This article gives an overview of the main features and workflows that you can use in OpenAsset. If you are new to OpenAsset, or you are considering what information to pass onto new users, this is a good place to start.

Log into OpenAsset using the username and password that your OpenAsset System Administrator provided to you.

Search for files in OpenAsset by using the search bar at the top of the page. Files are stored in categories, which you can select in a dropdown on the left side of the search bar.

As you type into the search bar, suggestions will appear that match your search criteria. You can search across project name, keywords, custom fields, photographers, and any other data stored in OpenAsset.

Use the 'Search By' dropdown menu on the far right of the search bar to access other useful search options.

After you select search criteria from the search box those terms will create a search trail. Add additional search terms to narrow your search results.

When viewing the image thumbnail on the search results page, click on the image to go to the File Overview page.

From the File Overview page you can:

You can use OpenAsset to to Drag and Drop files into Microsoft Office PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook 2013+, and with the InDesign Plug-in installed, also Adobe InDesign CC.

Installing the InDesign Plug-in

The InDesign Plugin is required for Dragging & Dropping into InDesign CC 2015+ you can find the installation page here.

The InDesign Plugin allows you to drag images directly from OpenAsset Cloud into InDesign Creative Cloud documents. You can use the InDesign Plugin to work with OpenAsset images no matter where you are without having to package up your work to preserve links. You can read about InDesign workflows here.

Site-wide Drag & Drop settings can be adjusted by an administrator on the 'System Preferences' page in the OpenAsset settings menu. You can set your default Drag & Drop sizes (InDesign and Office), as well as the high resolution size (InDesign) and the InDesign plugin cache size.

Albums are collections of files within OpenAsset for personal use or sharing. They offer a flexible way of grouping files from different projects and can be shared with individual users or groups within your organisation.

Albums can be great time-savers. If you have a set of images you use frequently you can keep them together in an album for immediate access.

To add images to an Album from the search results page, create a selection of images then select the 'Add to Album' link from the top menu of your Selected tab.

From the following menu you can either add images to an existing album or create a new one.

Learn more about collecting files using albums here.

At the top of the Files, Albums, Projects and Employees pages there are two tabs labeled 'Filtered' and 'Selected'.

The Filtered tab displays the results that you have filtered on. For example, you might have filtered your Files with the keyword 'Mixed Use' so in the Filtered tab you will see only Files with that Keyword. If no filters have been applied, you will see all the items in your system.

The Selected tab shows you the items that you have Selected using the blue check buttons.

Learn more viewing filtered and selected items here.

The file uploader allows you to quickly add files to your library. It is designed to enable you to add rich metadata and keywords to files during the upload process, so that they are searchable as soon as they appear in your OpenAsset system.

For a quick overview of uploading files, watch this video: