Monthly Archives: November 2010
“What’s digital asset management?” Explaining DAM to my friends and family
November 30th, 2010 by Edward Smith
During the holidays or at social events I sometimes find myself explaining to friends and family what I do for a living. The conversation usually goes something like this:
F: “So, what are you doing these days?”
Me: “I work at a software company called Extensis.”
F: “Oh, cool. What kind of software?”
Me: “Digital asset management software.”
F: [eyes starting to glaze over] “Is that like accounting software?”
At this point I could talk about the time and money invested in the creation of digital files called “assets”, and how digital asset management “maximizes the return on investment” in those assets by improving efficiency and reducing costs. But instead I usually just oversimplify…
Me: “It’s sort of like a photo database.”
F: “Oh, like Picasa or iPhoto?”
Me: “Well, yeah, kind of like that. But…different.”
I then explain that DAM manages more than just pictures like office documents, videos, layouts, PDF – basically any type file. I also point out that DAM systems are similar to desktop image organizer software, except capable of providing access to hundreds of thousands of files to many different people.
Me: “In almost every company there are people responsible for managing large collections of visual files. We make software to help the people managing those collections and help them make those files available to other people who need them.”
F: “OK, that makes sense.”
These conversations have made me realize that “digital asset management” is a really convoluted and ambiguous name. When people hear the word “asset” they’re probably going to think of finance, investing, or maybe IT asset management. I’m sure there are many people that have problems that DAM can solve, but don’t know what to look for or where to start. Industry leaders have tried to clarify DAM technologies with different names like media asset management, digital preservation initiatives, and enterprise content management, to name a few examples. I personally like the term “digital media archive”, but some people dislike the word “archive” because it reminds them of a stale, dingy, and dusty library.
Of course, the acronym “DAM” doesn’t help things either, although it does provide an opportunity for a few good jokes.
IT-Enquirer chooses WebINK as web font provider
November 29th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
We recently announced that the leading digital publishing review website, IT-Enquirer has chosen WebINK as their provider for web fonts.
IT-Enquirer chose two fonts from the URW type foundry for their site design: Proxima Nova from for the headlines and Criterion for the body copy.
For more information about why they chose WebINK, see:
Font Management in Mac OS X Best Practices Guide Version 7 Released
November 29th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
Today we released an update to our most popularly downloaded document, the Font Management in Mac OS X Best Practices Guide. This document covers the myriad of locations that fonts can be stored by Mac OS X, which fonts are absolutely required for the operating system to function properly, and instructions about how to best clean up the your machine.
Download the most current version of the Font Management Best Practices Guide from the Extensis website.
What’s new in Portfolio Server 9.5 webcast recording
November 24th, 2010 by Edward Smith
We’ve posted a recording of the What’s New in Portfolio Server 9.5 Webcast where you can learn about full screen image and document previews, flagging files for quick processing, and the other time savers and improvements included in the latest version.
If you’re new to Portfolio Server or digital asset management software, the beginning of the video also contains a brief intro on why you need a DAM system and how Portfolio Server solves file management problems and improves efficiency in enterprise workgroups.
Watch the “What’s New in Portfolio Server 9.5 Webcast” recording
Read more about Portfolio Server 9.5′s new features
Fund Something Important: Linotype the Movie
November 23rd, 2010 by Amanda Paull
A single guy, Doug Wilson, is trying to do something important: create a movie to capture the relevance of the Linotype machine. And we want to help him.
If you can give a dollar- or $20- to the project, we can all help get this movie made.
Webvanta uses WebINK fonts
November 22nd, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
I put up a new post over on the WebINK blog today that profiles one of the many sites that are now using web fonts from WebINK on their sites.
Hosted CMS provider Webvanta provides a great service, and we’re happy that they chose WebINK as their web font solution.
Read all about it here on the WebINK blog.
Video: How to use WebINK for web fonts
November 19th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
We recently created a short video that explains how you can add new fonts to your website using WebINK. If you’re wondering how WebINK can make your site more creative and fun, check out this short video today.
Extensis speaking to National Council of Teachers of English at 2010 Annual Convention
November 19th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
This Saturday Thomas Phinney, Extensis Senior Product Manager for Fonts and Typography, will be speaking at the Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
Phinney will be one of two speakers (with children’s book author/artist David Wiesner) in a session titled Picture book design: Everything matters—CLA Master Class on Children’s Literature
Phinney’s half of the session will focus on typography in children’s picture-books, particularly Caldecott honorees from 1990-2010. He tells us “I’ll cover everything from the choice of typeface to enhance (or unintentionally contradict) the mood of the book, to typographic trends such as avoiding the use of ligatures.”
Phinney’s research is also being published as an article co-written with Dr Lesley Colabucci, in the next issue of Children & Libraries, a journal of the American Library Association.
Details
- Saturday, November 20th, 2010
- 5:45 – 7:00 p.m.
- Coronado Ballroom
Hope that you’re able to join us!
Aspic! New WebINK web font sample page
November 18th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, today we posted a brand new sample page to show what you can do with WebINK fonts.
Aspic! It’s not just something that your grandmother made!
IT Enquirer report on Digital Asset Management
November 17th, 2010 by Edward Smith
IT Enquirer has published a free report on how DAM systems like Portfolio Server can be used to save money and time. The report covers several topics including:
- Why you should use a digital asset management system
- Limitations of OS file systems and search features
- Protecting intellectual property
- Metadata in terms of the semantic web
- A review of Portfolio Server
Whether you’re new to DAM or evaluating solutions, check out the report for an informative examination of both digital asset management and Portfolio Server 9.5.
