3 new updates for more streamlined & functional DAM

Pics.io release notes, 5 September 2018

As the summer turned into fall, our dev team has released a couple of useful updates in Pics.io DAM service.

Let’s start with the biggest news.

1. Labels turned into Comments

Yes, we’ve finally got rid of labels, which is something that already needed removing a lo-o-o-ng time ago. For years we’ve been receiving questions from our puzzled users: “What’s the difference between keywords and labels? Which one shall I use to tag my assets?”.

Well, there was a big difference between them indeed, and we tried hard to explain it. But the UX design for both elements was so similar, that the overwhelming majority of our users hopelessly confused them.

Everybody tended to use labels and keywords interchangeably and that caused a bit of a mess in their digital library. Eventually, it seemed that the only Pics.io user who used labels correctly was our own dev team! Quite ridiculous, isn’t it?

So, we finally decided to clear up this confusion. There are no more labels the way they’ve existed in Pics.io.

Here’s what happens now when you upload a new asset in Pics.io:

• As usual, you are free to tag a keyword that will describe your asset and assign a teammate to this asset if necessary.
• What’s new(!) is that you can also leave a comment instead of a label. In fact, that used to be the function of labels, i.e. leaving comments about changes that have been introduced to the asset.
• You can find these comments in the Activity panel, next to all other comments.

The same thing happens when you upload a new revision to the asset.

And if you find yourself wondering where the hell are all the labels you’ve created before….

Sorry, you will no longer see your labels as a separate tab in the left side panel as you might have got used to.

But you can still find them all safe and sound among keywords under the title “labels”.

We believe that with this new approach, it’s hard, or even impossible, to confuse comments and keywords. So each feature now serves its unique purpose, making Pics.io DAM service even more streamlined and straightforward than before.

Let’s move on to another useful update in Pics.io.

2. Wider downloading opportunities

First of all, you can now download files as PDFs.

Before you could only download your images either as original files, or JPG, or PNG. That used to be a major limitation for many of our users. So, we’ve made it possible for you to convert your images into PDF as you download them.

The same works for raw photos, text files, and even Sketch designs.

As for the second update, Pics.io has learned to keep the transparency your PSD files as you download them as PNG. Layers, including transparent ones, are one of the main features of Photoshop files, and they can be saved when you export PSD files into PNG. Well, now you can do that in Pics.io as well!

And the final big update for today:

3. Improved Pics.io mobile version

We strongly believe that digital asset management should be easily done on the go. So, we are constantly upgrading our mobile version and making it more and more user-friendly and efficient.

Apart from lots of minor subtle fixes, you can now check on the newly deployed zoom for asset preview. A simple click on plus or minus tab will zoom in or zoom out your file for your convenience.

Among other numerous tweaks and fixes, we keep honing the way we handle metadata. This long journey which started a couple of months ago is still going on. The way we manage your files’ metadata is getting more and more logical and consistent. All the new updates are constantly reflected in our help center.

Welcome to try out all the new updates in Pics.io. We’re dying for your feedback.