Manage AEM Assets

In the Assets UI, navigate to the location where you want to add digital assets.

To upload the assets, do one of the following:

• Tap/click the Create icon from the toolbar and choose Files from the menu. You can rename the file in the presented dialog if needed.
  
• In a browser that supports HTML5, drag the assets directly on the Assets UI. The dialog to rename file is not displayed.

To select multiple files, press the Ctrl/Command key and select the assets in the file picker dialog. If using an iPad, you can only select one file at a time.

You can pause the uploading of large assets (greater than 500 Mb in size) and resume it later from the same page. Click the Pause icon beside progress bar that appears when the uploading starts.

The size above which an asset is considered a large asset is configurable. For example, you can configure the system to consider assets above 1000 MB (instead of 500 MB) in size as large assets. In this case, the Pause button in the progress bar appears when assets of size greater than 1000 MB are uploaded.

To modify the size limit,  configure the chunkUploadMinFileSize property of the fileupload node in the CRX repository.

When you click the Pause icon, it toggles to a Play icon. To resume uploading, click the Play icon.  

To cancel an ongoing upload, click the 'X' button beside the progress bar. When you cancel the upload operation, AEM Assets deletes the partially uploaded portion of the asset.

The ability to resume uploading is especially helpful in low bandwidth scenarios and network glitches, where it takes a long time to upload a large asset. You can pause the upload operation and continue later when the situation improves. When you resume, uploading starts from the point where you paused it.

During the upload operation, AEM saves the portions of the asset being uploaded as chunks of data in the CRX repository. When the upload completes, AEM consolidates these chunks into a single block of data in the repository.

To configure the cleanup task for the unfinished chunk upload jobs, go to http://<server>:<port>/system/console/configMgr/org.apache.sling.servlets.post.impl.helper.ChunkCleanUpTask.

If you upload an asset with the same name as that of an asset already available at the location where you are uploading the asset, a warning dialog is displayed.

You can choose to replace an existing asset, create another version, or keep both by renaming the new asset that is uploaded. If you replace an existing asset, the metadata for the asset and any prior modifications (for example annotations, croppings, and so on) you made to the existing asset are deleted. If you choose to keep both assets, the new asset is renamed with the number 1 appended to its name.

If the asset you upload already exists in AEM Assets, the Duplicates Detected dialog warns you that you are attempting to upload a duplicate asset. The dialog appears only if the SHA 1 checksum value of the binary of the existing asset matches that of the asset you upload. In this case, the names of assets is immaterial. In other words, the dialog can even appear for assets that have different names if the SHA 1 values for their binaries are the same.

Click Keep to retain the duplicate asset in AEM Assets. Click Delete to delete the duplicate asset you just uploaded.

AEM Assets prevents you from uploading assets with forbidden characters in their filenames. If you try to upload an asset that includes unallowed characters, AEM Assets displays a warning message regarding the presence of forbidden character in the file name and halts the upload until you remove these characters or upload with an allowed name.

To suit specific file naming conventions for your organization, the Upload Assets dialog lets you specify long names for the files that you upload.

In addition, the Assets UI displays the most recent asset that you upload or the folder you create first in all the views (Card, List, and Column views).

Often, while uploading large assets or multiple assets in bulk, visual indicators in the UI help you assess the progress and performance of the upload operation.

The Upload Progress dialog in AEM Assets displays the count of successfully uploaded files and the files that failed to upload.

If you cancel the upload operation before the files are uploaded, AEM Assets stops uploading the current file and refreshes the content. However, files uploaded already are not deleted.

Using your choice of FTP client, log in to the FTP server using the FTP user name and password that you received from the provisioning email. In the FTP client, upload files and/or folders to the FTP server. 

Log in to Dynamic Media Classic (S7) using credentials received from the provisioning email. On the Global Navigation Bar, click Upload.

On the Upload page, near the upper-left corner, click the Via FTP tab.

On the left side of the page, choose an FTP folder to upload files from; on the right side of the page, choose a destination folder.

Near the lower-right corner of the page, click Job Options and then set the options you want based on the assets in the folder you selected.

See Upload Job Options.

In the lower-right corner of the Upload Job Options dialog box, click Save 

In the lower-right corner of the Upload page, click Submit Upload.

To see the progress of the upload, on the Global Navigation Bar, click Jobs. The Jobs page shows you the progress of the upload. You can continue working in AEM and return to the Jobs page in Dynamic Media Classic (S7) at any time to review an in-progress job.
To cancel an upload job in progress, click Cancel next to the Duration time.

From the Assets console, navigate to the location of the asset you want to preview.

Click/tap the desired asset to open its asset page.

In the preview mode, a zoom options are enabled for supported Image types (with interactive editing).

