Desktop Connector enables graphic designers to work productively with Asset Bank and desktop applications such as Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Microsoft Powerpoint.
It allows users to:

●  Find and open documents stored in Asset Bank easily, without having to go through the usual download process.

●  Open and edit InDesign documents that contain linked images, by automatically downloading these images from Asset Bank as needed.

●  Find and then drag-and-drop images stored in Asset Bank into InDesign files and other Adobe documents.

●  Track which local documents have changed and quickly save the changed files back into Asset Bank.

Installation

Once we've enabled it for your Asset Bank, Desktop Connector is installed by downloading and running a small application for Windows or Mac OS. Get in touch with Customer Support to receive a copy of the installer if you are eligible to use it.

After you have installed the Asset Bank Desktop Connector, run it by double clicking on the icon on your desktop or by finding it in ‘applications/programs’.

Configuration

After launching Desktop Connector, you will see a popup asking for the URL of your Asset Bank. You can obtain this by logging in to your Asset Bank and copy-and-pasting the first part of your URL shown in the address bar of your browser:

If you need to access more than one URL (for instance, if you have a separate test/sandbox site) click the cog  icon in the top left corner of the login screen.

Logging In

Log in to the Connector using the same credentials you use for your Asset Bank. The same permissions will apply, i.e. you will be able to see and download the same assets as you can when you use Asset Bank directly. 

Single-Sign On is supported for customers who have SSO enabled and configured on Asset Bank.

Finding and opening existing documents

To find an document that already exists in your Asset Bank, click on the “Browse Asset Bank” tab and then either:

●  Search by entering one or more keywords in the search field in the top right.

●  Browse the folder structure by clicking on one of the thumbnails of the top-level folders.

When you have found the document you want in the search or browse results, click on its thumbnail to download it. Once the download has finished, to open it you can drag-and-drop the document into your adobe application or just click on the “Working Documents” tab and click on it there.

Working Documents

The “Working Documents” tab shows you the documents you have downloaded.

To open a document, click on the name of it in the list.

Opening a document (InDesign)

When the document first opens, InDesign will probably tell you that some of the image links have changed - it's safe to ignore this message and click “Update Links”. You can then edit the document in InDesign as usual.

Using images in documents

When you want to add images to your document, use the Connector to add them from Asset Bank. Do not use images from your local hard disk or network locations as these may not be available to other users in the future. If you need to use an image in your document that is not currently available in Asset Bank then you must add it to Asset Bank first (or ask an admin user to), and then add it to your document using the Connector.

To find and use an image, click on the “Browse Asset Bank” tab in the Connector and then find the image you want. In the search or browse results, click on the image’s thumbnail to download the image. When the download has finished, a green tick icon will be show to indicate that the image is ready to use. Insert it into your document by drag-and-dropping it.

Uploading changed documents to Asset Bank

When you have finished editing a document, make sure you have saved it in your application. To upload the changed file back into Asset Bank, go to the “Working Documents” tab in the Connector.

Asterisks will be shown next to the documents that have local changes that have not yet been uploaded to Asset Bank. To upload a changed document, click the “Upload to Asset Bank” icon.