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Multimedia overview

Catalog items contain raw data as well as MIME data. MIME refers to Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. It is an internet standard that contains data in the form of images or text documents. MIME data is provided in electronic form by the manufacturer and assigned to the items. Following are the steps carried out to prepared the MIME data.

• Copy MIME data to the system : Import MIME data into the system to transfer new or updated data to PIM Desktop.
• Compare existing and new MIME data supplied : Check the transferred data against the existing data and replace if necessary.
• Create additional formats: Depending The MIME data needs to be available in different formats depending on the output target.
• Edit MIME data: It might be required to edit the available multimedia files if they do not meet the requirements to optimize them for a purpose.
• Organise the MIME data in the system (category, file name): MIME data is stored in a hierarchical structure to aid clear management of the essential information and to make it faster to find.
• Link MIME data to items: It is required to the multimedia information to the associated items or products. It aids to use it for electronic catalogs or publications.

Multimedia attachments can either be maintained independently or they can be assigned to different items as multimedia attachments.

Document categories

Document categories should be maintained so that documents can be assigned to these to structure multimedia documents. The available categories are displayed in a tree in the Document categories view. To change the structure of the document categories, drag and drop the category to be copied or moved to the desired location in the tree.

A category is copied by default, which is indicated by the mouse pointer turning into a plus symbol. The existing references are retained. To move the category, press the Shift key while dragging and the plus symbol will disappear. Also, all existing references will be adjusted.

Documents

This table view shows all the files in a document category, regardless of whether or not the files are actually used. A filter can be set up in the Views menu to show the images that are used or to show the ones that are unused. User can also set the size of the preview images in the Preferences under Miniature view.

To view a file that does not represent an image or to open an image in a new window:

• Select the entry in the Documents view.
• Select Open in the pop-up menu.
• The file is opened in an external program.

Dependencies

The Dependencies - Overview view shows the references for a multimedia document in the different areas. Select a multimedia document in the Documents or Multimedia documents view.

• Call up Usage list from the pop-up menu.
• The Dependencies - Overview view is opened and shows how many objects reference the selected multimedia document.

Multimedia attachments

This list contains all multimedia attachments that have been assigned to the selected item or structure group. The multimedia attachments must be distinguishable by their type so that they can be uniquely identified. Enter text or keywords that will describe the respective multimedia attachment in the Category column. 

To create a new multimedia attachment:

• Click on plus icon. A new row is created in the table.
• Select the multimedia attachment type from the drop-down list in the Type column.
• Enter additional data for the multimedia attachment.
• Click on save icon to save the data record.

System multimedia attachments

This list shows all the multimedia attachments that are present in the system. Enter text or keywords that will describe the respective multimedia attachment in the Category column.

Multimedia documents

This list displays all multimedia documents that exist for the entry selected in the Multimedia attachments view. Multimedia documents that belong to a multimedia attachment must be differentiated by the source path of the linked file, their quality or their language.

Image preview

This view shows the image that has been selected using either the Multimedia documents or Documents view.

• Click on zoom in or zoom out icons to enlarge or reduce the image.
• Click on icon to display the image in its original size.
• Use the views menu to open the image in an external program, view its properties or download it.

Miniature view

The multimedia documents associated to selected entries in the Item s #1 or Products #1 view are displayed in the Miniature view. The Views menu contains filter functions to view only standard images.

Miniature view (documents)

All the documents in a category are shown in a miniature view format. To open a document double click on it or select particular subsets from the category using the Views menu. 

• Create preview images
• Show all
• Show used
• Show unused

Selecting a multimedia document and calling up the pop-up menu allows you to execute the different functions.