# Creating Asset Collections

## What Are Collections?

Collections are a way to create a virtual grouping of your assets outside of your drive structure. They provide a flexible method to organize and share your work without altering your primary file organization. With collections, you can cleanly deliver assets to your internal team, key stakeholders, or clients in a branded manner, tailored to the needs of your audience.

<figure><img src="/files/HxdgS7bpw2N02AewoYhF" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Creating a Collection

There are a few ways to create collections in Shade:

### From the Asset Page

1. Navigate to the asset page where your files are displayed
2. Select the assets you want to add to a collection
3. Right click to reveal the dropdown menu
4. You can either:
   * Create a new collection from the dropdown
   * Add the selected assets to an existing collection

### Create a new Collection from the Sidebar

You can also view and manage existing collections or create a new collection directly from the left sidebar:

1. Find your drive in the left sidebar
2. Click on your drive name
3. Look for the "Collections" option under your drive
4. Click the "+" button to create a new collection

### Duplicate an existing Collection from the Sidebar

Duplicate an existing Collection if you want to easily reuse the same set of assets, styling, or permissions.

1. Find your drive in the left sidebar
2. Click on your drive name
3. Look for the "Collections" option under your drive
4. Right click the Collection you’d like to duplicate
5. Choose **Duplicate**

## Customizing a Collection

Once you have added assets to an existing collection or created a new collection, you can manage the collection features by revealing the details on the right sidebar.

### Permissions and Access

* Link visibility
  * Link visibility enabled - The collection can be viewed by any external recipient that has the link, in addition to any user that has direct access to the drive as a drive member or workspace member
  * Link visibility disabled - The collection is only visible to users who have direct access to the drive as a drive member or workspace member
* Allow (or limit) access to:
  * Download included assets
  * Comment on including assets
  * View asset details and metadata
    * View only the desired metadata fields
    * Edit metadata fields (like applying status labels, tags, ratings, or similar)

**Note:** These settings are disabled by default for security and must be explicitly enabled.

### Layout Customization

* Layout - How media fills a given asset card (i.e Fit or Fill)
* Display - The presentation of media on the collection (i.e Grid, List, or Tile)
* Card size - Small, Medium, or Large
* Rounded corners - toggle of asset card corners are rounded or 90 degree angles

### Security + Watermarking

* Link Expiration - Set when the link visibility auto-deactivates
* Password - Create a simple password that recipients must know to access the collection
* Watermarking - **Session-based Watermarking** will display the viewers name, email address, and IP address as an overlay on the video content, where as **Text-based Watermarking** let’s you customize the text position, provide your own custom text, and chose the font size

### Branding

You can further stylize the collection page with your branding:

* Add your logo
* Change the background image
* Customize the icon at the top of the collection page

## FAQ

<details>

<summary>Can I use collections to version my assets?</summary>

Yes. You can easily create a metadata attribute called "Version" and add a version label to each of the assets in your collection. This provides a simple way to track iterations of your work.

</details>

<details>

<summary>How do I share a collection?</summary>

Anyone with the published collection link can access the collection. Simply toggle the link on in the right sidebar and share the URL with your intended viewers.

</details>

<details>

<summary>How do I find collections that I have already created?</summary>

All collections you or other team members have created under a drive can be found by:

1. Clicking on the drive name on the left sidebar
2. Clicking "Collections" under the drive This will display all collections associated with that particular drive.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Can an asset live in multiple collections simultaneously?</summary>

Yes, assets can exist in multiple collections at the same time. This allows you to organize the same assets in different ways for different purposes or audiences without duplication.

</details>


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