The Asset Bank Adobe CC Connector is an extension that allows users to import assets from Asset Bank directly into Adobe CC products such as InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. You can also upload edited assets and even new files to Asset Bank through the extension.

Finding Assets

The extension works much the same as the web version of Asset Bank. Assets which you are permitted to view will appear in the Connector. Download permission will be required to import an asset. 

Once you've logged in to your Asset Bank through the extension, the first page you see will give you the option to browse folders, your user-created lightboxes or you can search for assets.

When searching you have the options to search in all folders or just the folder you're currently navigated to. You also have the choice to search on 'File Name' or 'Keywords, 'Keywords' being a general search across searchable attributes.

When browsing assets you’ll see a preview of the image and the original filename. You can sort assets by Date Added, ID and File Size in ascending or descending order. 15 assets are shown per page and there are controls to move through pages at the bottom of the extension window. Double-clicking an asset will give you a larger preview of the image.

Using Assets

InDesign

Once you've found the images you need, you can import them into your working project by dragging and dropping them. You can drag an asset into an existing frame or into a blank space and a new frame will be created for it. You can move and resize the frame before fitting the image.

Linked files with new version alerts

These images will now appear in InDesign but are linked rather than embedded. This means that the large source files are being hosted in Asset Bank, rather than being copied locally to the InDesign project. This saves tons of space over multiple projects by removing duplication of large files. Later, if a file is updated in Asset Bank, e.g. with a new version that replaces the original (like an improved product image), then users who open an InDesign project that used the old file will be notified and the new version of the file will appear. This makes Asset Bank the true single source of truth for these assets, ensuring designers are always using the most up to date files.

Photoshop and Illustrator

Photoshop functionality is very similar except assets are only ever opened as a new document. Dragging and dropping them the extension window will open the image as a new document.

Reuploading to Asset Bank

The menu drop down in the top right of the extension window gives you two options to upload files into Asset Bank.

• Upload from disk - This allows you to upload any file from your local machine.
• Upload from document - Uploads the most recent save of the file you're working on.

The file is uploaded to the folder you're currently browsing in the extension window. The filename is used as the Title of the asset but there is no means of adding any other metadata.

Files cannot be uploaded to a lightbox or the root of the folder structure.

If the file has been imported from Asset Bank, then when it is re-uploaded it will be created as a new version by default. This behaviour can be changed so that the new version of the file replaces the old one by clicking the menu dropdown and opening the Preferences area.