When a user downloads an asset, we can ask them to indicate what their intended usage of that asset is by giving them usage type options.

For example, we could create a usage type called ‘Website’, When a user downloads an asset for use on the website they would select that option on the drop-down list shown above. There are two purposes to this.

Reporting

Asset Bank has reporting functionality built-in and with it you can generate reports on many aspects of Asset Bank activity. In this example, you could generate a report of downloads against usage types and discover how many and what type of assets were being downloaded for use on a website.

Formatting and re-sizing assets

The format and size of assets is often different depending on how you plan to use an asset. For example, if you were using an image for printing purposes you would tend to want the original (source) file (see Setting up a 'High Res' Usage Type). If you were using that same image on a website you would want a lower resolution (72dpi) and in a suitable format for websites such as JPG. You may also want it at different dimensions to suit the website’s layout.

Asset Bank has the power to hold the asset in its original format and change the dimensions, resolution and file type at the point of download. Using usage type sizes you can go one step further, you can set up these changes to happen automatically. In other words when a user selects the usage type ‘websites’ they will be served up the image in the way you have defined, they will not need to make these changes themselves.

Masks

A mask is an image or design with transparent areas that sits on top of an asset. You can give users the option to overlay a mask at the point of download. This will help users easily fulfil any branding or design requirements. Specific masks can be offered as part of the usage type sizes set up.