The Photoshop plugin

The purpose of our Photoshop plugin is to place images directly from Mediaflow into your Photoshop documents as Smart Objects, without having to download them manually to your computer first, this is handled automatically. Linked assets are tracked live, so you'll see immediately when a file goes missing or has been updated in Mediaflow, and you can relink or save new versions back to Mediaflow without leaving Photoshop.
 

Requirements

• A current version of Adobe Photoshop installed via Adobe Creative Cloud.
• A Pro user account in Mediaflow.

Installation of plugin/extension

You install the extension via Creative Cloud's plugin management. Sort by Photoshop plugin and search for "Mediaflow for Photoshop". In the Creative Cloud Desktop app, you can update the plugin by navigating to Stock and Marketplace - Plugins and then selecting Manage Plugin Programs. Click the blue Update button to install the latest version of the plugin.

Info

We strive to always have a plugin that works with the latest version of Photoshop. However, when new updates are released there might be a slight delay before our plugin is up to date.

If, for any reason, it is not possible to use Creative Cloud within your organisation, please contact our support team for further assistance.
 

Find Mediaflow in Photoshop

After installation, start Photoshop and open the plugin from Plugin → Mediaflow. The plugin appears as a single panel that you can resize, dock at the edge, or group together with other Photoshop panels.

The panel contains two views:

• Browse — for finding and placing assets from your Mediaflow library.
• Links — for managing the Mediaflow-linked Smart Objects in the currently active document.

Login

The first time you click on the extension you must log in. Use the same credentials as you use to log in to Mediaflow. Remember that the Photoshop integration requires a Pro user account in Mediaflow.
 

Browsing Mediaflow

In the Browse view you can access the same folder structure as in Mediaflow. The panel also includes a search box where you can search for files, just as in the quick search in Mediaflow. The folder structure and content are connected to Mediaflow's servers, which require an active internet connection.

Placing assets as Smart Objects

Mediaflow for Photoshop uses Smart Objects as its linking mechanism. When you place a file from Mediaflow, it becomes a Smart Object layer that Mediaflow monitors for changes. The plugin tracks your layer tree, including nested groups, to automatically detect and track every linked asset.

• Browse or search for an asset in the panel, then double-click (or right-click and choose Place) to add it to the currently active document as a Smart Object.
• Choose Open to open the asset as a new Photoshop document instead of placing it into the current one.
• Assets are always placed at the original resolution. 
• Link status is polled in real time, so the Links view will reflect immediately if a file goes missing or a newer version becomes available.
• Right-click an asset in the Browse view and choose Show Image Information to access more details, such as metadata, rights, and similar information.

Note:

Rasterizing a Smart Object breaks the link with Mediaflow, meaning the plugin can no longer track or update that placed asset.
 

Manage linked assets in the Links view

Smart Objects placed from Mediaflow are tagged internally with an ID that connects the Smart Object in your Photoshop document with the original file in Mediaflow. This enables the plugin to detect when a new version of an asset is available, when a linked file is missing locally, or when the original has been deleted from Mediaflow.

The Links view gives you an overview of all Mediaflow-linked Smart Objects in the active document, showing a thumbnail, the layer the Smart Object lives on, any restrictions from the image bank and the current link status. From there, you can relink individual Smart Objects or update everything at once via the menu.
 

When you open a document on another computer

If you open a Photoshop document on another computer, you have to download the document to the new computer. Open the Links view and use the menu to relink all missing assets, they will be downloaded from Mediaflow and reconnected to the Smart Objects in the document. The user on the other computer must have permission to access these assets in Mediaflow.