Metadata is the information used to describe an asset and the primary driver of search. It enhances searchability, and can also track key pieces of information such as copyright, location, image source, and more.
It’s important that your metadata is consistent. There are several tools to assist with this, including creating select lists and a keyword taxonomy. For information about best practices for building a metadata strategy, see Metadata best practices.
Configure the metadata schema
Admins can configure the metadata schema.
Sign in to Acquia DAM Classic.
Click the Settings icon in the top navigation, and click Metadata Schema.
Click one of the four metadata schema tabs: XMP, EXIF, Keywords, or Facets.
XMP
XMP (eXtensible Metadata Platform) is metadata that can be edited by admins and contributors. Some examples include:
Photographer
Copyright information
Caption and description
Configurable custom fields
Acquia DAM Classic supports XMP and IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council) Core metadata standards, so information that is added to an asset in a program like Bridge or Photoshop will be available in Acquia DAM Classic.
The following section outlines configuring the XMP:
Status – Metadata fields must be active to display in the asset details panel, and allow admins and contributors with asset-editing permissions to apply values to the active metadata fields. The active metadata will display in the center window of the XMP tab. Inactive metadata will be listed in the Inactive XMP Fields menu at the top right-hand corner of the screen. To activate or deactivate a metadata field:
To activate – Click Add a field in the Inactive Metadata menu at the top right-hand corner of the screen. Search or navigate the list and click the field that you want to activate.
To deactivate – Click the Deactivate icon next to the Field ID in the active metadata panel.
Click Save changes.
Order – Refers to the order of the active metadata fields in the asset details panel. The most important or most commonly used metadata fields appear at the top of the asset details panel. To reorder:
Point to the order number.
When the hand pointer appears, click and hold.
Drag and drop the row to the desired location.
Click Save changes.
Field ID – Refers to the metadata field name displayed in programs like Adobe Bridge or Photoshop.
Field Name – Refers to the name that displays in the asset details panel. Typically, the Field ID and the Field Name will be the same, but you can rename a field name for clarification purposes or to use internal verbiage. You can also rename custom fields to track custom information like product, event name, campaign, etc.
To rename a field, complete the following steps:
Click the Field name field.
Enter the new field name.
Click Save changes.
Brand Connect – Allows the metadata field to display in the asset details section of Brand Connect. You can disable this option if there are any fields that should not be viewable or searchable by users in Brand Connect.
Searchable – Allows the metadata fields to be returned in search results. Typically the metadata should be searchable; however, there might be certain use cases where you do not want a specific field to be searchable.
Example: Your copyright notice probably includes your company name. Since your company name is a term that users will often search for, you might want to make the copyright metadata field unsearchable so that assets with the copyright notice won’t be returned every time a user searches for the company name.
To allow assets to be searchable, check the box under the Searchable column and click Save changes.
Field Type – Refers to whether users will be able to add metadata to a field by typing in information or choosing from a picklist or multi-select. Metadata fields are text fields by default, but admins can create a picklist or multi-select. To create a picklist or multi-select:
Click the wrench icon in the Field Type column.
Enter or paste the picklist values — one value per line.
Select the Allow multi-select checkbox if you want to allow users to select more than one value in the list.
Click Save.
Metadata Groups – Professional subscription admins can restrict access to certain metadata fields based on user groups. For more information about metadata permissions, see Restricting metadata field access.
Required (Professional and Starter subscriptions only) – Makes an entry for the metadata field mandatory, it cannot be left blank. Any fields set as required will be viewable to all users, although who can edit metadata options will still be controlled through Group Permissions.
To make a field required:
In the Required column, select the checkbox for the field.
Click Yes when you see the confirmation prompt.
Click Save changes to apply your changes.
Enabling required metadata adds a new status, Holding, to newly uploaded assets. You will also need to manage the Purge settings related to this status.
Holding – If a user uploads assets to Acquia DAM without completing the required metadata field(s), the asset(s) will be placed on hold. Assets on hold are only viewable by the uploader and admins. When the required metadata is added requirements are fulfilled, the asset will be removed from holding and become available to other users as defined in the permissions. To view the assets currently on hold:
Sign in to Acquia DAM Classic.
Run an empty search to view all assets in your library; you can do so by leaving the search blank and clicking the Search icon.
Click the Status filters in the left-hand navigation and select Holding. Assets in Holding will display a warning icon next to their file name.
If you change a required metadata field to no longer be required, assets that were missing that required metadata field value will be removed from holding and will therefore be released to their intended destination folders. If an asset is still missing other required fields, it will remain on hold.
This does not happen in converse situation. If you add a field to the required list, assets that already exist in Acquia DAM Classic and are not currently in a holding state will not be changed to on hold. However, if you attempt to edit the metadata for an asset and new required metadata fields have been added, the asset will be put on hold if values are not added to those required fields.
Delete assets still in holding – You have the option to purge assets that are on hold. Any assets that don’t have input for the required fields will be removed from Acquia DAM Classic.
To configure purge settings:
Navigate to your System Preferences.
