In order to turn your images, videos, marketing assets and documents into real assets, you must enrich them with metadata and tags in order to be able to describe and retrieve them easily.

Filerobot supports an advanced Metadata system (taxonomy) as well Tags to achieve this purpose.

There are 2 ways to use transformations once created:

1. Download them to your local computer for further re-use. Various formats are available when downloading a transformation.

2. Deliver over optimized (JPEG, WebP or AVIF) CDN URLs

When you are using Filerobot DAM, you will notice that we introduce the concept of File Version vs. File Transformation.

Creating transformation for a single image via the Image Editor

In order to create a new image transformation, you can open the transformation panel within the Asset Management modal:

Here the user has the option to create a new transformation by clicking on + Add transformation box. The Image Editor pops up and allows the user to create and save a transformation graphically:

Once the transformation is saved, you can hover over it to either download it directly or copy an optimized CDN link to your clipboard for further distribution:

For example, the optimized CDN link to the feed portrait transformation for Instagram looks like:

https://fbmjmuoeb.filerobot.com/Images/Blue+dress.jpg?
tl_px=1516,0&br_px=6055,5674&w=1080&h=1350

The query parameters suffixed to the image CDN URL trigger Filerobot to generate the transformation on-the-fly and cache it in the CDN.

Creating transformation in bulk via custom presets

Unlike single transformations which are created using the Image Editor for each asset, custom presets are the way to go when it comes to generating transformations automatically in bulk.

Step 1: Create a custom transformation preset

Navigate to the Settings / Project / Process / Delivery URLs page and scroll to the Dynamic asset transformation presets section to create a preset:

To create the new Preset, click the "+ Add preset" button and pick a file to work on. Then, an Image Editor will pop up, letting you crop the test image as you like, add a watermark, or apply a certain effect.

When you are ready, save the changes. Filerobot will generate a Preset, containing the chosen operations and filters. You can always review the exact configuration and rewrite it using the "..." menu -> Edit or Edit in Image Editor.

For each Preset, you can set the "Autogenerate" option and the transformation will apply automatically whenever you upload new images.

Additionally, you can select only specific Presets (image transformations) to be generated during image upload.

Step 2: call the transformation URL using the preset

The custom preset created above can be used with the query parameter p (for "preset") to generate the transformation:

https://fbmjmuoeb.filerobot.com/Images/Blue+dress.jpg?p=insta_feed_portrait

The short explainer video below is just an appetizer of all the DAM use cases you will be able to implement within the Asset Hub:

Learn all you need to know to get started with uploading and managing assets within the Asset Hub from:

• Upload assets,

• through Manage assets,

• Enrich assets with Metadata and Tags,

• Organize assets in static Folders or dynamic Collections,

• Search & find assets with #filters or complex #search queries,

• Collaborate with assets between users and,

• Share assets internally as well as externally to finally,

• Download assets in various target formats

The asset management modal is the go-to place to manage and collaborate on an asset. You can access it in 3 ways:

• Double-click on an asset

• via the Manage menu in the contextual (right-click) menu

• via the Manage menu in the action bar

4 tabs are available for managing the asset:

Furthermore, users can Edit images or Create transformations.

Overview

The Filerobot Uploader lets you upload assets in the DAM from a variety of sources:

• Your device's storage, camera or screen

• Web links

• Third party sources like Google Drive, Dropbox, Instagram, and many others.

You can drag & drop, copy & paste or browse to the file's location to select it for upload:

Transform assets during upload

You can transform your assets as part of the upload process.

Monitoring upload progress

Once you click the Upload button, a progress icon is shown on each asset, as well as an overall Progress bar underneath the Upload modal, showing the cumulative progress of all assets:

Upload results

There are 3 possible end states and relevant actions:

Filerobot distinguishes two types on metadata fields:

• Embedded metadata: EXIF/IPTC metadata embedded by the camera or the graphical editor software

• Custom metadata: metadata fields created in Filerobot to enrich assets

Filerobot allows the creation of simple or complex metadata structures, aka taxonomies, with each metadata field capable of supporting multiple dimensions, such as translations, currencies, distribution channels or any other variant required by your use case.

