For agencies
For agencies: assets straight from the client.
As an agency, you no longer get your client's images by email but straight from the source: as a kit, as a guest in the portal, or through the API.
Who it's forFor advertising, web, and trade show agencies that work for cable manufacturers.
In short
- Kit: selected files by link, no account
- Guest access: view the media library, order with your own budget
- API: cables and images for the client's website
- Your client stays in control
Material for the trade show booth
Provided by your client
What do we get as an agency?
What it is
You get your client's images and data right where the client maintains them: in their portal.
Your client is a cable manufacturer with a portal at Cable Creations. That is where the client's cables and all their images are kept. The client decides how much access you get.
Key terms
- Media library
- All of your client's files in one place: images, videos, datasheets, and drawings.
- Kit
- A selection from the media library behind a link, optionally with a logo and usage notes. You don't need an account.
- Usage notes
- Your client's text on what you may use the files for. It appears on the kit's page.
- Guest access
- Your own account in your client's portal with limited permissions: view, download, and order images.
- Budget
- The number of credits you can spend per month as a guest. Credits are the unit used to pay for images.
How do we get an image that's still missing?
How it works
Your client invites you as a guest, and you order missing images yourself as long as your budget allows.
The example shows guest access. A kit takes only two steps: your client sends the link, and you download the files.
The process as six stations on one line: your client invites you and sets a budget. You accept, view the media library, and order an image. The portal checks the budget and renders. You download the file.
Your clientYouThe portal
Your clientInvite and set a budget
YouAccept the invitation
YouView cables and media library
YouOrder what's missing
The portalCheck budget and render
YouDownload the file
Step by step
- Step 1 of 6: Your client
Invite and set a budget
An owner in your client's portal invites you as a guest by email. The owner sets your budget at the same time.
- Step 2 of 6: You
Accept the invitation
You accept the invitation and sign in with your own account.
- Step 3 of 6: You
View cables and media library
You see your client's cables and download originals from the media library.
- Step 4 of 6: You
Order what's missing
You choose the cable, shot, and size, and place the order. Next to the price, you see what is left of your budget.
- Step 5 of 6: The portal
Check budget and render
The portal checks whether your budget covers it and renders the image. If it doesn't, nothing is ordered and nothing is charged.
- Step 6 of 6: You
Download the file
You get an email as soon as the image is ready and download the file in the portal.
What do we see in our client's portal?
What you see as a guest
As a guest, you see cables, the media library, kits, and your own orders, and nothing else.
If you work for several manufacturers, you see one card per client after signing in, showing your remaining budget and the newest files.
What the numbers show
Your remaining budget
The top shows how many credits you have left this month.
Your areas
Start, cables, media library, orders, and kits. The navigation shows a guest nothing else.
The media library
All of your client's files. You download originals one at a time or several as an archive.
Order it yourself
You order an image the same way your client does. It is paid from the client's credits, up to your budget.
What stays closed
You can't see or change the team, billing, catalog inquiries, or publishing.
Kit, guest access, or API: which fits our job?
The three options compared
The kit is for a single project, guest access is for ongoing work, and the API is for the website.
The options aren't mutually exclusive. Many agencies start with a kit and get guest access later.
Three ways into one media library: the kit leads through a link to selected files, guest access leads into the client's portal with your own budget, and the API brings cables and images to the website you build.
Your client's media library
Kit
What you getSelected files with logo and usage notes
Guest access
What you getAll cables and the whole media library
API
What you getCables, data, and images for the website
| Aspect | Kit | Guest access | API |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Selected files with logo and usage notes | All cables and the whole media library | Cables, data, and images for the website |
| What you need | Just the link, no account | An invitation and an account | A key and a server |
| If an image is missing | You ask your client | You order it yourself from your budget | Your system orders it if the key allows |
| How long | Until a date your client sets, 365 days at most | Until your client removes your access | Until the key is revoked |
| Typical use | A brochure, an ad, a trade show booth | You work with the client long-term | You build the client's website or shop |
More on this How the data reaches your website through the API →
What do we gain, and what are we not allowed to do?