In the Assets section, click the menu next to Automatically delete asset still in “Holding state” after to select the desired action.
Exif
Exif (Exchangeable image file format) is metadata generated from the camera and cannot be edited. Examples include f-stop, exposure and flash.
The following section outlines configuring the EXIF:
Status – Metadata fields must be active to display in the asset details panel. The active metadata displays in the center window of the EXIF tab. Inactive metadata is listed in the Inactive EXIF Field menu at the top right-hand corner of the screen.
To activate or deactivate a metadata field, complete the following steps:
Activate – Click Add a field in the Inactive Metadata menu at the top right-hand corner of the screen. Search or navigate the list and click the field that you want to activate.
Deactivate – Click the deactivate icon next to the field name in the active metadata panel.
Be sure to click Save Changes after you make your selection.
Order – Refers to the order of the active metadata fields in the asset details panel. To reorder:
Point to the order number.
When the pointer appears, click and hold.
Drag and drop the row to the desired location.
Click Save changes.
Keywords
Keywords are a subset of metadata, which display in Acquia DAM Classic as clickable links. Admins can create a keyword taxonomy, or keyword list, to ensure that keywords are being added in a consistent manner. To create the taxonomy, you can either upload a tab-separated TXT file or build the keyword taxonomy internally.
The following section outlines creating a keyword taxonomy:
Add a keyword
Click Add a main keyword to add a top-level (parent) keyword.
Right-click a keyword and click Add to add a nested (child) keyword.
Enter the keyword and click anywhere on the screen to save.
Keywords automatically rearrange into alphabetical order.
Rename a keyword
Right-click the keyword and click Rename. You can also double-click the keyword to edit.
Rename the keyword and click anywhere on the screen to save.
Delete a keyword
Right-click the keyword and click Delete.
Click Delete to confirm. If you delete a keyword with child keywords, the nested keywords will also be deleted.
Move a keyword
Click and hold the keyword.
Drag and drop the keyword to the desired location in the taxonomy.
Upload a keyword taxonomy
You can also build a hierarchical keyword taxonomy in Word or Excel, then import it into Acquia DAM Classic.
Create a new Microsoft Excel sheet.
Enter your desired keywords.
To create main (parent) keywords, press Enter or Return after each entry
To create nested (child) keywords, press Tab after each entry
Save the spreadsheet as a tab delimited text (
.txt) file. When prompted, click Continue.Open the file in Microsoft Word. Select Mac OS (Default), then click OK.
When the document opens, click File > Save As and select Plain Text (.txt).
In the pop up, select the Insert line breaks checkbox and choose CR/LF in the “End lines with” menu.
From the keywords tab of Acquia DAM Classic, click Select a File to locate and select the file created on your computer.
Set the toggle to Append to add onto an existing keyword taxonomy or Replace to overwrite an existing keyword taxonomy.
Click Import.
Export keywords
You can export your keyword taxonomy to a TXT file for auditing purposes or if you plan to make changes to your taxonomy to re-import.
Keyword taxonomy settings
Sign in to Acquia DAM Classic.
Click the settings icon and click System preferences.
In the Assets section, there are two keyword taxonomy settings:
Enable keyword taxonomy – Select this checkbox to make the keyword taxonomy available for use by admins and contributors.
Enforce keyword taxonomy – Select this checkbox to require admins and contributors to only add keywords from the keyword taxonomy. This will prevent them from typing in new keywords.
Click Save.
For more information about applying metadata to assets, see Managing assets’ metadata.
Facets
Facets refer to the metadata search filters that make your assets easy to search in Brand Connect.
The default facets include file type, keywords, date captured, file size and your active XMP metadata fields. In addition to these facets, users will also be able to search by date (including date created, date captured, date expired, and date modified) and by size (including width, height, resolution, and file size). These search options are default and cannot be deactivated.
The following section outlines configuring the facets:
Status – Facets must be active to display in Brand Connect. The active facets will display in the center window of the Facets tab. Inactive facets will be listed in the Inactive facets menu at the top right-hand corner of the screen. Inactive facets will still be searchable using the basic search in Brand Connect, and the facet’s metadata will still display on the asset details page. Newly added XMP metadata fields will display in the inactive facets menu.
To activate or deactivate a facet:
Activate – Click Add a field in the inactive facet menu at the top right-hand corner of the screen. Search or navigate the list and click the field that you want to activate.
Deactivate – Click the deactivate icon next to the field name in the active metadata panel. Deactivated XMP metadata fields will be deleted.
Click Save changes.
Order – Refers to the order of the facets in Brand Connect. To reorder:
Point to the order number.
When the hand pointer appears, click and hold.
Drag and drop the row to the desired location.
Click Save changes.
Helpful Information
Acquia DAM Classic does not delete or strip any metadata.
Metadata applied to assets in Acquia DAM Classic is embedded upon download.
If a keyword is renamed or deleted from the keyword taxonomy, the change will not update at the asset level. If assets need to be updated by deleting or changing to a new keyword, we recommend batch editing the assets.