Quickstart Guide
This guide provides the basic steps to getting up and running, including adding users, uploading files to the Media Library, and setting permissions to enable stakeholders to see and download files from your organization's public-facing Portal website.
Let’s get started!
1. Log in and set (or reset) your password
Log in to your account at https://library.photoshelter.com/login
To change your password, click on your name on the top navigation bar, and then Profile.
2. Add other Library Staff users
After logging in, you can begin adding Library Staff members to your account (if applicable). To do so, click Users > Library Staff from the Library view. In the window that follows, you can either add Editors, Taggers, or Contributors via the tabs at the top of the dialog box or via the links at the bottom of the box.
Click here to find out more about Library Staff.
3. Import your folders (and all of the files inside of them) in bulk
You can upload whole file folders (and all of the files stored inside of them) from your computer or an external hard drive when using Incoming FTP.
Click here to learn about all upload methods.
In the Library, select a Collection (such as "Our Library") or click the New Gallery button. You can give the Gallery a descriptive name. In most cases, it's best to set the Gallery permission to inherit from the 'parent' Collection.
Once you’ve created the Gallery, you can add images by dragging and dropping files from your desktop to the center pane of the Gallery. You can also add new Collections with the New Collection button. Think of Collections as containers that help with organizing your Galleries.
5. Add Invited Users
You may wish to grant some people access to images through the public Portal (your Library's public-facing website) with their own login. To do this, start by adding Invited Users to the Invited Users list, then grant them permission to access Collections and Galleries in the Library. The Invited Users list works like an address book, so no one will know you have added them to this list. The notification step comes last.
To manage your Invited Users, click the people icon and click Invited Users from the left-hand toolbar, or navigate here: https://www.photoshelter.com/mu/clients/address-book. From there, click the green button in the center pane to add a user.
It’s easiest to manage Invited User access permissions by organizing them into User Groups. Every Invited User in the User Group will have the same download permission, so bear this in mind as you organize Invited Users into groups. Click the green button at the top of the left pane to make a group. Once you’ve made the group, you can add Invited Users from the center pane by drag-and-drop.
Learn more about inviting users.
- At a glance, you can view your Library permissions via the 'stoplight' indicators
next to your Collections and Galleries. To set new V&A permissions, click "Portal Sharing". We suggest you start by giving your Library Staff permission to see images on the public Portal. This gives them the ability to preview what the Portal looks like from the Invited User perspective. You can set expiration dates for Gallery permissions, and restrict downloads to reduced-size JPEG and MP4 file types, if you like. Once you save your permissions, the eye and arrow will turn yellow.
- There are two main ways to notify your Invited Users about their new permission settings - the "Save & Notify" button, or, sharing your portal account signup page (https://_____.photoshelter.com/signup)
Click here to learn more about Visibility and Access settings, including how to read the eye/arrow colors.
Click here to learn more about setting and changing the Visibility and Access settings.
7. Set your URL and site name, and customize your Portal
From the Library view, click "Settings," then click "Portal." You can also get to this page from the Admin menu, after selecting Portal Settings.
On the General Settings page, fill in the URL and the Library name you’d like on the front of your Public Portal. Click Save Settings.
Click Branding in the left hand menu. Your first option here is to set your logo. You may upload an image by dragging and dropping, or clicking into the logo box to browse for a file. You can also use text as a logo.
Next, you can update your colors. Color customization settings include Logo (if text is used as a logo), Navigation Text, Navigation Background, and Links. Click on a color to edit. You may use your mouse to select a color using the the color picker, or type in a known color's hexadecimal code.
To set your homepage image, scroll down on the Branding page. Just like you can with your logo image, you can simply drag-and-drop your image from your computer into the blank white space, or, click the pencil icon to browse for a file instead. Note: A 2:3 image aspect ratio is best for responsive web. If you're overlaying a logo onto the image, near-center is best.
- To change the homepage image, you’ll have to delete the current image being used first. Hover over the image and click on the trash can icon to remove the existing image. Then select a new image again by dragging and dropping into the white space, or using the pencil icon to browse.
- All changes on the Branding page will be saved automatically.
Select "Switch to Portal" from the left-hand Library toolbar shown below), and you will be taken to your Public Portal page. From there, select Galleries. Here you will see a list of all public galleries, as well as any galleries you have been invited to view. Note that every logged in user will only see galleries they have been invited to under "Invited Galleries" which falls below the publicly visible collections and galleries.