Metadata can be viewed and edited during the upload process, in bulk post-upload or individually for each asset in the asset management modal, see Manage assets.

Assets can then be searched by metadata field values and dynamic Collections created based on metadata field values.

Let's get started!

What is faceted navigation (aka faceted search) ?

At its core, faceted navigation utilizes a faceted classification system to organize information. This system categorizes items based on multiple, independent attributes called facets. Each added facet acts as new filtering layer.

• Concept: Faceted navigation falls under the umbrella of parametric search techniques. Instead of relying solely on keyword matching in a traditional search, it allows users to filter based on pre-defined parameters (facets) associated with the asset. This enables a more nuanced, smarter search experience.

• Technology: Faceted navigation relies on efficient data structures and algorithms to handle large datasets and filter combinations. In essence, the system needs to quickly identify items that match all selected facet criteria. Search engines like Solr or Elastic Search are popular choices for implementing faceted navigation due to their ability to handle complex filtering operations.

• Benefits: The technical aspects of faceted navigation translate into several benefits:

  • Drill-down refinement: Users can progressively narrow down results by applying multiple facet filters, leading to a precise subset of assets.

  • Faceted exploration: Faceted browsing allows users to explore different categories and discover new assets they might not have found through a simple keyword search.

  • Improved efficiency: By filtering irrelevant options, faceted navigation reduces the number of results a user needs to sift through, saving them time and effort.

How does faceted navigation work in Filerobot?

Faceted navigation is applied for 4 types of attributes (as of May 8th, 2024)

• Date (Uploaded and Created date)

• Metadata Single-select

• Metadata Multi-select

• Metadata Boolean

→ Faceted navigation is only available in the "Assets" view (ie. not in the Folder view)

→ Faceted navigation section is built as a side bar at the left side of the UI, replacing entirely the filter bar (shown below, that will then be hidden) in the Assets view.

Activation of faceted navigation

The dynamic of faceted navigation

Within a metadata, the operator between 2 values or more is set to OR

Between 2 metadata or more, the operator is set to AND

In details:

• Within a metadata

-> For multi-select, we provide 2 operators: AND and OR

Let assume we are calling query HAS (equal to IS but for multi-select we call it HAS just for gramatical purpose)

We will have 2 options

1. Metadata HAS a AND b -> expected results are files which have both values a and b, file that contains only a or b won't be returned

2. Metadata HAS a OR b -> expected results are files which has either a or b, file that contains both of the values will be returned also

➡️ This option cover the 1st option -> within a multi-select metadata, we will choose HAS-OR operator to cover more file results

-> For single-select, it will always be OR when users click in more than one answers as one file can not contain more than one value.

• For 2 metadata or more

For faceted search, it is an AND operator between multiple metadata as the answers will be more specific and this is the main idea for faceted navigation: trimming down the most correct answers

Example:

a. Multi-select metadata "colour" with value: “red”, “white”, “black”

When "red" and "white" are searched for -> expected answers are:

• Files that contain value red only

• Files that contain value white only

• Files that contain both value red and white

b. Single-select metadata "size" with value: “35”, “36”, “37”

When “35” and “36” are searched for -> expected answers are:

• files that contain 35 value only

• files that contain 36 value only

c. Now, combining the two previous examples

When “red”, “white”, “35”, “36” are searched for -> expected answers have to use AND operator to encompass the 2 metadata constraints, so answers will be assets that contain:

• red and 35,

• red and 36,

• white and 35,

• white and 36,

• red and white and 35,

• red and white and 36

→ Refining searches further is leading to more accurate and relevant results.

Languages

Metadata, as well a Tags can be translated in multiple languages. You can manage languages from the Metadata variants section under Settings > Project > Metadata > (tab) Configuration. Edit the Language variant to enable or disable languages.

