two main types:
Image Type
Description
Image Keywords
Linked to each individual image
Project Keywords
Linked to the project that the images reside in
2.3.1 Image Keywords
When an image is uploaded into OpenAsset it can be assigned to different
categories. Projects are an example of one such category. It is possible to have
many different categories of images but the standard solution is to have two main
ones:
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
Category
Description
Projects
Your Company's high quality project images for marketing
Reference
E.g. Stock images of people, nature etc. Inspirational images for
mood boarding
An example of an additional category might be:
Category
Staff Photos
Description
Team photos, PR Shots and Staff events e.g. Christmas party
Image keywords are uniquely assigned to each category that you have in
OpenAsset. Therefore you can have a set of keywords for Projects, a set for
Reference, for Staff Photos and so on.
Please remember that the names of your categories and the number that you have
is completely down to you and your specific business requirements.
2.3.2 Project Keywords
Project keywords are simply generic keywords for the entire project. Therefore each
project created in OpenAsset can be tagged with a series of project keywords. In
turn any image uploaded into a project will automatically be assigned with these
project keywords.
2.4 Keyword Categories
Each group of keywords sits within it's own category. This enables you to define a
series of similar keywords that have a commonality and easily add to this when you
need to. Similarly keywords can be edited or removed at the touch of a button if your
permissions allow.
Here's an example of this structure:
Keyword Category
Elements of Buildings
Keywords
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Atrium
Balconies
Cladding
Common Areas
Escalator
Façade
Floor
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hall
Lighting
Ramp
Roof
Stair
Terrace
Wall
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2.5 Keyword Examples
In order to give you a better idea of typical keywords and get you thinking about
what will work for your business here are some examples:
2.5.1 Image Keywords
These are directly related to the images that fall within their category. Therefore you
can have image keywords for projects, references or other categories. These
keywords are specifically about the image:
Category
Project
Keywords
Keyword Category
Type of Image
•
•
•
•
•
•
Project
Materials
•
•
•
•
•
•
Project
Area of Building
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reference
Natural World
•
•
•
•
•
•
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3D
Aerial
Black &
White
CGI
Composite
Diagrams
•
Aluminium
Brick
Bronze
Ceramic
Chrome
Cladding
•
Atrium
Auditorium
Bathroom
Bedroom
Breakout
Space
Garden
•
Animal
Bird
Clouds
Desert
Fish
Flowers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Drawing
Masterplan
Model
Photo
Portrait
Sketch
Concrete
Glass
Granite
Steel
Stone
Wood
Kitchen
Library
Mezzanine
Museum
Roof
Garden
Terrace
Fountains
Insects
Landscapes
Sea
Sky
Weather
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Category
Reference
Keywords
Keyword Category
People
•
•
•
•
•
•
Academic
Architect
Artist
Children
Contemporary
Engineer
•
•
•
•
•
•
Entertainer
Photographer
Professional
Public
Sport
Tourist
2.5.2 Project Keywords
These are keywords for the project itself so that every image uploaded to a project is
tagged with the associated project keywords. These keywords are specifically about
the project:
Project Keyword
Category
Sector
Keywords
•
•
•
•
•
•
Building Type
•
•
•
•
•
•
Country
•
•
•
•
•
•
Arts
Commercial
Culture
Education
Healthcare
Hotels & Leisure
•
Airport
Apartments
Bridge
Festival Hall
Gallery
Hospital
•
Australia
Belgium
Canada
China
England
France
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
International
Offices
Public
Residential
Retail
Transport
Hotel
Library
Research Centre
Restaurant
School
University
Germany
Japan
Mexico
Portugal
Singapore
USA
Important Note
Please note that the number of keywords within any keyword category will obviously
vary. You may well need less than suggested above or in fact many more
depending on your requirements.
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2.6 Hints and Tips for structuring keywords
If you're struggling to come up with keyword categories and their related keywords
then here are some ideas that might give you some inspiration:
White Paper
●
Upload some images, study the images and experiment with keywording
●
Look at your current marketing materials:
●
Brochures
●
Website
●
Practices book or Portfolio
●
What common topics or themes come up in the marketing materials?
Could these potentially become keywords?
●
What reference images do you regularly get asked for? What terminology is
used?
●
Are there any commonalities with your reference images?
●
What images do you send out to press? Do any themes emerge from these
images?
●
How would you describe your top 20 most prestigious projects?
