The document library provides a dedicated space to store, organize, and share documents such as PDFs, Word files, spreadsheets, and presentations, keeping them separate from images and other media assets.
Create a document library
Open your brand and go to Libraries.
Select New library in the top-right corner.
Choose Document library from the dropdown.
Enter a name for your library and, if applicable, select the guideline it belongs to.
Optionally, select a workflow template and configure the available AI features.
Confirm to create your document library.
Upload and organize documents
Upload documents
You can upload individual files or entire folders to your document library.
Open your document library.
Select New in the top-right corner.
Choose File upload or Folder upload and select the files you want to add.
Alternatively, you can drag and drop the files directly into your document library.
Note: Frontify doesn’t support macro-enabled Microsoft Office files, such as DOCM and DOTM, to mitigate security risks and prevent potential malware execution.
Organize documents
Use folders and collections to organize documents in your library.
Folders: Use folders to organize documents in the library backend.
Collections: Curate thematic selections of documents across folders for targeted sharing and presentation.
To create a folder or collection, select New in the top-right corner of your document library, then choose New folder or New collection.
For more information about creating and managing collections, see Collections.
Select and manage multiple documents
You can perform actions on several documents at once instead of managing each file individually.
To select multiple documents, hover over a document thumbnail and select its checkbox. A toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen with options to:
Select all or clear your selection: Quickly select or deselect documents.
Move: Move selected documents to another folder, library, or supported destination.
Download: Download selected documents.
Delete: Permanently delete selected documents.
Edit: Open the asset details panel to update metadata, tags, collections, lifecycle information, and other available settings.
Assistant: Use natural language or suggested actions to organize documents, update metadata, or create collections.
You can also access Edit and Assistant from the top-right corner of the library.
Select multiple documents to manage them using the bulk-action toolbar and asset details panel.
You can update metadata, tags, and workflow statuses across multiple selected documents in the asset details panel. Select Apply to save your changes.
Tip: To edit metadata for one or more folders, select the folder’s checkbox and choose Folder assets in the asset details panel. Turn on Include subfolder assets if you want your changes to apply to all subfolder documents, then click Apply to confirm your changes.
Manage document information and settings
You can update basic asset information directly from a document’s asset card or open it to manage additional details.
Edit basic asset information
Find the document in your library and select the Settings gear icon on its asset card.
Update the available information, including the asset name, pixel ratio, color space, status, or asset preview.
Changes to pixel ratio, color space, and status are saved automatically. When changing the asset name, select the checkmark beside the field to save it. To change the asset preview, upload a new preview image.
Note: Changing the asset preview only updates the thumbnail displayed in the library and guidelines, not the original file.
To upload a new version of the actual file, open the asset, select Revisions (clock icon) from the powerbar, and upload the revision.
Configure your document library
Set up document categories
Document categories determine how files are organized and displayed in the consumer view of your document library. Every document must have a category assigned to appear on a library page in your guidelines. If a document has no category, it only exists in the backend library.
To configure document categories:
Open your document library in the backend.
Select the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner, then click on General under Library settings.
Under Document categories, add your categories and, optionally, set a default category for newly uploaded documents.
You can add, rename, or delete categories as needed.
Note: Document categories cannot be disabled for a document library. Default categories and categories containing documents cannot be deleted.
Manage document categories in your library’s General settings, where you can add categories and set a default.
Make documents available in guidelines
Connect your document library to a guideline so users can browse, search, and access documents without opening the library backend.
Important: Documents must have a category assigned to appear in the consumer view. See Set up document categories for instructions.
Connect a document library
To make an existing document library available in your guidelines:
Open your guideline in edit mode.
Open the Navigation manager from the powerbar.
Next to Global navigation, click on the + button and choose Library from the menu.
Choose the document library you want to connect and select Add library to confirm.
The document library appears in your guideline navigation.
Note: Library pages must be added to the top-level navigation. They can’t be nested within individual documents or category pages.
Access control and download protection
Invite team members
Invite people to collaborate in your document library and assign roles to manage their access.
Open your document library.
Select Invite in the top-right corner.
Search for people in your organization or enter their email addresses.
Select a role for the people you’re inviting.
Optionally, enable Access period to limit how long they have access.
Enable Notify by email if you want to send an invitation email. You can also add an optional message.
Select Invite and send email or Invite, depending on your notification settings.
Targets
Targets let you restrict the visibility of individual documents to specific audiences or markets.
To enable targets:
Open your document library in the backend.
Select the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner.
Under Library settings, open General.
In the settings dialog, scroll to Targets to enable it.
Once enabled, you can assign targets to individual documents to control who can view them.
For more information, see Targets for guidelines.
Download protection
Download protection lets you restrict document downloads by requiring users to request permission.
To configure download protection:
Open your document library in the backend.
Select the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner.
Under Library settings, open Usage.
Configure the download protection settings for your library.
You can also configure download protection for individual folders and documents.
For more information, see Asset download protection.
Browse and download documents
In the consumer view, documents are grouped by category, with up to four documents displayed per category. Select View all to browse additional documents, or use the category filter to find specific documents.
Browse documents by category in the consumer view, using filters or View all to find documents.
Select a document to open its preview, where you can navigate between pages and documents. You can also download the file if your access permissions allow it.
Document preview showing page navigation, file properties, and download options.