Please note the special case for the Language variants:

• The topmost option will be the default language for metadata and tags

• All language options are to be selected from a drop-down list of supported languages (and not free text entries) - the API keys are the ISO code of the language selected, e.g. en for English

• the API key cannot be edited

Custom variants

You can also create additional custom metadata variants to declinate a metadata field in different dimension, such as currencies, file format, etc, ...

Assigning a metadata variant

Tags are pre-set values which can be applied to assets for filtering and classification purposes. Tags can also be generated automatically based on image content using integrated AI-based image recognition algorithms.

Assigning Tags to Assets

You can add tags to assets using the Bulk Edit or Single file edit functionality.

Bulk assignment of tags

In order to assign a specific tag to multiple assets, you need to select the files and then to choose option "Edit multiple assets".

Then choose "Tags" and you can select the tags that you would like to apply to your assets (tags must already be present in the list in order to be assigned, you can't create a new tag while bulk editing).

Clicking on "Regional settings" you can choose the language on which to apply your tags.

Assigning tags to 1 asset

You can assign tags to a single file by selecting that file, then clicking on "Manage" and choosing the icon representing "Edit metadata".

At that point, you will get the option to add new tags, choosing them from the "Suggested" list or generating them using AI service (if this feature is enabled for your project). If you start typing a tag that is currently not existing in the Tags list, it will be added to the list and attached to the asset at the same time.

Detaching tags from assets

Detaching a tag from multiple assets at the same time

For that purpose, you need to use the Bulk Edit functionality. Please select the files that contain the tag which you want to detach and choose the "Editing multiple assets" option. Then in the Tags section choose "Delete" and specify the tag that you want to remove.

Detaching a tag from an asset

Please select the asset which tags you want to edit, then go to "Manage" and open the "Edit metadata" mode. Now you have the option to remove tags by clicking on the "x" symbol at the top-right corner of every tag or to choose the "Clear all" option so to delete the entire tags list.

Searching by tags

In order to search by a specific tag in the Search box, you need to type #name-of-your-tag or to use the dedicated Tags filter.

In Filerobot you can crop, resize, apply different filters and add watermarks to your images. You can save the results as a variant of the main image or an entirely new asset.

Edit image

The Edit image button opens the Image Editor.

The Image Editor is a feature-rich inline image editor that supports the most commonly used image editing function of image editing software:

When you are ready with the Editing, click on "Save".

View metadata details

Asset metadata can be viewed and managed from the asset management modal.

Metadata variants can be toggled using the toggle.

Edit metadata details

Users with level Contributor or higher, can edit metadata fields during or after file upload.

Editing a single asset

Bulk edit of metadata on multiple assets

You can also edit metadata fields of multiple assets in bulk. For that purpose, select the assets you want to edit metadata of and select the Edit multiple assets option from the contextual menu or navigation bar:

Search by metadata values

You have 2 ways to retrieve assets by metadata fields:

Search bar

You can search by a specific metadata field in the search bar, pointing to this field with the special symbol @:

If can combine metadata-based search with free text search.

Metadata filter

Alternatively, you can use the Metadata filter to select a field and a search value. Entering multiple metadata fields in the metadata filter will perform an "OR" search.

A collection is a group of related assets defined by a set of properties such as meta, tag, file type etc.

The main difference between grouping assets via Folders, Labels, My favourites vs Collections is that the membership of assets to a group is dynamic when using collections. This means that assets are automatically added or removed from a collection based on their technical properties and metadata values.

Collections view

This Collections sub-page can be accessed from the main menu on the Library page:

Collections sub-menu

In the collections list, the collections submenu has the following options:

• Name: sort by name ascending or descending

• “Sort” icon: if the collections are currently sorted by name ascending then this will sort them descending and vice-versa

• “Planet” icon: allows to select the metadata/tags language

• Refresh: refreshes the collections list

• "Info" icon: if an asset is selected, provides additional details for it

Managing collections

Add a new collection

You can do this by clicking on the button + Add collection. A pop-up Configuration panel will open.

