An Asset Handling Set is also not specific to any one catalog. It affects how Cumulus deals with your assets – during the cataloging process and when accessing assets.
Asset Handling Sets define:
• Which filters should be active during cataloging,
• What metadata should be extracted from the assets (via filter settings),
• How field linking should be configured,
• Which Metadata Template (if any) should be used, and
• Whether central asset storage should be used, and where that location should be. (file server, ftp site, Vault, etc.)
Additional configuration options include:
• The size of the “thumbnail” that represents the asset record,
• Whether Cumulus should catalog duplicate assets, or ignore duplicates while cataloging,
• Whether Cumulus should resolve operating systems aliases and shortcuts and catalog the assets they point to, and
• Whether Cumulus should automatically catalog assets referenced in “container” documents, such as InDesign and QuarkXPress, which is a powerful option available with some Cumulus solutions.
You can define as many Asset Handling Sets as you need, which is great because they serve so many useful purposes.
Examples
One set, for example, might extract all text from a Word document and add that as metadata to the asset record. Another set might extract a maximum number of characters or none at all. (Similar options exist for the PDF, PowerPoint, Excel and even the Adobe Illustrator filters.)
Or, you might have a set for laptop-based remote users that copies all assets they catalog into a secure, remote location, turning Cumulus into a convenient on-the-road back-up solution. A “hotspot” Internet cafe is never far away; now users can back up new orders and expense reports while they’re there.
Asset Handling Sets can also determine special ways in which assets are accessed after cataloging, such as whether QuarkXPress files should be previewed inside Cumulus, or opened from within QuarkXPress itself.