To zoom in and out of the asset, click the + sign to zoom in (or tap/click the magnifying glass on the asset) and the - sign to zoom out. When you zoom in, you can look closely at any area of the image by panning. The Reset Zoom arrow brings you back to the original view.

Click the Reset button to reset the view to the original size.

Navigate to the location of the asset whose metadata you want to edit.

Select the asset, and click/tap View Properties to view asset properties.

Alternatively, tap or click the information icon that appears on top of the asset to view the properties.

In the Properties page, edit the metadata properties, for example title, description, and so on. 

To schedule a particular date/time for the activation of the asset, use the date picker beside the On Time field.

To deactivate the asset after a particular duration, choose the deactivation date/time from the date picker beside the Off Time field.

In the Tags field, select one or more tags. To add a custom tag, type the name of the tag in the box and press Enter. The new tag is saved in AEM.

To provide a rating to the asset, click the Advanced tab and then click the star at the appropriate position to assign the desired rating.  

The rating score that you assign to the asset is displayed under Your Ratings. The average rating score that the asset received from users who rated the asset is displayed under Rating. In addition, the breakup of the rating scores that contribute to the average rating score is displayed under Rating Breakdown. You can search assets based on average rating scores.

Click/tap the Insights tab, to view usage statistcs for the asset, including the number of times it was viewed or downloaded, the channels/devices through which it was used, and the creative solutions where it was recently used. For more details, see Asset Insights.

Click Save.

Navigate to the Assets console. The edited metadata properties properties, including title, description, ratings, and so on are displayed on the asset card in Card view and under relevant columns in the List view.

Navigate to the location of the assets you want to copy.

Select one or more assets and then click/tap the Copy icon from the toolbar. Alternatively, click/tap the Copy icon using Quick Actions.

Navigate to the location where you want to copy the assets.

Click the Paste asset icon from the toolbar:

Selected assets are copied to this location.

The paste icon is available on the toolbar until the paste operation is completed.

Navigate to the location of the asset you want to move.

Select the asset you want to move, and click the Move icon from the toolbar.

In the Move Assets wizard, do one of the following:

• Specify the name for the asset after it is moved. Then click Next to proceed.
  
• Click Cancel to abort the process.

In the Select Destination screen, do one of the following:

• Navigate to the new location for the assets, and then click Next to proceed.
  
• Click Back to return to the Rename screen.

If the assets being moved have any referencing pages, assets, or collections an additional Adjust References tab appears after the Select Destination tab.

Do one of the following in the Adjust References screen:

• Specify the references to be adjusted based on the new details, and then click Move to proceed. A message box displays the progress of the move operation. A success message appears after the assets are moved.
  
• From the Adjust column, select/unselect references to the assets. 
• Click Back to return to the Select Destination screen.
• Click Cancel to abandon the move operation.

References on pages if not updated, will continue pointing to the previous asset path. If you adjust the references, they are updated to the new path of the asset.

You can add or remove renditions for an asset, except the original. Navigate to the location of the asset for which you want to add or remove renditions.

Click/tap the asset to open its asset page. 

Click/tap the GlobalNav icon, and select Renditions from the list.

In the Renditions panel, view the list of renditions generated for the asset.

Select a rendition to either view or delete the rendition.

Deleting a rendition:

Select a rendition from the Renditions panel and then click the Delete Rendition icon from the Toolbar.

You can configure the dimensions for the rendition you want displayed in the asset details page of an image or a video asset. Based on the dimensions you specify, AEM Assets displays the rendition with the exact or closest dimensions.

To configure rendition dimensions of an image at the asset detail level, overlay the renditionpicker node libs/dam/gui/content/assets/assetpage/jcr:content/body/content/content/items/assetdetail
/items/col1/items/assetview/renditionpicker) and configure the value of the width property. Configure the property size (Long) in KB in place of width to customize rendition on asset detail page based on image size. For size-based customization, the property preferOriginal assigns preference to the original if the size of the matched rendition is greater than the original.

Similarly, you can customize the Annotation page image by overlaying libs/dam/gui/content/assets/annotate/jcr:content/body/content/content/items/content/renditionpicker.

To configure rendition dimensions for a video asset, navigate to the videopicker node in the CRX repository at the location/libs/dam/gui/content/assets/assetpage/jcr:content/body/content/content/items/assetdetail
/items/col1/items/assetview/videopicker, overlay the node, and then edit the appropriate property.  

To view subassets, navigate to the location of the asset and open its asset page.

Click/tap the GlobalNav icon, and choose Subassets from the list 

When you select Subassets from the list, the subassets page displays the subassets linked to the parent asset.

Navigate to the location of the asset(s) you want to delete.

Select the asset, and click the Delete icon from the toolbar.