●
Do you have an In-house photographer? Talk to them and find out if there's
any specific process they follow to categorize their images
●
If you use a PR company discuss keywording with them. They may follow a
similar process with their projects
●
Do you know any other companies similar to yours that are already using
OpenAsset? Perhaps they can give you some pointers on how they've
successfully implemented their keywording?
●
Ask Axomic. We'll be happy to help you and can put you in contact with a
similar organisation to yours that has successfully implemented their
keywording
●
When it comes to keywords often less is more. Start off with a small very
relevant number and add to them when you have the business
requirement
●
For project keywords try and come up with a set of keyword categories that
will apply to every single image that goes into the project. For example:
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Image: FOS123_N1.jpg - Project: FOS123 – Washington National Portrait Gallery
Project Keyword
Category
Value
Keywords
•
£2m - £5m
•
£5m - £10m
•
•
£1k - £100k
£100k - £500k
£500k - £1m
£1m - £2m
£10m - £20m
£20m - £50m
•
Arts
•
•
Commercial
Eduction
Healthcare
•
Allied London
BAA
Bovis
Imperial
University
•
•
Smithsonian
Institution
•
•
Apartments
Bridge
•
Gallery
•
•
Library
•
Museum
Office
Stadium
Swimming Pool
•
Birmingham
Boston
Cardiff
Dublin
•
Australia
France
Germany
Ireland
•
•
•
Sector
•
•
Client
•
•
•
•
Type of Building
City
•
•
•
•
Country
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hotels & Leisure
Offices
Residential
Transport
Manchester University
Natural History
Museum
Norwich Union
•
London
Manchester
New York
•
Washington
•
Italy
•
USA
•
UK
Wales
•
•
In the example above there are just six project keyword categories but the image fits
into all of these based on the keywords within. Create a small number of categories
and add more when needed. Do the same with the keywords.
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2.7 Data Migration – Get a head start
Axomic can give you a great head start on your keywording when performing data
migration services for our clients. We have helped our clients move hundreds of
thousands of images into OpenAsset and can tailor each service for your specific
requirements.
When performing the data migration we can create keywords for you and tag
information to your images. Here's some examples of how this might work for your
image library:
2.7.1 Project Images
The project images are located in two areas on your company network:
●
\\Project_Images\Global
●
\\Project_Images2\Global
The images themselves are then held within sub-folders e.g.:
●
\\Project_Images\Global\100 Smithsonian
Institution\USA\Washington\Portrait Gallery\High RES\John
Smith\NPG_USA_01.jpg
●
\\Project_Images\Global\100 Smithsonian
Institution\USA\Washington\Portrait Gallery\High RES\John Smith\NPG USA
01.Tif
After a short consultation we would then be able to migrate the images into
OpenAsset and tag the images with certain information as follows:
Image information
available in OpenAsset
Description
Original Filename
The original filename of the image prior to migration is
available in OpenAsset
Project code and
Project Name
The Project code and name is found in the sub-folder
under \Global\. Therefore \100 Smithsonian Institution\
translates as follows:
Project Code
100
Description
White Paper
Project Name
Smithsonian Institution
The long description field against each image can be
populated with the sub-folder names that will help you
with keywording the images later. Therefore using the
examples above the following information would be
migrated into OpenAsset:
•
Global
•
USA
•
Washington
•
Portrait Gallery
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Image information
available in OpenAsset
Description
Photographer
From the brief consultation it was confirmed that wherever
the name John Smith exists in a sub-folder the name John
Smith will be stored as the photographer on the image.
Only high resolution
(res) images
It was found that there are two versions of most images,
one a high res Tif file and a lower res Jpeg. Only the high
res images should be imported, but often there were
slight differences in the file names as above. E.g.
•
NPG_USA_01.jpg
•
NPG USA 01.Tif
Axomic will identify the Tif and any minor filenane
differences and only import the high res images.
Embedded Information Data such as IPTC data & EXIF data will be transferred
2.7.2 Reference Images
A similar process would be used for the reference images except Axomic would
also generate keywords based on the sub-folder structure. All keywords would be
created within a keyword category called Data Migration. This would mean that
following migration you can then easily organise all the keywords into sensible
categories. Here's an example:
●
\\Reference_Images\Global\Natural World\Birds\Robin.jpg
This image would be tagged with the following keywords that you can categorize
and edit as you wish:
●
Global
●
Natural World
●
Birds
Important Note
It is very important that there is clear responsibility for keywording both at the start of
the project and going forward. This will mean that a good structure is organised
once the initial image data has been migrated into OpenAsset. Additionally
resources will be available for the continual development of keywords and their
categories in line with your business requirements. This will help you to get the most
out of OpenAsset.