• Name - please specify a meaningful collection name

• Access - by default it is Company. Only users with access to Filerobot Hub can see these assets.

• Filter type: Query - the user creating the collection needs to write a search query inside the text area to define filters.

• Query - here should be placed the filtering query for the collection

• Groups - the groups are an alternative of the Filtering Query. They contain a list of pre-defined collection criteria and can be used in combination with the Query or on its own.

Edit collections

In order to open the Configuration window, allowing you to manage your collections, you need to click on the "Settings" icon in the left panel of the page:

That will open the "Manage collections" window where you have options to Search, Add new collections, Edit the current configuration or Delete existing collections.

Labels are used for categorizing and describing items, allowing for flexible grouping and easy Search. One asset can have multiple labels.

Difference between Labels, Tags, and Collections

Labels allow users to organise their assets in a more structured and permanent way than Tags. They are static - unlike the dynamic Collections whose assets change through applicable filters - and are similar in principle to the labels on physical products (drinks, foods, clothes).

Users can still modify a given label and/or change which assets fall under it.

The system also allows users to view and search both the labels and their applicable assets.

Labels view

The Labels page can be accessed from the main menu on the Library page:

Managing labels

Creating labels

You can create named, colour-coded labels by clicking on + Add label button. This allows you to list and manipulate all assets assigned to a specific label in a single view.

• Title - please choose a meaningful name for your new label

• Colour selector - you can choose a color for your label by clicking on the pre-defined colors or specifying its RGB code in the field bellow

• Pinned - if this checkbox is marked, then the new label will appear on the top of the labels list. On Sort the system will sort first the Pinned labels and then will show the other ones.

Editing labels

In order to open the Configuration window, allowing you to manage your labels, you need to click on the "Settings" icon in the left panel of the page:

That will open the "Manage labels" window where you have options to Search, Add new labels, Edit the current configuration or Delete existing labels.

Attaching a label to an asset

Invoking the context menu on an individual or multiple selected assets and choosing the Labels sub-menu lets the user search and apply the available labels:

If, during the Search, no exact match is found, the user has the option to create a new label and apply it to the asset immediately:

Detach a label from an asset

This function is available on the Labels page when selecting a file and opening its context menu:

The user can select multiple files too and use the ... icon in the Navigation bar in order to access the same option.

In both cases, in order to be able to detach a label, the user should have a Developer, Manager, Admin or Owner User Role.

Searching labels

Searching for an asset by a specific label

You can search by specific search criteria inside the pool of all assets assigned to a specific label, using the main Search box:

Searching for a specific label

In case you are interested in finding all assets assigned to a specific label, you can search for this label's name in the Search box at the left panel and then just click on the result:

Filerobot provides multiple options for organizing your assets in order to facilitate the Search, collaboration and sharing of ideas.

Folders view

In Filerobot Hub you can organize your assets by folders. This view is available in the left panel of the Library under the name "Folders":

It consists of a navigation panel where the folders and their sub-folders are hierarchically ordered and an expanded view where you can preview the content of the current folder. It is available in a Grid view or a List. The view is controlled by the following icon:

Getting folder details

If you select a single folder and then click on the "Info" icon at the top right part of the page, you will open a panel showing the folder's details:

Creating a new folder

In order to create a new folder you can use the + New Folder button at the top right part of the page. The new folder will be created as a sub-folder of your current folder's location.

Downloading the folder's content

Downloading assets

If you select a folder and open its context menu, you have the option to download its content. The same action is available from the navigation bar and the download icon at the top right corner of the selected folder. The content is exported as a ZIP archive.

Exporting list of files as CSV

This option is useful in cases when you need to get details about the folder's content.

Please select the folder, open the context menu and choose "More actions -> Export list of files (CSV)". At this step you can choose to export the file details of the entire project, only the files placed directly in the selected folder or the folder+its nested sub-folders.

