Steps to integrate Experience Manager and Adobe Stock

To integrate Experience Manager and Adobe Stock, perform the following steps in the listed sequence:

  1. Obtain public certificate

    In Experience Manager, create an IMS account and generate a public certificate (public key).

  2. Create service account (JWT) connection

    In Adobe Developer Console, create a project for your Adobe Stock organization. Under the project, configure an API using the public key to create a service account (JWT) connection. Get the service account credentials and JWT payload information.

  3. Configure IMS account

    In Experience Manager, configure the IMS account using the service account credentials and JWT payload.

  4. Configure cloud service

    In Experience Manager, configure an Adobe Stock cloud service using the IMS account.

Create an IMS configuration

The IMS configuration authenticates your Experience Manager Assets author instance with the Adobe Stock entitlement.

IMS configuration includes two steps:

Obtain public certificate

The public key (certificate) authenticates your product profile in Adobe Developer Console.

  1. Log in to your Experience Manager Assets author instance. The default URL is http://localhost:4502/aem/start.html.

  2. From the Tools panel, navigate to Security > Adobe IMS Configurations.

  3. In Adobe IMS Configurations page, click Create. The Adobe IMS Technical Account Configuration page opens.

  4. In the Certificate tab, select Adobe Stock from the Cloud Solution dropdown list.

  5. You can create a certificate or reuse an existing certificate for the configuration.

    To create a certificate, select the Create new certificate check box and specify an alias for the public key. The alias serves as name of the public key.

  6. Click Create certificate. Then, click OK to generate the public key.

  7. Click the Download Public Key icon and save the public key (.crt) file on your machine. The public key is used later to configure API for your Brand Portal tenant and generate service account credentials in Adobe Developer Console.

    Click Next.

    generate-certificate

  8. In the Account tab, Adobe IMS account is created which requires the service account credentials.

    Open a new tab and create a service account (JWT) connection in Adobe Developer Console.

Create service account (JWT) connection

In Adobe Developer Console, projects and APIs are configured at organization level. Configuring an API creates a service account (JWT) connection. There are two methods to configure API, by generating a key pair (private and public keys) or by uploading a public key. In this example, the service account credentials are generated by uploading the public key.

To generate the service account credentials and JWT payload:

  1. Log in to Adobe Developer Console with system administrator privileges. The default URL is https://www.adobe.com/go/devs_console_ui.

    Ensure that you have selected the correct IMS organization (Stock entitlement) from the dropdown (organization) list.

  2. Click Create new project. A blank project with a system-generated name is created for your organization.

    Click Edit project. Update the Project Title and Description, and then click Save.

  3. In the Project overview tab, click Add API.

  4. In the Add an API window, select Adobe Stock. Click Next.

  5. In the Configure API window, select Service Account (JWT) authentication. Click Next.

    create-jwt-credentials

  6. Click Upload your public key. Click Select a File and upload the public key (.crt file) that you have downloaded in the obtain public certificate section. Click Next.

  7. Verify the public key and click Next.

  8. Select the default Adobe Stock product profile and click Save configured API.

  9. Once the API is configured, you are redirected to the API overview page. From the left navigation under Credentials, click the Service Account (JWT) option. Here, you can view the credentials and perform actions such as generate JWT tokens, copy credential details, and retrieve client secret.

  10. From the Client Credentials tab, copy the client ID.

    Click Retrieve Client Secret and copy the client secret.

    generate-jwt-credentials

  11. Navigate to the Generate JWT tab and copy the JWT Payload information.

You can now use the client ID (API key), client secret, and JWT payload to configure the IMS account in Experience Manager Assets.

Configure IMS account

You must have the certificate and service account (JWT) credentials to configure the IMS account.

To configure the IMS account:

  1. Open the IMS Configuration and navigate to the Account tab. You kept the page open while obtaining the public certificate.

  2. Specify a Title for the IMS account.

    In the Authorization Server field, enter the URL: https://ims-na1.adobelogin.com/.

    Enter the client ID in the API key field, Client Secret, and Payload (JWT payload) that you have copied while creating the service account (JWT) connection.

  3. Click Create. An IMS account configuration is created.

    configure-ims-acount

  4. Select the IMS account configuration and click Check Health.

    Click Check in the dialog box. On successful configuration, a message appears that the Token is retrieved successfully.

    health-check

Configure cloud service

To configure the Adobe Stock cloud service:

  1. In the Experience Manager user interface, navigate to Tools > Cloud Services > Adobe Stock.

  2. In the Adobe Stock Configurations page, click Create.

  3. Specify a Title for the cloud configuration.

    Select the IMS configuration that you have created while configuring the IMS account.

    Select your locale from the dropdown list.

    aem-stock-cloud-config

  4. Click Save & Close.

    Your Experience Manager Assets author instance is now integrated with Adobe Stock. You can create multiple Adobe Stock configurations (for example, locale-based configurations). You can now access, search, and license the Adobe Stock assets from within the Experience Manager user interface.

    search-stock-assets

    NOTE
    At this stage of integration, only the administrators can access the Adobe Stock assets, search Stock assets (using omnisearch), and license the Adobe Stock assets.
    Administrators can further add users or groups to the Adobe Stock cloud service and give permissions to these non-admin users in Experience Manager to access the Stock configuration.
  5. To add users or groups, select the Adobe Stock cloud configuration and click Properties.