In the confirmation dialog, click:

• Cancel to abort the action
• Delete to confirm the action:
  • If the asset has no references, the asset is deleted.
  • If the asset has references, an error-message informs you that One or more assets are referenced. You can select Force Delete or Cancel.

Navigate to the location of the asset(s) you want to download and select the asset(s).

Click the Download icon from the toolbar to download the required asset.

A dialog asks for confirmation, you may use:

• Cancel to abort the download
• Renditions to download the renditions of the asset
  • This option will be available only if the asset has renditions to download
• Subassets to also download the subassets of the asset
  • This option is displayed only if the asset contains subassets.

When you select a folder to download, the complete asset hierarchy under the folder is downloaded. To include each asset you download (including assets in child folders nested under the parent folder) in an individual folder, select Create separate folder for each asset.

Navigate to the location of the asset(s)/folder you want to publish

Either use Quick Actions to select the Publish icon, or select the asset and click/tap the Publish icon from the toolbar.

Select Publish to replicate the assets to the publish environment immediately.

To publish the asset at a later date, select Publish Later and select a date for publishing the asset.

If the asset references other assets, its references are listed in the wizard. Only those references are displayed which are either unpublished or have been modified since they were last published/unpublished. Choose the references you want to publish. 

Click Publish to confirm the activation date for the assets.

Navigate to the location of the assets you want to remove from the publish environment (unpublish).

Select the asset to unpublish, and click the Unpublish icon from the toolbar.

Select Unpublish from the list to unpublish the asset immediately.

In the confirmation dialog, click:

• Cancel to abort the action
• Unpublish to confirm that the assets will be unpublished (no longer available on the publish environment).

To unpublish the asset at a later date, select Unpublish Later and select a date for unpublishing the asset.

Schedule a date for the asset to be unavailable from the publish environment.

If the asset references other assets, choose the references you want to unpublish. Cick Unpublish.

In the confirmation dialog, click:

• Cancel to abort the action
• Unpublish to confirm that the assets will be unpublished (no longer available on the publish environment) at the specified date.

Do one of the following to open an asset in edit mode:

• Select the asset and then click/tap the Edit icon on the toolbar.
• Click the Edit icon that appears on an asset in the Card view.
• In the asset page, click the Edit icon on the toolbar. 

To crop the image, click the Crop icon.

Select the desired option from the list. The crop area appears on the image based on the option you choose. The Free Hand options lets you crop the image without any aspect ratio restrictions.

Select the area to be cropped, and resize or reposition it on the image.

Use the Finish icon (top right corner) to crop the image. Clicking the Finish icon also triggers the regeneration of renditions.

Use the Undo and Redo icons on the top right to revert to the uncropped image or retain the cropped image, respectively.

Click the appropriate Rotate icon to rotate the image clockwise or anti-clockwise.

Click the appropriate Flip icon to flip the image horizontally or vertically.

Click the Finish icon to save the changes.

Open the asset page for an asset, or select it in the Assets console.

Click/tap the GlobalNav icon, and choose Timeline from the list.

In the list that appears, use the Show All list to filter the results based on comments, versions, workflows, and activities:

Navigate to the location of the asset to which you want to add annotations.

Click/tap the Annotate icon from one of the following:

• Quick actions
• From the toolbar after selecting the asset or navigating to the asset page

Add a comment in the Comment box at the bottom of the timeline. Alternatively, mark up an area on the image and add an annotation in the Add Annotation dialog.

To notify a user about an annotation, specify the e-mail address of the user and add the comment. For example, to notify Aaron MacDonald about an annotation, enter @aa. Hints for all matching users is displayed in a list. Select Aaron's e-mail address from the list to tag her with the comment. Similarly, you can tag additional users anywhere within the annotation or before or after it.

After adding the annotation, click Add to save it. A notification for the annotation is sent to Aaron. 

Click Close to exit from the Annotation mode.

To view the notification, log in to AEM Assets with Aaron MacDonald's credentials and click the Notifications icon to view the notification.

To choose a different color so you can differentiate between users, click/tap the Profile icon and click/tap My Preferences.

Specify the desired color in the Annotation Color box and then click/tap Accept.

To view saved annotations for an asset, navigate to the location of the asset and open the asset page for the asset.

Click the GlobalNav icon, and choose Timeline from the list.

From the Show All list in the timeline, select Comments to filter the results based on annotations.

Click a comment in the Timeline panel to view the corresponding annotation on the image.

Click Delete, to delete a particular comment.

From the Assets UI, open the preview page for an asset.

Do one of the following:

• To print all the annotations and the review status, skip step 3 and directly go to step 4.
• To print specific annotations and/or review status, open the timeline and then go to step 3.

To print specific annotations, select the annotations from the timeline.

To print the review status only, select it from the timeline.