The information that is exported in the CSV contains:

• filename

• CDN link

• mime-type

• size

• file uuid

• creation date

• update date

• visibility settings

Searching folders

If you know the name of the folder in which you are interested, you can jump directly into it using the small Search folders box:

If you know that some file is located in a specific folder, you can use the main Search box to specify this folder and then apply additional search criteria in order to find the files you are interested in:

Embedded metadata

Embedded metadata may contain for example the GPS coordinates of where the picture was taken, the author, the camera, the lens, ... Filerobot can extract these metadata, including ones from custom namespaces (for example model name, product category) and map it to custom metadata.

To enable the extraction of embedded metadata, navigate to Settings > Development > Automations and enable the Extract embedded metadata post process.

Once enabled, Filerobot will extract embedded metadata from asset upon upload and display them in the Details tab of the asset management modal:

Custom-defined metadata

The users have the option to define metadata structures, create new fields and group them into different categories. This kind of metadata is defined per Filerobot project (token) and applies to all assets in it. You can have different metadata taxonomies if you have multiple Filerobot tokens.

"My Favorites" are typically used to quickly access frequently visited assets. They provide a way to create a personalized flat list of preferred items for easy access.

Users can mark assets as favorites and view / search these assets under the My favorites submenu for quick access. Each asset can be marked as favorite or not and each user can access their list of favorite assets via Menu > My favorites:

Adding assets to My favorites list

The user can add an asset to My favorites list by simply clicking on the heart icon at the bottom right corner of the asset:

An asset whose icon is colored in purple is already added to this list, while an asset whose icon is in grey is not part of My favorites.

Users can add multiple assets in bulk to My favorites list by selecting them and then opening ... -> Add to -> My favorites in the Navigation bar:

In the same ways, an asset or a group of assets that are already added to My favorites list can be removed from there.

Filerobot's role-based permission model allows you to create users with different privileges, setting who can access and add assets as well as contribute by editing and annotating assets, or access billing information and analytics.

User management

The Asset Hub allows you to grant mulitple users different privileges to manage, collaborate on and distribute digital content.

Roles and permissions

Filerobot offers the following user roles:

Teams

Filerobot allows you to group users in teams for easier role and permission management.

Find Similar assets is a hub feature that allows the user to select an asset and generate with AI a list of existing assets sorted by similarity to the original asset

It is an alternative way to find assets in the hub without using the metadata & standard search

Prerequisite

Find similar assets are available on specific tokens (PT_ADVANCED) and require the post process "Vector / Embed" to be enabled: only assets that have been vectorized using this post process are visible to the feature

Assets supported are images (PNG, JPG, WEBP)

How to use this feature?

In any of the hub page, simply select an asset (image: png, jpg, webp) et choose the find similar option in the contextual menu

After computing, you will be presented with a list of assets sorted by similarity with your original asset (indicated with a purple tag): most similar assets are displayed first

Nota

The results generated largely depends on the assets available in the hub (ie if the asset selected is unique, the similar assets suggested will be less relevant

Filerobot's multi-users and multi-tennant model allows users to upload, manage, collaborate on and distribute digital content in different projects via the Asset Hub.

The commenting system allows you to place annotations on images for easier communication.

Images annotations allow you to communicate with fellow contributors and discuss features of the assets. Comments and annotations are timestamped and are available to all users with editing privileges.

Adding comments and annotations

The comment section is accessible from the context menu and the preview modal of each asset.

Filerobot allows delivery of your assets over CDN and using all Media optimizer capabilities (for use in webpages and web applications). You can also collaborate with non-registered users via secure URLs:

AI powered search is a hub feature that allows the user to search assets by simply typing prompt in the search (like "photo of villa with swimming pool) It is an alternative way to find assets in the hub without using the metadata & standard search

Prerequisite

AI powered search is available on specific tokens (PT_ADVANCED) and require the post process "Vector / Embed" to be enabled: only assets that have been vectorized using this post process are visible to the feature

Assets supported are images (PNG, JPG, WEBP)

How to use this feature?

