Workspaces empower creative teams to collect assets from various areas of the Library, the Portal, and from direct user uploads to view, share, comment on, and approve them all in one place and in real time—without ever leaving PhotoShelter. Users can gather assets from different galleries and add them to a Workspace, then invite other users to work with those assets.

In order to create or use a Workspace on a Portal, collaborators need to have a valid PhotoShelter account.

Using Workspaces in the Library

Most actions in a Workspace must be taken on the Portal, but the Library view allows Library Staff to manage Workspaces from the back end.

Creating a Workspace

When you’re logged in to the Library, click the “Workspaces” tab in the left pane. Click the “New Workspace” button to create a Workspace.

Name your Workspace (required) and add a description (if desired), then click “Create.” Your new Workspace will appear under the “Created by Library Staff” group in the left pane of the Workspaces tab in the Library.

You can also create a Workspace on the Portal.

To rename an existing Workspace, open that Workspace in the Library view and use the right pane to edit the Workspace name. Click the check mark to save your changes.

Accessing Workspaces

After you’ve logged in, click the “Library” tab in the top navigation and then click the “Workspaces” tab in the left pane of the Library view.

When you’ve selected a Workspace in the left pane, you can see the contents of that Workspace in the center pane. The right pane will show the Workspace name, a hyperlink to the Workspace on the Portal, a Trash icon for you to delete the Workspace if needed, and a “Visibility and Access” tab.

Learn how to Access Workspaces on the Portal.

Managing Your Workspaces

Adding Files to a Workspace

When you’re browsing a gallery in the Library, you can add individual assets or batches of files to a Workspace by selecting one or more assets in the center pane and using the Actions menu at the top to “Add to a workspace.” You’ll be able to type in the name of an existing Workspace or create a new Workspace from the next menu.

You can also add images from a gallery to a Workspace in batch.

While viewing search results from the File Search tool in the Library, you can select individual assets or batches of assets and add them to a Workspace with the Actions menu.

Check out how to add files to a Workspace on the Portal.

Single-File View

To view more details about a single file in a Workspace, click that file’s thumbnail in the center pane to enter the Single-File Library view. You’ll be able to expand tabs in the right pane to see Basic Info (like file size, date modified, date uploaded, and more), Approvals and Comments left on that file by users on the Portal, the file’s EXIF data, and any IPTC metadata that has been appended to the file.

Approve and Comment on Assets in a Workspace

Library Staff can view and leave comments and approvals on individual files in the Library Workspace view.

To approve an asset in a Workspace in the Library view, select the asset you want to approve and use the "thumbs-up" icon in the right pane to approve that asset. To remove approval, just click the icon again. You can view any existing approvals or comments on an asset by selecting that asset and expanding the "Approvals and Comments" tab in the right pane.

To add a comment to an asset in the Library, select the asset and click the "comment" icon in the right pane, then type your commit and click "Submit."

View Custom Filters

You can view Custom Filters that have been applied to a Workspace by clicking the triangle next to the Workspace name in the left pane.

If there is no triangle, there are no Custom Filters applied to that Workspace.

Click a Custom Filter name to view all the files that have been added to that Custom Filter on the Portal.

To add a file (or a batch of files) to an existing Custom Filter, select that file in the center pane and drag it over the name of the desired Custom Filter in the left pane. The file(s) will be added to that Custom Filter.

To create a new Custom Filter in the Library view, select the Workspace you want to add the Custom Filter to and click "New Custom Filter" in the left pane.

You can also edit the name of an existing Custom Filter. Select that filter in the left pane of the Library view and use the right pane to edit the Custom Filter name.

To delete a Custom Filter in the Library view, select the Custom Filter in the left pane and click the trash icon in the right pane to delete the filter. Any assets included in that Custom Filter will remain in the Workspace, and the deleted Custom Filter will disappear from the left pane.

Upload Directly to a Workspace

While viewing a Workspace in the Library, simply drag a file or a batch of files from your desktop to the center pane to automatically upload them to that Workspace.

Files uploaded directly to a Workspace will appear in Library search results, but will not appear in galleries in the Library unless those files are copied to a gallery in the Library.

Download from a Workspace

To download a single asset from a Workspace in the Library view, open the single-file view for the asset you want to download and use the Actions menu at the top to Download:

You can also select a batch of assets in a Workspace and use the Actions menu to Download:

Copying Files to your Library From a Workspace

You can add files uploaded to a Workspace to a gallery in your Library and/or create a gallery from the contents of a Workspace.

