​​Auto-assigning custom previews

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​Assets and custom previews basics

​​In Connecter, image files can be linked to assets to act as assets’ previews. This makes the visual browsing of assets more convenient as the asset, and its one or multiple previews are shown as a single entity in the assets view. Once assigned as a preview, the image file can be hidden from the view. With an easy drag&drop interaction, one or more image files can be added as previews of an asset. 

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​The Auto-assign toolset

​​While helpful with small numbers of assets, this manual workflow for linking custom previews doesn’t offer a solution for batch processing of many assets. To address this need, Connecter has the “Auto-assign Previews” tool that allows the users to define various matching naming patterns and rules for automatic processing and matching assets with previews. The tool is accessed from the Tools menu > Auto-assign Previews (Legacy). The “Auto-assign Previews” interface pops up:
​​Watch a short video tutorial covering the basics about the Auto-assign tool or the complete tutorial explaining the workflows in more detail.

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​The new “Auto-assign Previews” tool in Connecter 4

​​In Connecter 4.0, we introduced a brand new tool for auto-assigning custom previews. It aims to offer a more hassle-free and straightforward experience for matching assets with their custom-generated previews compared to the sophisticated legacy “Auto-assign Previews” tool while still handling most uses cases automatically. Since there is a virtually unlimited number of possible scenarios of how users organise their assets and previews (e.g. folder structures, naming conventions, etc.), the tool may not work as expected in some cases for which the features-rich legacy “Auto-assign Previews” tool is available. 
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​​The tool is accessed from the Tools menu > Auto-assign Previews. The “Auto-assign Previews” interface pops up:

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​Using the Auto-assign Previews tool

​​To get started, the only effort required is to provide a sample pair of an asset and its custom preview. The sample must be a real example of how the assets and their previews are organised in the library to make it work.
​​The “Auto-assign Previews” tool will use the samples to create a matching pattern. This pattern is then used to analyse assets and image files for potential matches.   

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​Using multiple matching patterns

​​It’s common, especially in more extensive asset libraries, to have various organisational patterns and custom-generated previews for the assets. Sometimes they are located in the same folder, sometimes the previews are saved in subfolders, and different naming conventions are often used. While it’s most recommended for obvious reasons to maintain a consistent library organisation, the Auto-assign Previews tool can work with as many matching patterns as needed. To use a new pattern, just select “New pattern” from the dropdown and add a new pair of an asset and custom preview. The new pattern will be automatically added to the list of existing patterns once you click on the “PROCESS” button and will be available in the “Existing pattern” list next time you open the Auto-assign Previews. Use the “DELETE” button to remove matching patterns that are no longer needed. 

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​The Auto-assign Previews settings

​​The Auto-assign Tool is pretty straightforward, yet there are a few settings available.
  • ​​Asset Types: by default, the tool processes all asset types and formats, but you can select only the types and formats you need;
  • ​​Preview Types: by default, the tool processes all image files to look for custom previews, but you can also check only the specific file formats you want;
  • ​​Process assets in: the three options in the dropdown specify which folders the tool should work with;
  • ​​Previews are located in: when you add a new matching pattern or select an existing one, the tool will show for your information where the custom previews must be found according to that pattern (e.g. same folder, subfolder, etc.). Note that the tool will use precisely this use case as a location for the previews and will ignore all other scenarios;
  • ​​Existing previews mode: an option to tell the tool what to do when it encounters assets that already have custom previews added. You can choose to keep them, to remove them or skip such assets;
  • ​​Hide image files after auto-assign as previews: use this option if you want the tool to automatically hide from the assets view all image files that are added as custom previews to assets. This is handy if you don’t need those preview files for something else and will give you a clearer view of your library. If needed, just use the “Show hidden assets” option to see hidden assets in the view. 
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