Air was built to help support your creative process, specifically as it relates to your visual content. We understand that every project has non-visual files, too — like docs, spreadsheets, and audio files. This article will help you understand the difference between assets and files, and what type of content should live on Air.
What's the difference?
"Assets" include all of your visual content like images and videos. Assets are always front and center, and you can access them from anywhere in your workspace: the home page, search, boards, and bookmarks. From the gallery view, you can toggle on an asset's name, file size, resolution metadata, and any custom fields applied. PDFs are also considered Assets as they are often visual - you can also set a PDF page as the thumbnail.
"Files" are your non-visual content like documents, spreadsheets, and audio clips. You can search, filter, bookmark, and add files to boards, just like assets. Unlike assets, files will not have a thumbnail preview. Only the display name and file size metadata can be seen from gallery view.
Air's image recognition does not apply keywords to files, but feel free to add tags to files just as you would to assets. You can also download files directly from the gallery view for quick export!
How should I use files?
Files play a complementary role to your visual content and serve the very important purpose of contextualizing the creative process. A good rule of thumb: if it's a part of the creative process, it can (and should) live on Air! Everything else should stay where it is. Here are just a few ways you might use files:
Include your creative brief (.doc) on a project board as a point of reference for designers and photographers.
Keep an eye on event budget by adding that spreadsheet (.xls) the accounting department sent over.
Group your favorite fonts (.txt) with their corresponding designs in a board.
Organize all of your final email designs (.html) with graphic assets as you plan out marketing campaigns.
Start connecting your images and videos to other relevant information with files and watch your creative workflow improve.