Transferring assets that have been used in production into a long-term archive

About this usage scenario

This scenario is based on a system where a pool of pictures are stored in a production archive. Pictures that are picked from that pool and put to use, for example in a workflow that prepares it for layout, will be tagged with a metadata macro to indicate that it has been used. We want to configure Color Factory to "clean up" the production archive every night by transferring a copy of the files that have been used to a long-term archive. This is done by setting a run schedule for the channel so it only runs outside office hours, and you configure it to perform a search in the Index Manager archive to find files that have been tagged as used. These files are then moved using Color Factory to another location, such as your "long-term archive".

Setting it up

• Start off by creating a new channel. Technically, the only option you need to enable is Input Options (for Index Manager search input). If you're working with JPEGs only in your workflows, you can go to the channel's main page and set the channel to use JPEG Copy to avoid recompressing the JPEG data again when the file is processed by Color Factory.

Note: Even though you use an Index Manager search as the input for the channel, the channel stills needs to have a unique input folder specified. This folder will not be used for anything, but this is a technical requirement.

• Expand the Input options feature and choose the Index Manager input tab.
• Configure the path to the indexed archive and set the search criteria. The search criteria will of course rely on how you have configured FotoWeb or FotoStation to tag the files that have been used in production. The below screenshot shows one example of how this could look, where you're searching field number 212 for a specific string, "Transfer to archive".
• Now decide how you want to treat the file in the production pool after you have sent a copy to the long-term archive.You can choose to delete the input file, or you can add a metadata macro that changes the content of the field you're searching in to avoid processing the same file twice.
• When you've made your options, click OK to store the configuration. Make sure you also save the Color Factory configuration (File | Save in the program menu) to load the new configuration. There's no need to restart the service itself.

Example: In the screenshot above we're searching for "transfer to archive" in field 212. You can configure a macro that replaces the content of field 212 to "transferred" so that Color Factory won't find the same file again.

To go "all the way" you can then configure FotoWeb / FotoStation to display markers in the production pool, so that they get a visual indicator on the assets that are scheduled for transfer to the long-term archive, (i.e. have been used for some practical purpose and therefore need to be backed up for future reference) and those files that Color Factory has transferred to the long term archive. By also configuring automatic purging in Color Factory you can then purge those files after x number of hours, days or weeks.