  6. Search to add the users or groups to whom you have assigned permissions to access the Adobe Stock configuration. See assign permissions to user group.

Assign permissions to user group

Administrators can create user groups and give permissions to certain users or groups to access the Adobe Stock cloud service.

Following are the permissions required for a user to search and license Adobe Stock assets:

  • Configure the path: /conf/global/settings/stock
  • Privileges: jcr:read
  • Permission Type: Allow

You can create a user group or assign permissions to an existing user group. Permissions can be assigned from the Experience Manager Assets interface or from the User Admin Console.

To provide access to a user group from Experience Manager:

  1. In the Experience Manager user interface, navigate to Tools > Security > Groups. Create a user group for Adobe Stock.

  2. Navigate to Tools > Security > Permissions.

  3. Search for the user group in the left panel and add new Access Control Entry (ACE) for Adobe Stock.

    • Configure the path: /conf/global/settings/stock
    • Privileges: jcr:read
    • Permission Type: Allow

    Click Add.

    user-permissions

  4. Navigate to Tools > Cloud Services > Adobe Stock. Select the Adobe Stock cloud configuration and click Properties.

  5. Add the newly created user group to the Adobe Stock configuration. Click Save & Close.

    assign-user

To provide access to a user from User Admin Console:

  1. Open the Experience Manager User Admin Console. The default URL is http://localhost:4502/userdamin.

  2. In the left panel, search for the user by entering the user_id or name. Double-click to open the user properties.

  3. Navigate to the Permissions tab and allow read permissions for the Adobe Stock cloud configuration: /conf/global/settings/stock.

    CAUTION
    If the cloud configuration is not allowed, the user can only access Assets in the Experience Manager interface.
    To allow access to Assets and Adobe Stock assets, ensure that the cloud configuration is allowed for the user.
  4. Click Save to update the permissions.

    assign-user-in-user-admin

  5. Add the user or the group to the Adobe Stock cloud configuration.

Access Adobe Stock assets

A non-admin user having permissions to the Adobe Stock cloud configuration can search and license the Adobe Stock assets from the Experience Manager interface.

The user has to perform an extra step of activating the Adobe Stock cloud configuration before accessing Adobe Stock assets. It is a one-time activity. If the user is assigned permissions on multiple Adobe Stock cloud configurations, the user can select the desired configuration from the User Preferences.

To activate the Adobe Stock cloud configuration:

  1. Log in to Experience Manager.

  2. Click the user icon from the upper-right corner and then click My Preferences. The User Preferences window opens.

  3. Select the desired Stock Configuration from the dropdown list and click Accept to activate the configuration.

    user-preferences

  4. Navigate to Assets > Adobe Stock. You can now view, search, and license Adobe Stock assets.

The following table explains how the user permissions work while accessing the Adobe Stock assets:

UserGroupPermissionsAccept Stock configuration in User PreferencesAccess AssetsAccess Adobe Stock
adminN/AAllN/AYesYes
test-doc1DAM user/conf/global /settings/stock/cloud-configYesYesYes
test-doc1DAM user/conf/global /settings/stock/cloud-configNoError: Failed to load dataNo
test-doc1DAM userallow: /conf/global /settings/stock deny: /cloud-configStock configuration is not visibleYesNo

Use and manage Adobe Stock assets in Experience Manager

Using this capability, organizations can allow its users to work using Adobe Stock assets in Experience Manager Assets. From within the Experience Manager user interface, users can search Adobe Stock assets and license the required assets.

Once an Adobe Stock asset is licensed in Experience Manager, it can be used and managed like a typical asset. In Experience Manager, the users can search and preview the assets; copy and publish the assets; share the assets on Brand Portal; access and use the assets by way of Experience Manager desktop app, and so on.

Search for Adobe Stock assets and filter results from your Adobe Experience Manager workspace

A. Search assets similar to the assets whose Adobe Stock ID is provided. B. Search assets that match your selection of shape or orientation. C. Search for one of more supported asset types D. Open or collapse the filters pane E. License and save the selected asset in Experience Manager F. Save the asset in Experience Manager with watermark G. Explore assets on Adobe Stock website that are similar to the selected asset H. View the selected assets on Adobe Stock website I. Number of selected assets from the search results J. Switch between Card view and List view

Find assets

Your Experience Manager users, can search for assets in both, Experience Manager and Adobe Stock. When the search location is not limited to Adobe Stock, the search results from Experience Manager and Adobe Stock are displayed.

  • To search for Adobe Stock assets, click Navigation > Assets > Search Adobe Stock.

  • To search for assets across Adobe Stock and Experience Manager Assets, click search search .

Alternatively, start typing Location: Adobe Stock in the search bar to select Adobe Stock assets. Experience Manager offers advanced filtering capabilities on the searched assets, allowing users to quickly zero-in on the required assets using filters, such as types of supported assets, image orientation, and licensed state.

NOTE
Assets searched from Adobe Stock are displayed in Experience Manager. Adobe Stock assets are fetched and stored in Experience Manager repository only after a user either saves an asset or licenses and saves an asset. Assets that are already stored in Experience Manager are displayed and highlighted for ease of reference and access. Also, the Stock assets are saved with some additional metadata to indicate the source as Stock.

Search filters in Experience Manager and highlighted Adobe Stock assets in search results

Experience Manager