Canto Cumulus 8: What s New? Improved user interface, usage tracking, commenting, new cataloging technologies, massive speed boosts, and more.

Transcription

1 PRODUCT INFORMATION: Canto Cumulus 8: What s New? Improved user interface, usage tracking, commenting, new cataloging technologies, massive speed boosts, and more. Canto Cumulus 8 represents a significant upgrade to the Cumulus product line that includes*: Improved performance today, and future expansion tomorrow, thanks to a brand new core architecture. Easier and more efficient use and administration through new interface options and better help messaging. Asset and system evaluations through usage tracking, reporting and commenting. User Interface Complete user interface refresh Increased consistency, new technologies and new icons provide increased efficiency and enjoyment while using Cumulus 8. The Toolbar includes new icons, and supports small/large icon display, and a new quick access bar offers easy access to information, preview and other panes you can load into the workspace. FIGURE 1: New icons, new calendar view options, and a new quick access bar for loading panes into the workspace (lower left) are just some of the new UI enhancements found in Cumulus 8. Improved help and status messaging for users From status updates, to informative tooltips, to help buttons in all dialog windows, new messaging in Cumulus 8 is designed to guide and educate you so you ll always know what to do next. No more empty panes, no more confusion! FIGURE 2: Detailed tooltips and status messages help you learn new, more efficient ways of working in Cumulus 8. * Not all features listed are available in all editions of Cumulus 8. Contact your Canto representative for details. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 1 of 14

2 PRODUCT INFORMATION: Canto Cumulus 8: What s New? Features Benefits Details Fullscreen preview FIGURE 3: The gorgeous new Fullscreen preview in Cumulus 8 offers an interactive display of up to six different assets at once, making it easy now to pick the perfect one each time compare quality, sharpness, composition, etc. What s more, a single asset can be loaded into more than one preview area, enabling you to pan, zoom and examine it in detail. Ready slide on access to the Info Window makes metadata edits easy, and a pop-up help guide reminds you of all the other possibilities available, such as assigning rating, updating the collection, and more. This is one Cumulus 8 feature that must be experienced to be fully appreciated! Menu restructuring Cumulus 8 menus have been restructured to better reflect the ways in which you use the program. Experienced users will find things much easier, and new users will better understand the options available. FIGURE 4: Among the menu structure changes in Cumulus 8 are new Find, Metadata and Asset menus, each offering access to the commands you expect to find there. Online help system access Load Cumulus 8 help pages from your hard drive, or from the Canto website, where the latest updates will always be available. FIGURE 5: Cumulus 8 help can come from files installed with the Cumulus 8 Client, or loaded from Canto s website, ensuring the latest information is always available to you. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 2 of 14

3 Preview alternate: Massive thumbnails Asset record thumbnails can now be twice as big as before (2048 pixels wide), making them suitable for instant previews and detailed examinations. When used with the new thumbnail size slider, users have total control over the thumbnail sizes they want to see. Turbocharged thumbnail scrolling Display technologies new to Cumulus 8 make thumbnail views scroll dramatically faster. What s more, portions of thumbnails coming into and out of the viewable area are now visible, offering users a better indication of when scrolling will reveal additional asset records. FIGURE 6: Massive thumbnails in Cumulus 8 offer a fantastic, speedy preview alternative. The PDF thumbnails shown here are a full 2048 pixels wide, making them perfect for previews. Cumulus 8 renders PDF thumbnails and previews natively, so even users without Adobe Acrobat can see high-resolution detail like this. New display technology also helps you get a better sense of when other asset records are in your collection above or below those visible, and lets you scroll through collections much faster than before. Cataloging Technologies Cataloging status bar Metadata Editor (pre-filler) configurable and controlled via permissions Cumulus 8 tracks the status of each asset you catalog, so you ll immediately see which were cataloged, updated, ignored or rejected. Completely configure the new Cumulus 8 Metadata Editor to work as the pre-filler you need. Using Info Windows as templates, you can now have as many custom layouts as you need, and you can control access to each via permissions. A drop-down menu provides metadata template access from within the Metadata Editor window. What s more, if you cancel the process, new assets will not be added to the catalog, and all metadata fields marked as mandatory must be filled in before the asset will be accepted. FIGURE 7: The new Cumulus 8 Metadata Editor shows the status of the cataloging operation at the top, and provides access to any metadata fields you want. You can even access metadata templates for consistent metadata entry every time. Metadata fields marked as mandatory must be filled in before the Save button will be enabled. Help text appears below the fields to remind you, when needed, as shown in the image. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 3 of 14