Advantages and limits
You work with current assets and without back-and-forth, but your client alone decides on cables, team, and money.
Advantages
Originals instead of attachments
You download the file your client approved, at full resolution.
Usage notes are included
The kit says what you may use the files for. The archive contains the same text as a file.
Order without asking
If a shot is missing, you order it yourself as a guest. Nobody has to write an email.
Several clients, one sign-in
With one account, you are a guest of several manufacturers. Each portal shows only its own content.
A kit stays current
If your client changes a shared kit, you see the latest version the next time you open it.
The website populates itself
If your client allows it, the website you build fetches cables and images with its own key.
Limits
No changes, no publishing
Only your client can maintain cable data and publish cables.
No budget, no orders
If your client sets no budget, you can view and download but not order.
No canceling
Guests can't take back an order once it is submitted. Only your client can.
Only your own orders
You see what you ordered yourself. You don't see other people's orders.
A kit expires
Every kit has a last day. Your client can extend it, and the link stays the same.
Guest access depends on the plan
Whether your client can invite guests depends on the client's plan.
Very large kits have no archive
If a kit is too large for an archive, you download the files one at a time.
Not the right tool if:
- You are supposed to maintain your client's cable data or publish cables yourself.
- You are supposed to answer catalog inquiries for your client; guests don't see inquiries.
- Your client has no portal; without the client's cables, there is nothing to share.
How is this different from images by email or a shared folder?
Compared with today
Today you ask for every image and wait; here you get it yourself, and your client stays in control.
Emails go back and forth between the agency and the client until all the images have arrived. By contrast, the agency has direct access to the client's media library.
Until now
Images by email
If a shot is missingAsk and wait
With access
Kit or guest access
If a shot is missingOrder it yourself as a guest
| Aspect | Images by email | Shared folder | Kit or guest access |
|---|---|---|---|
| File versions | As of the day they were sent | As current as someone keeps it | What's in the media library |
| If a shot is missing | Ask and wait | Ask, wait, have it uploaded again | Order it yourself as a guest |
| Usage rights | Somewhere in an email | Usually nowhere | Included with the kit as notes |
| Your client's control | None once it is sent | Anyone with the folder has everything | Withdraw the link, change the budget, remove the guest |
| Several clients | An inbox full of attachments | A different folder per client | One sign-in, one card per client |
What do we need, and what does it cost us?
What you need and what it costs
You need a client with a portal and an invitation from that client; as an agency, you pay us nothing.
What you need
A client in the portal
Everything starts with your client's cables and media library.
For a kit: just the link
Your client puts the kit together and chooses its last day. The form suggests 30 days.
For guest access: an invitation
Only an owner can invite guests, and the owner's plan must allow guests.
For ordering: a budget
The budget applies per calendar month. Your client can also set an overall limit.
Possibly a second factor
If your client requires two-step sign-in, that applies to guests too.
What it costs
As an agency, you pay us nothing. Guest access is part of your client's plan. What you order is paid from the client's credits and limited by your budget.
What else do agencies ask?
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions agencies usually still have before the first project.
- Does access cost us anything as an agency?
- No. Guest access is part of your client's plan. Orders are charged to the client's credit balance, within the budget the client gives you.
- How long is the link to a kit valid?
- Until the date your client sets, a year at most. The client can extend it without changing the link.
- Can we publish cables as a guest?
- No. Publishing, changing cable data, and managing the team stay with the manufacturer.
- What happens when our budget is used up?
- The order is declined, and nothing is charged. The budget resets with the next calendar month, unless your client raises it sooner.
- Can other guests see what we ordered?
- No. A guest sees only their own orders, and the portal doesn't show them anyone else's name.
- Can we work for several manufacturers?
- Yes. With one account, you are a guest of several clients and see one card per client after signing in.