In the asset page, simply switch the AI toggle on to activate the AI Search and enter the prompt:

After validation, you will be presented with a list of assets matching the prompt and sorted by relevance: most relevant assets are displayed first

Nota

The results generated largely depends on the assets available in the hub and the prompt used

Search

The search bar allows user to use simple search with keywords

Advanced search is activated by typing the @ sign and selecting one of the dedicated search operator (filename,...). This allows user to search in specific fields - file, metadata, asset properties, etc.

User can also use the Context dropdown to narrow down the search scope to a specific folder or to Favourites.

Filters

By timestamp

By file format

By filesize

By tags

By metadata

By image info and content

By Product Reference

Sharebox allows you to share assets with third parties without access to Filerobot Asset Hub.

Creating a Sharebox

To create a Sharebox, you need to select the assets you would like to share and open the Share Assets modal in the top bar or the context menu—Share / Via Sharebox.

Each Sharebox can optionally be password-protected, have an activation and expiration date, and provide options to disable or enable asset downloads. Additionally, you can invite users by email to access the Sharebox.

Editing and deleting Sharebox instances

You can view, modify, or delete Sharebox instances from the left menu in your library under "Sharebox." For example, you can change the password, activation date, or expiration date.

Filerobot offers a mechanism to collaborate with third parties by allowing them to upload and download assets to your container via dedicated URLs.

Airbox allows non-registered users to upload files using public links. Airbox instances can optionally have an activation and expiration date and password protection. You can also invite users by email, set limitations, and configure notifications, and receive notifications upon asset upload.

Creating an Airbox

To create an Airbox instance, select Airbox from the left menu of your Filerobot library. Set the start date and expiration date (optional), enable password protection if required, click Invite Users to send invitations via email, define any limitations for uploads (e.g., max file size, max size of all uploaded assets, and max file count), and configure notifications for users, team members, and the Airbox owner on asset uploads.

Editing and deleting Airbox instances

You can view, modify, or delete Airbox instances from the left menu in your library under "Airbox." For example, you can change the password, activation date, or expiration date, set limitations, and Recipients.

All public assets in your container can be shared or published in a webpage or a web application by using the CDN link. This link allows you to take advantage of all avaliable media optimizers via URL parameters. More details are available in the media optimizer Introduction article.

This link is also available in the #publish-modal for all public assets.

Basic download

You can download assets one by one or from a selection by using the context menu or the selection top bar.

Transformations upon download

Filerobot allows you to apply transformation on the downloaded assets to crop images, reduce dimensions, convert to another format or compress the files into a single archive.

Available settings

Social media crop presets

If need to create profile images or covers for social media, you can use the Social media presets with pre-defined aspect ratio for cropping. The available options include profile pictures, covers, logos, etc. to use in LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Downloading Original Asset with "&download=1"

To enhance user flexibility, Filerobot supports a convenient download feature through the use of the query string parameter &download=1. When appended to the CDN link, this parameter triggers the download of the original asset associated with the link.

Example of how to use:

https://token.filerobot.com/path/to/your/asset.jpg?vh=123&download=1

Each asset in your Filerobot container can be either private or public.

Public assets are accessible by everybody via their while private ones are avaliable only to users and teams with the appropriate permissions.

Publish modal

This modal allows you to change the visibility settings for each asset or a selection of assets. By default, the visibiliy is inherited from the parent folder or the container. The container visibility can be defined in the Storage settings, section.

If the visibility is set to public, you can copy the CDN link from this modal.

Overview

Notifications allow to specify when to be alerted about important events such as asset expiry, being tagged in comments, and many other significant events.

Configuring notifications

Notifications are set per project and are configured in (see ).

Receiving notifications

Click the bell icon in the header to view any notification.

If there is at least one unread notification, a red dot is added to the bell icon:

The notifications overlay provides the following capabilities: