Picture-perfect DAM

Tied to an outdated, proprietary Web architecture that was difficult and time-consuming to maintain, Stockland Martel developed a three-pronged plan. The assignment and stock photography agency wanted to:

• centralize its digital assets into one digital asset management (DAM) system,
• automate the manual process of adding new images to the central database, and
• integrate the new DAM system with its Web site for regular updating of sample images.

Stockland Martel wanted a solution that would help advance business-critical Web initiatives, as well as be affordable and scalable for future growth. It chose Extensis Portfolio, which was flexible enough to allow the agency to create a custom SQL database that contains the assets of its photographers and powers its Web site. With the new system, Stockland Martel can store all of its source images in one place and can send images to partners and clients in various high- and low-resolution formats, saving bandwidth and storage costs, and making file sharing easier, according to Extensis.

Extensis also reports that the solution has improved the agency's workflow by providing the sales department with desktop access to the entire archive. By removing the time-consuming process of servicing image/file requests, the DAM administrator can now spend more time cataloging images and ensuring proper keywording and metadata tagging, making images easier to fine. And sales agents can focus on providing clients with information and images in real time, Extensis adds.