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2.8 Related documentation
There are a number of related documents that you should have a look at if you
haven't already. Please contact Axomic to request any of the following:
●
If you've forgotten how to upload images, view keywords and search for
keywords the OpenAsset User Manual will teach you all you need to
know.
●
For all the administrative functions such as adding & editing project
keywords, keyword categories and keywords the OpenAsset
Administration Manual has everything.
●
General and Intensive training courses are available to train your users in
how to use and administer the keywords for your business in OpenAsset.
The course outlines have all the details you need.
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3 Guide to Access Levels in OpenAsset
Access levels are used in OpenAsset to allow you to categorise your images using a
simple traffic light system. Images are tagged with one of three categories that can
be defined for your business requirements with the correlating category colour red,
amber or green.
3.1 Introduction
Access levels are used in OpenAsset to allow you to categorise your images using a
simple traffic light system. Images are tagged with one of three categories that can
be defined for your business requirements with the correlating category colour red,
amber or green:
The access level is set against each individual image so that you can ultimately
control who sees particular images:
3.2 Configuration
A standard configuration for the access levels could be as follows:
Colour
White Paper
Name
Definition
Red
Un-approved
Images that have not been approved yet or you do not
hold copyright for and are therefore not for general
distribution.
Amber
Internal use
Images that are not to be used for external distribution
at all. These images could be used internally for
documentation if required.
Green
External use
These images are approved, of high quality and can
be used for both internal and external distribution. For
example an image of this quality could be made
available to the press or used in marketing materials.
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Importantly the system can be configured to your exact requirements and the name
against each traffic light colour can be changed for you. Following this the group
permissions can be edited as required:
In the example above we are looking at the marketing group. The traffic light system
helps you build a business process around managing your images. The following
example is for the Marketing group:
●
They can upload images at the Un-approved or Internal use statuses
●
They can edit an Un-approved image and delete it if necessary
●
They are able to change an Un-approved image to the status Internal use
●
They are unable to change an Internal use image to the status External use
●
They are unable to upload images at the External use status
●
They are unable to edit or delete images at the External use status
●
These access levels apply to all categories of image, e.g. Project, Reference
& Textures
Within this process it is intended that images start at an unapproved status and
become upgraded until it is confirmed they can be used externally. The ability to
assign a status of 'External use' would be restricted to certain group/s such as
administrators only. Furthermore, other groups such as an external press group
could exist that only have access to view images with the External use access level.
This simple example provided starts to demonstrate how a business process can be
built around the use of access levels, but this can obviously be taken further and
developed for your own unique business requirements.
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3.3 Benefits
Here are some examples of the benefits of using access levels:
●
Build business processes around access levels and groups of users
●
Implement OpenAsset across your entire enterprise by controlling the
access of your users
●
Allow access to external users such as the press by implementing strict
access level properties
●
Ensure only the best images are made visible to general users
●
Quickly restrict the access levels at the category level e.g. project &
reference
●
Track the numbers of images in the different access level categories broken
down by project, photographer, category and more
3.4 Tips & Tricks
There are many ways that OpenAsset can be configured using access levels. Here
are some tips for how to get the most out of them and some handy tricks you may
not be aware of:
Tips and Tricks
Change access
level descriptions
Description
•
•
Create a business
process
•
•
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These don't have to be Un-approved, Internal use &
External use. They can be changed depending on
what your requirements are.
Please speak to the OpenAsset support team if you
make a business decision to change these and
we'll be happy to help.
Think about how you would like to control your
image library and give different types of users
access to the images.
By coming up with a high level business process
you should be able to determine what specific
access levels different groups of users should have
and how the access levels are structured.
Enterprise Wide
Access
•
Think about everyone within your organisation and
what kind of access you want them to have to the
system and the images within. This should help you
determine what access levels you need and assist
with the business process.
Make the best
images available
•
One strategy is to have the best images tagged as
access level green. If you restrict general users of
the system so that they only view images at access
level green then they will only ever be able to use
the best images.
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Tips and Tricks
Description
Configure the
Default preferences can be set up for each group of users.
