Automation use case library | Frontify Knowledge Base

Your brand deserves time to shine, not to get stuck in manual, repetitive work. That’s where automations come in.

Frontify automations help you reduce friction in your day-to-day, ensuring your teams stay creative, consistent, and focused on what matters most: building and scaling your brand.

This library is a collection of real automation ideas to inspire you, showing what’s possible and how to make it happen. You can use these examples as a starting point, then adapt and expand them to fit your workflows.

Whether you’re managing a global asset library, localizing campaigns, or improving creative operations, there’s always another step you can automate.

What are automations?

Automations in Frontify are like “if this, then that” rules that connect triggers (events) with actions (outcomes).

They can:

Automatically generate or translate asset metadata like titles, descriptions, and tags.
Apply workflow statuses, naming rules, or metadata updates the moment assets are uploaded.
Use AI to interpret, analyze, or enrich assets for faster brand management.

With automations, you can:

Save time and reduce manual effort.
Maintain brand consistency at scale.
Keep your libraries clean, searchable, and up to date.

Supported triggers

Trigger	Description
Workflow status changed	Runs when the workflow status of an asset is updated.
Asset created	Runs when a new asset is uploaded or created in Frontify.

Explore automation ideas

The examples below are here to spark ideas and help you take your automation strategy further. Each use case includes what it does, how to set it up, and, where available, helpful resources to dive deeper.

Use case	What it does	How to set it up
Automated asset descriptions, titles, and tags	Uses AI to create consistent, descriptive metadata for new assets.	Connect the AI integration. Trigger: When an asset is uploaded to a specific library or project. Action: Automatically generate and apply descriptions, titles, and tags using AI. *Other resources:* Help article Video
Automated asset status	Sets asset status automatically when new files are uploaded.	Define “Asset upload” as the trigger event. Trigger: When a new asset is uploaded. Action: Set the asset status to the correct workflow stage (e.g., Needs Review, Pending Approval). *Other resources:* Help article
Automated asset translations	Uses AI to translate tags, descriptions, and titles into multiple languages.	Connect the OpenAI integration. Trigger: When asset metadata (title, description, or tags) is created or updated. Action: Automatically translate the metadata fields and map them to the correct language versions. *Other resources:* Help article
Add alt text with OpenAI	Auto-generates alt text for new uploads.	Connect the OpenAI integration. Trigger: When an image asset is uploaded. Action: Use AI to generate and apply descriptive alt text automatically.
Tag by folder	Automatically adds tags based on where assets are uploaded.	Configure folder rules in Automations. Trigger: When an asset is uploaded to a specific folder. Action: Apply predefined tags based on that folder’s structure. *Other resources:* Help article
Sort by naming	Moves assets to specific collections based on naming.	Define a naming pattern rule. Trigger: When an asset is uploaded. Action: Move the asset to the corresponding collection automatically.
Move to team inbox	Routes submitted assets to team libraries.	Configure the submission block and destination library. Trigger: When assets are submitted through the block. Action: Move the assets to the correct team inbox or folder.
Translate metadata	Creates multilingual metadata fields.	Connect the OpenAI integration. Trigger: When asset metadata is updated. Action: Use AI to translate and fill out metadata in multiple languages.
Clean up titles	Standardizes or translates asset titles.	Connect the OpenAI integration. Trigger: When an asset title is added or updated. Action: Automatically clean up or translate the title using AI.
Use asset data in subsequent automation steps	Retrieves metadata from an asset and makes it available for later automation steps, allowing dynamic updates or concatenations (e.g., combining asset title and description into a custom field).	Define the trigger event (e.g., When an asset is uploaded or When asset metadata is updated). Action: Use Get asset details to fetch the asset’s metadata (title, description, tags, format, etc.). Subsequent Actions: Reference the retrieved metadata in subsequent steps (e.g., update custom field, rename asset, or enrich description).
Split asset file name by delimiter	Extracts specific parts of an asset’s file name by splitting it using a chosen delimiter (e.g., “_”, “-”, or “.”). This allows automations to use or repurpose parts of the file name for metadata, tags, or naming conventions.	Define the trigger event (e.g., When an asset is uploaded or When asset metadata is updated). Action: Use Split Asset Filename by Delimiter and define the delimiter Subsequent Actions: In any subsequent action reference the split content
Detect objects	Analyzes an uploaded image to detect specified objects and exposes the detection data for use in later automation steps. This can include the number of objects found, true/false detection flags, annotated image URLs, or bounding box data.	Define the trigger event (e.g., When an asset is uploaded or When asset metadata is updated). Action: Use Detect Objects and select which object types to detect Subsequent Actions: In any subsequent action use the output of the previous action as an input e.g. setting a certain metadata field with a boolean
Analyze image	Analyzes an image using either OpenAI or AzureOpenAI and generates a text output. The text output can be further used in subsequent actions	Define the trigger event (e.g., When an asset is uploaded or When asset metadata is updated). Action: Use Analyze Image with OpenAI or Analyze Image with Azure OpenAI Subsequent Actions: In any subsequent action use the output of the previous action as an input
Extract CDN URL	Fetches the CDN or direct URL of an asset and makes it available for reuse in subsequent actions	Define the trigger event (e.g., When an asset is uploaded or When asset metadata is updated). Action: Use Extract CDN URL Subsequent Actions: In any subsequent action use the output of the previous action as an input
Rename assets dynamically based on rules or conditions	Keeps asset libraries organized and searchable without manual renaming based on rules or conditions, ensuring clarity across teams, improving governance, and reducing human error in file management.	Define the trigger event (e.g., When an asset is uploaded or When asset metadata is updated). Pre-requisite Actions: Actions that generate different outputs Action: Use Rename Asset based on output of previous actions
Automatically generate Asset Metadata	Uses AI to automatically predict and populate metadata for an asset based on the asset itself and any additional hints provided from earlier automation steps. These hints can come from image analysis, detected objects, extracted text, or other dynamic inputs.	Define the trigger event (e.g., When an asset is uploaded or When asset metadata is updated). Pre-requisite Actions: Actions that generate different outputs Action: Use Predict Metadata based on output of previous actions

Keep automating your brand

This library isn’t a checklist, it’s a starting point. Each example is designed to spark ideas for your own setup. You can mix and match triggers, AI actions, and rules to build your own automation workflows that reflect your brand’s unique needs.

The more you automate, the more time your brand gets back to focus on strategy, creativity, and growth.

We’ll continue updating this list as new ideas and capabilities roll out, so check back regularly or share your own ideas with your customer success manager.

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