4 Autocatalog via Cumulus 8 Scheduler Cataloging can take place from any location automatically, without user intervention. Use as many drop locations as you need, and take maximum advantage of Cumulus 8 across your entire organization, because no additional user licenses are required! Catalog via Cumulus 8 can check a standard POP3 account and retrieve and catalog any it finds. text is extracted into an asset record, and all attachments are cataloged and linked to the record. There s no easier or more secure way for people outside your organization and network to get assets to you! This is sure to become a favorite with real estate agents, insurance adjusters, bloggers and other users who need to catalog photos from their smart phones while on the go. Or, if you have an -enabled copy/fax machine, you now have an easy way to have all your important copies, faxes and scans cataloged into Cumulus 8 automatically! FIGURE 8: Cataloged appears in Cumulus 8 complete with all attachments. View Modes Report view Serving as a hybrid between the Details and Info view modes, the new Report view mode in Cumulus 8 offers an easy-to-read layout that s quick to browse. Thumbnails can be resized using the thumbnail slider. Details, Report views: Alternate row coloring Cumulus 8 Details and Report views support alternate row coloring, so it s easier now to scan across wider displays. FIGURE 9: The Cumulus 8 Report view offers a convenient way to display the contents of text fields that contains lots of information. Display as many lines as you need for quick browsing. Like the Details view mode, the Report view mode takes advantage of the new alternating row coloring in Cumulus 8, which is seen here. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 4 of 14

5 Details view: Thumbnail display Now you can add thumbnails to your Details views, offering users a better sense of which assets they re browsing. Even better, thumbnails can be resized using the thumbnail slider. Details view: Double-click to resize column Popular in spreadsheet applications, now you can quickly resize a Details view column to fit the widest field in Cumulus 8 too. FIGURE 10: Thumbnails, alternate row coloring, and double-click column resizing all come with the Cumulus 8 Details view mode. Info Window/Info View: Options for save, navigation and metadata template access New navigation buttons make it easy to move between asset records in the Info View, while a drop-down menu provides instant access to metadata templates from within the Info Window. A new save button in the Info Window provides a visual option for saving edits, and the record view set can be quickly changed to show different sets of fields, all without closing the window. FIGURE 11: The Cumulus 8 Info Window becomes much more convenient with the addition of toolbar buttons and menus. Calendar view: Choose font, background color Now a part of view set configuration, the new calendar view has display font and background color attributes of its own. Go ahead and make those calendars look exactly the way you want! Workspace pane organization Order workspace panes exactly as you need them. Put categories on top, on the bottom, or anywhere else. Any pane can be re-positioned, and you can save configurations for easy access. FIGURE 12: Cumulus 8 workspace panes can be added and ordered any way you need. New display options make it easier to adjust the appearance of the Calendar view. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 5 of 14

6 Open With/Print With: Customize option Users want to choose which applications are used to open various asset types and now, with Cumulus 8, they can. In fact, you aren t limited to a single application for each type choose as many editing applications as you want, and easily choose between them on the fly. FIGURE 13: Choose the applications you want to edit and print assets from Cumulus 8. Search Technologies User live filtering If you ever find yourself wishing you can limit the results you see in the Cumulus window to certain file types, or maybe just those assets that belong to a certain client, now it s easy in Cumulus 8. User live filtering enables you to set parameters that serve as a filter for all the asset records you find. Easily hide the file formats you don t need, make sure what you see has been approved for use, or any other combination you need. Save your filters and even share them with others. FIGURE 14: Easily create, save and reuse filters that enable you to limit the asset records you see to only those that make sense for your immediate needs. In this image, only assets that have been approved are shown, no matter what the search. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 6 of 14