Open a Workspace by clicking its tab in the left pane; you’ll see those files in the center pane.

Use the left pane to click the “Library” tab and find the gallery you want to copy into by clicking the arrows next to its parent Collection(s) as needed. You can then drag and drop single files or batches of files directly into that gallery in the left pane from the Workspace contents in the center pane.

You can also view all the areas a single file is Located In within a Workspace. The Located In tab in the right pane will display all locations for that asset, including galleries in the Library and any other Workspaces.

Deleting Files and Workspaces in the Library

To delete a Workspace in the Library view, select the Workspace name in the left pane and click the “Delete” button, denoted by a trash can icon, in the right pane.

To remove an individual file from a Workspace, click its thumbnail in the center pane of a Workspace and click the “Delete” (trash can) button in the right pane. You can also use the Actions menu at the top to "Remove from Workspace."

Note: it is not currently possible to recover deleted Workspaces or to recover files removed from a Workspace. Library files will remain in the Library, but any directly uploaded files not copied to a Library gallery will need to be uploaded again. If you have copied any files to a gallery, those files will still exist in the gallery even after they’ve been deleted from a Workspace.

Deleting Workspaces on the Portal

To delete a Workspace you no longer need, open the “Workspace Info” tab on the left and click the “...” next to the Workspace name.

From the drop-down, select “Delete Workspace” and confirm your action in the resulting dialog.

You can also remove files from a Workspace on the Portal.

Collaborating in a Workspace

Workspaces enable you to invite other users to view the assets you’ve added to a Workspace. To ensure the right team members can take the right actions on your files, you can also add permissions for other users to comment on and approve assets, upload and download to the Workspace, and allow Invited Users to invite others to collaborate.

Inviting Other Users and Setting Permissions in the Library

Click the arrow on the “Visibility and Access” tab in the right pane to expand the tab and view the current permissions granted to the Workspace. These permissions are organized by type:

Who can see this?
Who can download?
Who can upload?
Who can comment & approve?

Individual user icons are visible beneath each permission type so you can easily see who has what kind of permission in the Workspace.

To add a new permission and allow another user to access the Workspace, click the gear icon in the “Visibility and Access” tab.

This will bring up a dialog that lists each user who currently has permission; click the blue “Add new permission” button in the bottom left to grant permission to a new user.

To edit an existing permission, click the gray bar in the “Visibility and Access” dialog to expand and view that user’s visibility and access rights. You can grant and remove permissions to approve & comment, upload & download, or invite other Invited Users by clicking the corresponding toggle buttons.

You can notify any new users of their access by clicking the “Save & Notify” button in the “Visibility and Access” dialog. In the “Notify Access” menu, check the boxes next to the usernames you want to notify and click the blue “Notify” button to immediately send an email to the selected users inviting them to join the discussion at your Workspace.

This email will include a direct link to the Workspace on your Portal, and notified users will need to log in using their PhotoShelter account to access and use the Workspace.

To delete an existing permission, click the “Visibility and Access” tab in the Workspace view, then click the trash can icon next to the user’s permission listing to remove their access.

Inviting Other Users and Setting Permissions on the Portal

Note: For invited users to be able to see the "Add to Workspace" icon in the single file view in the portal, you have to move the "Workspaces" navigation button to the "Visible Nav Items" column in the Portal Navigation settings.

While in a Workspace, click the “...” next to the Workspace name in the left column. From the menu, select “Invite to Workspace” to add a new user to your Workspace. You can enter their email address (note: they will need to have or create a PhotoShelter account to access and use the Workspace) and set three different types of permissions:

”Allow Approvals & Comments” to enable that user to approve and comment on assets in the Workspace.
”Allow user to download” to enable that user to download any asset from the Workspace.
”Allow user to upload” to enable that user to add new files to the Workspace by uploading from their computer.
“Allow user to invite” to enable an Invited User to invite other Invited Users to collaborate in the Workspace.

Set the toggles to allow the level of access for that user, then click “Update” to save your changes.

You can also access the permissions menu by clicking the “+” in the top right corner of the Workspace view.

You’ll see icons for each user who has been invited to the Workspace in the top right corner of the Workspace view—these icons will display that user’s Profile image (if they’ve added one) or their initials. Click their icon to view and edit their Workspace permissions settings.

If you have any questions, notice an issue, or need help, please don't hesitate to contact the PhotoShelter support team at support@photoshelter.com.