Default preferences Here the Search order can be ordered by Access level
meaning images are returned and displayed in the order
green, amber & red. In fact this can even be reversed if
preferred:
Set the Thumbnail info so that the Access level is shown
against each of your search results for certain groups.
For groups that only have permissions to view one access
level it's advisable not to set the Access level as a thumbnail
since they only ever see one type.
Identify the
With the appropriate permissions it's possible to view how
numbers of images many images there are at each Access level. For example
you can view this for your categories:
Additionally this can be done for Colourspaces, Image
formats, Projects, Copyright holders & Photographers.
3.5 Related documentation
●
The OpenAsset User Manual and OpenAsset Administration Manual
contains information relating to using and configuring Access levels
●
General and Intensive training courses are available to train your users in
using and configuring Access levels respectively. The course outlines have
all the details you need
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
4 Guide to using Albums in OpenAsset
Albums are a place to collate chosen images from one or more categories to
facilitate the creation of a document, presentation or company album. An individual
can share an Album with colleagues or clients, or the Album can be submitted for
consideration as a company Album.
4.1 Introduction
Within OpenAsset there are two types of Album:
4.1.1 Albums
Albums are a place to collate chosen images from one or more categories to
facilitate the creation of a document, presentation or company album. An individual
can share an Album with colleagues or clients, or the Album can be submitted for
consideration as a company Album.
Albums can be created by anybody within the organisation, as long as they are
given permissions to do so within OpenAsset.
4.1.2 Company Albums
Company albums are displayed on the home page of any user who logs into
OpenAsset, company albums are ideal tools for sharing examples of 'best' or 'most
recent' images. Example company albums could be:
●
Pictures of the latest award winning project
●
Best examples of mixed-use Residential and Office developments
●
Favourite selection per sector: Sport, Residential, Retail etc.
●
The Christmas Party!
Company albums can be approved by any member of staff, as long as they are
given permissions to approve company Albums within OpenAsset.
Albums are central to the creation of documents using OpenAsset and improving
collaboration within the organisation. From an Album a user can perform the
following:
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●
Create a PowerPoint presentation containing all images within the Album
●
Create a contact sheet for emailing or printing
●
Create a .zip file containing all images
●
Launch the AssetBar for dragging and dropping images directly into MS
Word, InDesign and other applications
●
Share a collection of images with specific individuals or groups of people,
or with external clients and partners via the web
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
4.2 Benefits
Encouraging the use of Albums with OpenAsset will be beneficial to your
organisation. Here are some of the reasons why:
●
Increase collaboration over images both internally and externally,
removing the need to email copies of images to colleagues or external
clients and partners
●
Albums are just links to the shared image library, so there is no limit to the
number of images in an album or the number of albums that can be
created
●
Create a PowerPoint presentation containing all images within the Album
at the click of a button
●
Improve the process of using images within documents – images can be
“dragged and dropped” from OpenAsset directly into MS Word, InDesign,
Quark etc
●
Use company Albums to inspire staff with images that are available to
improve marketing and business development materials
4.3 Tips & Tricks
Albums are a powerful feature within OpenAsset, however the key is to consider
simple processes and rules for the creation and usage of Albums to ensure the
practice gets the very most out of them now and in the future. Here some
suggestions:
Tips and Tricks
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Description
Who should be able to
create Albums?
All staff should be able to create Albums to get the
most out of image searching and usage, for example
the creation of a PowerPoint presentation.
Who should be able to
create Company Albums?
All staff can submit an Album for approval as a
company album, however it may be best to
implement an approval process where only particular
staff can grant approval.
How many Company
Albums should we allow?
Having too many company Albums may be unwieldy,
leaving staff unwilling to trawl through those available
to find the images they wanted. It could be a great
idea to implement a naming convention for Company
Albums, see next point.
Consider a naming
convention for Albums
Implementing a simple naming convention for your
company albums would make it easier for staff to
search through company albums and find the ideal
image. See the screenshot below for an example
naming convention:
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
Tips and Tricks
Consider short & accurate
descriptions for Albums
Create groups for publishing
selected Albums to
Description
As well as an Album Name, each company album
can be given a short description to inform the user
as to the nature of the images within each Album.
See the screenshot above for an example of this.
•
•
•
Integrate OpenAsset with
the Intranet / Internet to
display your best Albums
•
•
Training services
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Clients could consider creating groups
consisting of people who share a common
interest in specific Albums.