7 PRODUCT INFORMATION: Canto Cumulus 8: What s New? Features Benefits Details FIGURE 15: Using Quicksearch enhancements A single, unified menu now offers access to saved Quicksearch histories, saved search queries, and modes for searching all open catalogs, or just the current collection. Category tree context menu item for Source categories: Show Folder Location A single mouse click now opens the operating system folder from which a Source category was created. Cumulus 8, you ll find all saved queries and even a history of Quicksearch terms in a single menu. In addition, it s now easy to reduce or add to a Cumulus 8 collection using the Quicksearch option. Asset and System Evaluations Asset and system usage evaluation Stop wondering what users are doing in your catalogs, and start tracking it! Cumulus 8 can track most user actions, including copying and previewing assets, accessing actions, check outs/ins, downloads, conversions and more. This enables you to determine which assets are actively used, and which you shouldn t waste money re-licensing or updating. You can also verify an asset was approved when it was used, because the state of other metadata fields can be recorded along with each tracked event! The new Cumulus 8 API makes it possible for third-party EJaP events to be recorded too. FIGURE 16: Cumulus 8 can track a number of different user events that you can use to determine how your catalogs and assets are being used. Here, several tracked events for the selected asset are shown inside the Cumulus 8 Client. Pre-configured UI options make it easy to see usage histories with no configuration fuss. Usage Statistics & Reporting Generating custom reports based on the usage evaluation tracking in Cumulus 8, the reporting module can create easy-to-read reports that can be exported. Even better, reports can help you fine-tune your metadata values, because you can see exactly what users are searching for. When a search fails, now you can see the term used. Reporting helps you ensure your system is tuned to perfection and that you re getting the most out of it. FIGURE 17: Reports are easy to configure and can include text tables and images, which can be exported for use and analysis in spreadsheets, presentations and other programs. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 7 of 14

8 PRODUCT INFORMATION: Canto Cumulus 8: What s New? Features Benefits User commenting on assets Cumulus 8 takes a giant step toward complete work-in-progress management with the advent of user comments. From the Preview view, add comments, draw rectangles and communicate your ideas, approvals or anything else to other users. All comments are searchable, meaning you can find assets based on comments they contain. Plus, now you have an archive of change requests stored right alongside the assets. Details FIGURE 18: User comments are easily entered in the Cumulus 8 preview window. Each user can add comments, and you can even find asset records based on the comments they contain. Asset Repurposing Technologies FIGURE 19: (Left) Options for configuring watermarks include choosing an image, and constructing watermark strings by concatenating asset record fields with filler text you provide. In this image, the metadata fields for [COPYRIGHT] and [AUTHOR] will be embedded into the image. The opacity of images and text can be configured, image transparency is now honored, and font colors and sizes can also be chosen. Watermarking Now based entirely on Canto technologies, watermarking in Cumulus 8 is free of thirdparty license restrictions, and better than ever! (Below) Watermark actions can be stacked to provide multiple marks in a single output image, each placed in its own location, with its own font, color and transparency settings. (Note the transparency support for the logo image.) C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 8 of 14

