There are a number of tips, tricks, and tasks regarding collecting and preparing your files for upload into the Acquia DAM (Widen) that you can begin to work on prior to becoming an Acquia customer. A few things to determine as you prepare your files for upload:
The types of files you have, including identifying where those files are located
A filenaming convention for assets that will be uploaded
Identifying, locating, and segmenting assets can be made easier by drawing a roadmap based on the answers to some key questions. Assess your current marketing and sales programs to determine what makes up your current digital asset subset. Most likely you will have a mix of asset types, including:
Photos, including lifestyle, event and product shots
Images, including illustrations, artwork, key visuals and other graphics
Logos, including official corporate branding and product or brand logos
Documents, including Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word documents, and PDF files
Creative files, including InDesign and Illustrator files
Edited and unedited video and audio clips
Other assets, including CAD files, HTML emails and landing pages, flash animations, etc.
Note: Consider the assets that were created and used for campaigns, product launches, and promotions that occurred within the last 12 to 18 months.
To locate your high-resolution assets, look in all of the following locations:
Shared servers (This is the most common location for assets.)
FTP and intranet sites
Computer hard drives and computers used primarily by individual employees
Cloud-based storage and distribution products, like Dropbox or Box
Also, consider whether or not you have any analog assets that need digitizing or scanning, like print news clippings, old photos, film, and packaging.
You only need to locate the highest-res version of each asset to be uploaded. The DAM will house one version of the highest-res version and convert that asset to a lower-res version on the fly as users request it; therefore, you only want the high-res version. Smaller, compressed, or black and white versions only take up space in your site and make it more difficult to organize your assets and maintain versions.
Note: Do some Google image searches for popular requests (e.g., your logo, key product images) to see what comes up. People most commonly refer to places to get the files they need the easiest way possible. If you see outdated content, take it down or request removal by the site owner.
A filenaming convention is a set of agreed-upon rules used to assign identifiers to assets. It’s generally best to agree on a naming convention if you do not already have one prior to uploading your assets. This will ensure consistency and aid in editing and organizing. Ultimately, it will reduce the time it takes for users to find the assets they’re looking for.
To establish and enforce a filenaming convention:
Establish and define a clear convention that can scale up in the long term, not just until next week.
Document the convention in writing with guidelines and samples. Make the documentation available to everyone, and have one version of the documentation available for everyone to follow, even if it’s updated for any reason.
Train users on how to properly use the convention.
Follow the convention after the training is complete.
An easy way to locate your files is to think about who is creating the assets within your company. Locating the people that are responsible for creating assets will help in identifying potential locations for assets. Some questions to ask for assets that will be uploaded to your DAM site:
Who are your primary asset creators? Are they photographers, videographers, graphic designers, internal or external employees? Who will be responsible for creating new or modifying existing assets?
Who are your primary asset contributors? Are they marketing or brand managers, coordinators, assistants? Who will be responsible for sourcing and supplying new assets?
Who are your primary asset “request fulfillers”? These people are likely from one or both of the two groups above and spend a tremendous amount of time finding and sharing assets.
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