For example, if several people from
different offices generally work on brochure
production in the practice, a group called
“Brochure Group” could be created to make
it easier to share a particular Album with all
people within that group.
Other examples may be “Marketing
Group”, “Directors”, “Leeds Office” etc.
Contact Axomic for more information on
the APIs (Application Programming
Interfaces) available to achieve integration
with your intranet or internet site.
RSS feeds are also possible – again contact
Axomic for more details.
Clients should consider training in order to get
across to users the importance and capabilities of
Albums. The following ideas could be considered:
•
Training - General training courses can be
provided by Axomic at the client site where
groups of employees are trained in the
general features of OpenAsset including
Albums.
•
In-house training - Clients who have
attended Intensive training can cascade
training to staff via short group seminars
run in-house that cover the key features
and benefits of OpenAsset including
Albums.
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
Tips and Tricks
Description
•
•
OpenAsset support
•
•
Power users cascading
knowledge
•
•
User manuals - End-users could be given
the OpenAsset user manual that contains
step-by-step instructions on how to create,
use and manage Albums within
OpenAsset.
Intranet links - Clients could provide a link
from the Intranet site to OpenAsset
documentation and on-line
demonstrations. OpenAsset on-line
demonstrations can be found at the
following website:
http://www.axomic.com/ViewDemo.html
Axomic provides a professional support
service for all clients subscribing to annual
support. This covers day to day queries that
end users may have. Users can contact the
support service between the hours of 09:00
& 18:00 Monday to Friday.
Users should be encouraged to use this
service if they need a query answered or
are unsure about how to do something in
OpenAsset.
Having a number of power users of
OpenAsset means that their knowledge
can be passed down to others when
needed.
It is often beneficial to designate power
users as the first point of contact for any
queries users have so that a firm process
exists when a user has an issue they're
unsure about.
4.4 Related documentation
There are a number of related documents that you should have a look at if you
haven't already. Please contact Axomic to request any of the following:
●
The OpenAsset User Manual and OpenAsset Administration Manual
offer detailed information on how to structure and use Albums within
OpenAsset.
●
General and Intensive training courses are available to train your users in
how to use and administer all features within OpenAsset, including
Albums. The course outlines have all the details you need.
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5 Guide to encouraging use of OpenAsset
In order to make OpenAsset a success within your organisation it's important that it's
made available to your business as a whole.
5.1 Introduction
In order to make OpenAsset a success within your organisation it's important that it's
made available to your business as a whole. OpenAsset is an enterprise wide
image management solution that is designed to become the central resource for all
of your project and reference images as well as other image categories defined by
you.
The advanced security settings for users and groups means that you can encourage
the use of OpenAsset to everyone including external parties safe in the knowledge
that your information is suitably protected.
5.2 Benefits
Encouraging the use of OpenAsset will be beneficial to your business. Here are
some of the reasons why:
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●
Help you have a successful launch of the product
●
Improve performance by enabling teams to work faster and better
●
Increase the transparency of the practices' work
●
Improve return of investment on OpenAsset
●
Create an enterprise-wide image management resource for all employees
●
Centralise your image library so that images are sourced from one place
only
●
Grow the image library making more resources available to promote your
practice
●
Help promote the image library and get everyone positive about this
resource
●
Minimise storage requirements by reducing image file duplication
●
Reduce network traffic by centrally controlling image file sizes
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
5.3 Tips & Tricks
There are a number of different ways that the use of OpenAsset can be encouraged.
Here some suggestions:
Tips and Tricks
Intranet/On-line
resources
Description
•
•
•
•
•
Easy access
Training services
If you don't have a company intranet then it's important to make
it easy for users to access OpenAsset. Here are some examples
of how to do this:
•
Email all staff containing a link to the site
•
Ensure the OpenAsset site is added as a website
Favourite or Bookmark
•
Provide a link on all staff desktop machines
•
Provide a link on the computer's network places
•
•
•
•
•
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Many of Axomic's clients use their own intranet as a
portal to OpenAsset. This will often involve a link that
will take a user directly to the log on screen.
If you are looking to launch OpenAsset in the future
why not advertise the product on your intranet?
If you have a news section on your intranet OpenAsset
can be discussed here in the build up to the product
going live.
Use the intranet news section to promote new project
images and get people interested in OpenAsset.
Why not have a screenshot or banner on the intranet
promoting the product and its use?
Training your staff will help them feel confident in using
the product so that they can start reaping the benefits.
Axomic provide a number of training services to our
clients for the different types of users that may use
OpenAsset:
General Training Courses are perfect for practices that
are ready to roll out the system to everyone. Users will
learn how to search for images and create documents
such as PowerPoint presentations.
Intensive Training Courses are aimed at the power
users of OpenAsset that will take on responsibility for
managing the product. Train these users before going
live as they will be instrumental in setting it up.
If you have new staff or users that need refresher
training then Axomic can also provide a day package
that allows you to break the day up into a number of
general and intensive sessions.
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How to succeed with OpenAsset
Tips and Tricks
Alternative
training services
Description
•
•
•
OpenAsset
documentation
•
•
•
OpenAsset
support
•
•
Power users
cascading
knowledge
•
•
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Axomic already provide a number of on-line
demonstrations of different features of the product.
(http://www.axomic.com/ViewDemo.html)
Encourage use of the product by using these
resources.
Alternatively Axomic can create bespoke
demonstration videos tailored to your specific
requirements and using your OpenAsset environment.
Make these videos available on your intranet as a
resource for your employees to use at any time.
The user and administration manuals offer detailed
information on how to use and configure OpenAsset.
Typically these materials are made available following
training.
By having these resources available for reference
users can feel confident using the product.
If you have a number of different types of groups of
users then consider creating smaller documents
aimed at these types of users. Extract the information
from the manual based on what these users do and
create booklets for your user groups, e.g. Marketing
Group, Press Group or Admin Group.
Axomic provides a professional support service for all
clients subscribing to annual support. This covers day
to day queries that end users may have. Users can
contact the support service between the hours of 09:00
& 18:00 Monday to Friday.
Users should be encouraged to use this service if they
need a query answered or are unsure about how to
do something in OpenAsset.
Having a number of power users of OpenAsset means
that their knowledge can be passed down to others
when needed.
It is often beneficial to designate power users as the
first point of contact for any queries users have so that
a firm process exists when a user has an issue they're
unsure about.
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5.4 Case Study
Gifford, the consultancy of engineers and specialist advisers, really kicked off their
OpenAsset project in 2008. In April 2008 just a small number of users were
uploading images into the system to get the project started.
With a go live date planned for the beginning of June the system was promoted
internally using methods such as:
●
Advertising on the company intranet using the desktop news area
●
Planned launch using the intranet
●
Posters distributed across all offices
By having designated groups of users such as uploaders, employees and
marketing Gifford have ensured a structured approach to rolling out OpenAsset has
been taken. For example full restrictions have been made on who is able to upload
images so that only high quality images are used.
Importantly OpenAsset has been strongly promoted during the roll out which has
seen continued growth in its use across the organisation since the initial purchase.
The following charts demonstrate this:
Figure 1 – OpenAsset User Access Volumes
Figure 1 shows the number of different users that have logged into OpenAsset and
used the system over the past 15 weeks.
During the first few weeks detailed on the chart back in April there was a consistent
relatively small number of users with designated users uploading images into
OpenAsset.
As a greater number of people became involved with OpenAsset and the enterprise
wide roll out date approached, usage increased from 27 users to 167 users in week
seven.
Since going live on the 2nd June usage has risen up to almost 500 users having
visited OpenAsset to use the image library.
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Figure 2 – OpenAsset Image Upload Volumes
Figure 2 shows the number of images that have been uploaded into OpenAsset in
each week over the same 15 week period.
In the first six or seven weeks the uploaders steadily built up the image library with a
peak of over 1000 images being uploaded in week six.
With a planned and structured approach specific users have been designated as
uploaders of the system and since the live roll out on 2nd June uploading levels have
grown massively.
In weeks eleven, twelve and thirteen figures have reached into the high thousands
peaking at over 8000 images being uploaded in any one week.
There are currently well over 40,000 images available in OpenAsset with a target to
increase this to one million by the end of the year.
5.5 Related documentation
There are a number of related documents that you should have a look at if you
haven't already. Please contact Axomic to request any of the following:
●
The OpenAsset User Manual and OpenAsset Administration Manual
offer detailed information on how to use and configure OpenAsset.
●
General and Intensive training courses are available to train your users in
how to use and administer OpenAsset. The course outlines have all the
details you need.
White Paper
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