9 PRODUCT INFORMATION: Canto Cumulus 8: What s New? Features Benefits Image Editor Now, anyone can get the quick edits they need of your cataloged images. From self-service crops, blurs, file conversions and more, now your designers are free to do the important stuff. Details FIGURE 20: The Cumulus 8 Image Editor makes self-service image processing easy for anyone. Configurations can be stored, or users can adjust as needed. Many operations happen in real time, making it easy to tweak to perfection. FIGURE 21: The Add Noise filter Pixel Image Converter filters: Median, Add Noise The Pixel Image Converter now includes filters to remove image noise (Median) and add noise too. The Add Noise filter offers a handy way to damage an image variant you want to make sure it used for position or evaluation only. These (and all other) Pixel Image Converter filters are also available from the Image Editor. new in Cumulus 8 enables you to provide for-position-only (FPO) or evaluation images whose quality has been degraded. This image shows the original asset on the left, and a processed variant on the right. Automation Scheduler: Schedule copy/move/delete operations on assets Don t be fooled by the simplicity of this new Scheduler action s name! This is the basis for powerful new workflow possibilities. Move assets to archive locations, or delete temporary or obsolete assets all automatically, all based on metadata values. Imagine a Copy To drop-down menu in your catalogs that includes options like Website Staging, Public Server or other locations to which you commonly copy files. Just set the menu and the Cumulus 8 Scheduler takes care of the rest. FIGURE 22: Now you can define metadata values in your catalogs that direct the Cumulus 8 Scheduler to copy, move or even delete assets. Here, a Scheduler action copies all assets marked ready for the website to a central network location where website developers or website scripts can find and use them. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 9 of 14

10 Scheduler: Schedule autocataloging from Cumulus 8 Server Scheduler: Schedule cataloging via Easily configure the Cumulus 8 Scheduler to autocatalog assets from any location on your network, at any interval you need. There s no need to leave a Cumulus 8 Client application running, because the Cumulus 8 Scheduler now handles it all. More than drop-folder cataloging, this powerful new capability can serve as a basis for interfacing Cumulus 8 with other systems that produce documents, such as invoicing systems or software that produces on-demand PDFs (or other formats). Now, within minutes of those files being produced, they can be safely cataloged into Cumulus 8 and available to you from anywhere. You can even use Cumulus 8 as the distribution system that moves files created by other systems to the locations you need, thanks to the new copy/move/delete Scheduler action. The new cataloging technology available with Cumulus 8 is managed via the Cumulus 8 Scheduler, so why not make Cumulus 8 do a little extra work for you? Use Cumulus 8 to archive your organization s , and take advantage of industrial strength search and retrieval technologies. cataloging can be the solution you need (and already have) when regulations require your organization to archive inbound and outbound . FIGURE 23: It s easy to use Cumulus 8 to catalog assets from accounts. There s no easier or more secure way for users outside your work group or organization to contribute assets to your Cumulus 8 system. Scheduler: Schedule report generation Cumulus 8 reports can be scheduled to occur at intervals you define, ensuring their contents are up to date and accurate. You can determine which reports you want run, choose when you want them run, and choose the catalogs to report on. You can even choose the destination to save the completed reports. Take advantage of the Scheduler s autocataloging to automatically catalog each new report back into Cumulus 8. FIGURE 24: The Cumulus 8 Scheduler can run pre-configured reports at times you define. Asset action update: Catalog resulting files into source catalog When an asset action creates new assets, you can now have Cumulus 8 automatically catalog them back into the catalog from which they originated, choosing the asset handling set and permissions template you want. FIGURE 25: Asset variants created by asset actions can now be easily re-cataloged into their source catalogs. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 10 of 14

