About this usage scenario

This scenario is based on a system in which a pool of images is stored in a production archive. Pictures picked from that pool and used, for example, in a workflow that prepares them for layout, will be tagged with a metadata macro to indicate they have been used. We want to configure Color Factory to "clean up" the production archive every night by transferring copies of used files to a long-term archive. This is done by setting a run schedule for the channel so it runs only outside office hours and configuring it to search the Index Manager archive for files 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.

• 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 screenshot below 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) so you can 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 configuring automatic purging in Color Factory, you can purge those files after x hours, days, or weeks.