Picturepark Releases Version 8.5: Offers 'Ports' for Website, Intranet Portals

Digital asset management (DAM) vendors are increasingly coming up with new ways for team members and the general public to access assets in their systems, without having the core software. This week, DAM vendor Picturepark released version 8.5 of its eponymous software, featuring Ports technology that users can use to readily build asset portals for websites and intranets. 

CEO Ramon Forster said in a statement that "Ports provide branded or embedded access to Picturepark assets from virtually any Web location." He added that Ports allow customers to provide "pre-filtered asset collections right where users expect them -- website sidebars, wiki and CRM pages, or even through fully branded standalone interfaces."

Creating Custom DAM Ports

The standalones can include custom interfaces, such as ones created by Picturepark customer and luxury mobile phone provider Vertu. Custom interfaces can be built using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Whether embedded or stand-alone, Ports can provide much of Picturepark’s functionality, or, for websites or online pressrooms, can primarily serve as areas for downloading assets. Ports can also be designed to require logins, but they don’t have to. For logged in uses, content is configured on the fly for that user’s permission profile. If logins are not required, the content remains the same for all users.

The process of publishing to a Port simply requires a user to drag an asset to that Port's source category, which resides in the Picturepark tree. Conversely, an asset can be removed from a port by removing it from the source category. Picturepark also enables automated workflows for managing Ports, to accommodate embargoed releases or expiring licenses. Pre-built Ports templates are included in version 8.5, but users can also create their own, modify them using a graphical editor, or buy pre-configured templates from Picturepark partners.

DAM Vendors Improve Asset Accessibility

The updated Picturepark allows images used on Web pages to be managed and served directly from the DAM software. Other improvements in the new release include enhancements to digital asset sharing, and updates to the Asset Class technology first released in 8.4, which enabled adaptive metadata that can be customized to the needs of the DAM software owner.

Other examples of the trend of DAM vendors enhancing asset accessibility include Widen Enterprises’ recent updating of its Smartimage service, which is completely separate from its DAM software and facilitates asset distribution to team members and the public. Last week, WoodWing’s announced a mobile Review app for its Elvis DAM software, which permits a mobile user to browse and search collections, approve or reject assets, and perform other reviewing functions outside of the core software itself.