11 Cumulus Core Technology Metadata field type: Data Size (Long) Performance boost: Multi-threaded cataloging Performance boost: Multi-threaded metadata assignments Performance boost: Smarter Client/Server communications With the advent of 64-bit operating systems, assets can now become larger than ever. This new 64-bit metadata field type enables Cumulus 8 to track the sizes of individual assets larger than 4 gigabytes. Users who have computers that have multicore processors (or multiple processors) can catalog far more assets in the same amount of time, thanks to the new multi-threaded cataloging in Cumulus 8. So, if your PC has an Intel Core 2 or similar multi-core processor, you re in for a very pleasant speed surprise when you fire up Cumulus 8! Example: In a live demonstration of Cumulus 8, Cumulus 7 cataloged just over 150 assets in the same time Cumulus 8 cataloged more than 600. (Side-by-side comparison using identical new 8-core computers.) If you think the cataloging performance of Cumulus 8 is exciting on your multi-core machine, just wait until you start making large scale metadata assignments! Apply categories or metadata templates to thousands of asset records in the same time it used to take to make the same changes to less than a hundred! Example: In a live 6-second demonstration, Cumulus 7 assigned a metadata set to some 40 records while, in that same time, Cumulus 8 assigned the same information to over 8,000 asset records. (Side-by-side comparison using identical new 8-core computers.) Taking performance even further, the communication between the Cumulus 8 Client and Server has been streamlined so less data travels on your network, reducing network chatter, and also making the Client feel snappier to users. FIGURE 26: Taking full advantage of all available processor cores, Cumulus 8 outpaces its predecessor by magnitudes during cataloging and metadata assignment operations on this quad-core computer. Though the Cumulus 7 Server was multi-core aware, Cumulus 8 marks the first time that power has come to the Cumulus Client software, where much of the heavy lifting occurs. Metadata field type: Table This powerful new field type serves as the basis for the statistics and commenting available in Cumulus 8, and it will serve as the foundation for many new capabilities in the future. A table is a special field type that can include other metadata fields. This means, for example, you can include contact information for everyone who has ever licensed an asset inside the asset record. For each licensee, say you track name, contact phone, license expiration date, and address. These are separate metadata fields, but Cumulus 8 tables enable you to treat them as a single metadata set. Then, each of your asset records can contain as many of those metadata sets as you need. So, whether the asset has been licensed once, or a thousand times, you have all the contact info you need right where it belongs inside the asset record. And of course it s all searchable! Other important workflow advances can be enabled by table fields, such in-catalog archived communications between users, or any other hierarchical metadata need you have. FIGURE 27: This is the properties window for a table field. It shows fields used to store information about companies who have licensed an asset. Combined, these fields form a metadata set that can be duplicated in the asset record for as many licensees as there are, today or tomorrow. Notice the fields Expiration Within 90 Days and Expiration Notice Sent. These fields are used by the Cumulus 8 Scheduler to automatically check the catalog each night for pending expirations. Combining Cumulus 8 technologies like this makes it as easy to manage asset licenses as it is your assets themselves! C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 11 of 14

12 FIGURE 28: Now you can refresh metadata field contents completely, by having Cumulus 8 delete any existing values before updating the field s contents from the asset. Field linking: Clear current value before updating A new option for field linking clears existing values before updating the asset record. This enables you to refresh a field s contents from new asset values, without accumulating unnecessary metadata in the field. Re-catalog Source categories Easily re-catalog a Source category folder for easy catalog updates and additions. Don t worry which files are new let Cumulus 8 take care of that for you! XML Exporting Export catalog metadata into XML files other programs can use without hassles. Paired with the metadata import options Cumulus 8 offers, you now have a complete metadata round-tripping solution to make integrations with your other systems easier than ever. FIGURE 29: Exporting metadata from Cumulus 8 into XML files is now available in the Cumulus 8 Exporter. Select all or some asset records, and even choose the metadata fields you want included in the export file. Little CMS color management support Developer API: Cleaner structure with new functions for new Cumulus 8 features Cumulus 8 now uses the Little CMS color management system when applying ICC profiles for previews, thumbnail display and file conversions. Supported formats are JPEG, TIFF, PSD, PNG, EPS and embedded PDF images. Much of the performance power in Cumulus 8 comes from the totally updated Cumulus 8 API. Redesigned to work more in line with modern development technologies and to enable developers to code the way they prefer the new Cumulus 8 API also enables Canto partners to turbocharge their Cumulus 8 add-on products. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 12 of 14