Tap/click the Print icon from the toolbar.

From the Print dialog, choose the position you want the annotations/review status to be displayed on the PDF. For example, if you want the annotations/status to be printed at the top-right of the page that contains the printed image, use the Top-Left setting. It is selected by default.

You can choose other settings depending on the position where you want the annotations/status to appear in the printed PDF. If you want the annotations/status to appear in a page that is separate from the printed asset, choose Next Page. 

Click/tap Print. Depending upon the option you choose in step 2, the generated PDF displays the annotations/status at the specified position. For example, if you choose to print both annotations and the review status using the Top-Left setting, the generated output resembles the PDF file depicted here.

Download or print the PDF using the options at the top-right.

To modify the look and feel of the rendered PDF file, for example the font color, size, and style, background color of the comments and statuses, open the Annotation PDF configuration from Configuration Manager, and modify the desired options. For example, to change the display color of the approved status, modify the color code in the corresponding field. For information around changing the font color of annotations, see Annotating.

Return to the rendered PDF file and refresh it. The refreshed PDF reflects the changes you made.

Open the CQ-DAM-Handler-Gibson Font Manager Service configuration page from the URL http://<server>:<port>/system/console/configMgr/com.day.cq.dam.handler.gibson.fontmanager.impl.FontManagerServiceImpl.

To configure CQ-DAM-Handler-Gibson Font Manager Service, do one of the following:

• In the System Fonts directory option, specify the complete path to the fonts directory on your system. For example, if you're a Mac user, you can specify the path as /Library/Fonts in the System Fonts directory option. AEM fetches the fonts from this directory.
• Create a directory named fonts inside the crx-quickstart folder. CQ-DAM-Handler-Gibson Font Manager Service automatically fetches the fonts at the location crx-quickstart/fonts. You can override this default path from within the Adobe Server Fonts directory option.
• Create a new folder for fonts in your system, and store the desired fonts in the folder. Then, specify the complete path to that folder in the Customer Fonts directory option.

Access the Annotation PDF configuration from the URL http://<server>:<port>/system/console/configMgr/com.day.cq.dam.core.impl.annotation.pdf.AnnotationPdfConfig.

Configure the Annotation PDF with the correct set of font-family as follows:

• Include the string <font_family_name_of_custom_font, sans-serif> within the font-family option. For example, if you want to print annotations in CJK (Chinese, Japanese and Korean), include the string Arial Unicode MS, Noto Sans, Noto Sans CJK JP, sans-serif in the font-family option. If you want to print annotations in Hindi, download the appropriate font and configure the font-family as Arial Unicode MS, Noto Sans, Noto Sans CJK JP, Noto Sans Devanagari, sans-serif.

Restart the AEM instance.

Download Google Noto CJK fonts from the following links, and store them in the font directory configured in Font Manager Service.

• All In One Super CJK font: https://www.google.com/get/noto/help/cjk/
• Noto Sans (for European languages): https://www.google.com/get/noto/
• Noto fonts for a language of your choice: https://www.google.com/get/noto/

Configure Annotation Pdf by setting the font-family parameter to Arial Unicode MS, Noto Sans, Noto Sans CJK JP, sans-serif. This configuration is present by default and works for all European and CJK languages.

If the language of your choice is different from the languages mentioned in step 2, append an appropriate (comma separated) entry to the default font-family. 

Navigate to the location of the asset for which you want to create a version, and tap/click it to open its asset page.

Click the GlobalNav icon and the choose Timeline from the menu to display the timeline.

Click the Actions (arrow) icon at the bottom view the available actions you can perform on the asset.

Click Save as Version to create a version for the asset.

Add a label and comment, and then click Create to create a version. Alternatively, click Cancel to exit the operation.

To view the newly-created version, open the Show All list in the timeline from the asset details page or the Assets console, and choose Versions.

Select a specific version for the asset to preview it or enable it to appear in the Assets console.

Add a label and comment for the version to revert to the particular version in the Assets console.

To generate a preview for the version, click Preview Version.

To enable this version to appear in the Assets console, select Revert to this Version.

To compare between two versions, go to asset page of the asset and click the version to be compared with the current version.

From the timeline, select the version you want to compare and drag the slider to the left to superimpose this version over the current version to compare.

Navigate to the location of the asset for which you want to start a workflow, and tap/click the asset to open the asset page.

Click the GlobalNav icon, and the choose Timeline from the menu to display the timeline.

Click the Actions (arrow) icon at the bottom to open the list of actions available for the asset.

Click Start Workflow from the list.

In the Start Workflow dialog, select a workflow model from the list.

(Optional) Specify a title for the workflow, which can be used to reference the workflow instance.

Click Start and then click Proceed in the dialog to confirm. Each step of workflow is displayed in the timeline as an event.