13 Cumulus Administration Server Console: Simplified user permissions mode Ever wish you could reduce all those permissions options to just a few key checkboxes? In Cumulus 8, you can. Even better, you can use the new simplified permissions mode in conjunction with the standard mode make broad stroke permissions settings and then fine tune them exactly as you need. Now you can feel more confident your permissions are set as you need them, without having to first learn absolutely every permission available in Cumulus 8. FIGURE 30: The Cumulus 8 simplified permissions mode enables you to set user or role permissions for a single catalog, or your entire Cumulus 8 Server with just a few mouse clicks. Switch to the advanced mode when you need to make more granular changes. Both modes are always available, so you don t have to choose just one. Catalog templates Cumulus 8 enables you to create templates of catalogs that you can use to create new catalogs, or even update older catalogs. There s no faster way to get a new system up and running, or to consistently replicate updates made to one system on another system or 1000 others. Create new, pre-configured image databases, video catalogs, PDF archives and more, from a single menu option no more redundant catalog tweaking necessary! FIGURE 31: When creating new catalogs in Cumulus 8, you can choose from any available catalog template. Creating templates involves nothing more than saving your current catalog as a template from the Catalog Settings section of the Preferences window. Server Console: Report Manager All the statistics reporting power new in Cumulus 8 can be harnessed into pre-configured reports you create in the Report Manager. Once configured, you can run reports once, or include them in Cumulus 8 Scheduler actions for recurring generation at the times you specify. Access to the Report Manager is controlled by permissions, so you can choose who can create and run your reports. FIGURE 32: From the Cumulus 8 Report Manager, you can easily configure reports to run manually, or that can be used by the Cumulus 8 Scheduler for unattended report generation 24/7. Server Console: Copy user settings between users When you need to copy user settings from one user to another, now you can using a single menu option in the Cumulus 8 Server Console. C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 13 of 14

14 Enhanced Metadata Support Catalog HTML pages with thumbnails and extract text into searchable metadata (Preview too!) Thanks to new HTML-rendering technologies built right into Cumulus 8, you can now catalog Web pages and see thumbnails and previews. Combine this with the new user commenting feature available in Cumulus 8, and you ve got the website development and approval system you ve always needed! No more managing hundreds of screenshots that become outdated as soon as you ve captured them now you can do it all in Cumulus 8, complete with the previews you need to make informed decisions. What s more, the entire text contents of cataloged Web pages becomes searchable in Cumulus 8, making it easy for you find all pages you need to make updates on, without hunting online, or using the limited search functionality of your Web development application. Catalog rich text format (RTF) files and extract text into searchable metadata (Preview too!) Cumulus 8 can become your cataloging and previewing system for RTF files too. Depending on the configuration of your computer, you can see thumbnails and previews that include the text of RTF files, or their complete contents text, tables and images. In either case, all text becomes totally searchable. FIGURE 33: Cumulus 8 can become your organization s website archive and review tool, thanks to the new native rendering support for HTML pages. Here, you see HTML file thumbnails above, with a preview below. User commenting in Cumulus 8, enables you to perform complete website approvals without the inconvenience of managing screenshots. File format support improvements and additions No DAM system on Earth provides enhanced metadata support for more file types than Cumulus 8. No matter which files your organization uses, chances are Cumulus 8 provides the advanced support you need to make the most of your asset libraries. See the complete list online: About Canto & Cumulus Canto has been dedicated to helping customers fully utilize their digital assets since Canto Cumulus is a cross-platform solution that enables companies to easily organize, find, share and track their ever-increasing numbers of digital files, in any format. Canto s worldwide network of certified developers offers an impressive assortment of plug-ins that enhance the Cumulus product line further. Learn more: Canto in the U.S. +1 (415) Canto in the E.U. +49 (0) Canto Everywhere info@canto.com C INF/C8-What snew/v1.0/ Copyright 2009 Canto GmbH. All rights reserved. Page 14 of 14