Digital asset management for press and marketing teams

A shoot in New York, and the team in Munich sees the raw files the same second — editing can start while shooting is still going on on site. At a press event that means: journalists have the first pictures in hand before the press conference is even over.

Normally photographers, videographers and agencies deliver through their own systems — which cloud storage that is is up to the provider, not you. ExternalUpload flips that around: the files land straight in your system, delivered exactly where you need them — nobody has to download from a third-party platform first just to upload everything to you again afterwards. That also guarantees your content is processed on German servers, GDPR-compliant throughout — instead of sitting somewhere outside your control beforehand.

At a larger event you often need several external crews on short notice — say two photographers, two videographers and an agency on top. You don't want to set up annual licences for them just because they're there for a single day. With DayPass you buy access by the day: you pay only for the day you actually need, instead of being locked into annual cycles by default.

Instead of captioning every picture by hand, VisionAI Foto delivers a headline, description and keywords in seconds — automatically on every upload, in your style, in every language you need, and in plain language on request. Logos and brand names are recognised too: if a sponsor appeared in your event photo, you'll find the picture later by searching for exactly that name. The automation can be limited to specific spaces, for instance only the press or social media folder. Processing happens exclusively in Germany, GDPR-compliant, and your pictures never feed into AI training.

Instead of spending hours reviewing raw footage, VisionAI Video delivers exactly the information you need — with fields you define and name yourself, instead of rigid presets. That turns a one-hour conference recording into an automatic summary, an interview into a full cut list with quotes, and a yes/no field can even flag submitted footage for possible deepfakes — useful when recordings come from external sources. Processed in Europe, GDPR-compliant, with no AI training on your content.

Whether it's a press conference with the board or an event with hundreds of guests: once you've stored a reference picture, VisionFace automatically recognises that person on every other photo across your whole archive. Processing runs entirely on VAULO's own servers, with no external AI provider involved. You manage reference pictures yourself, revocable at any time, visible only within your own organisation.

Feedback on a picture or video stays right on the asset — with arrows, circles or freehand marks you point straight at the picture, or the right spot in the video, instead of wrestling it into words. If editing runs through the Adobe integration, the editor even sees the comments at the exact right spot in the Premiere Pro timeline. Every comment shows who wrote it, and colleagues on the team reply directly instead of starting a new email thread.

The same comment feature, just for review with people outside your organisation — VAULO calls this Absprachemodus ("coordination mode"): external agencies or partners leave their feedback directly in a shared presentation from the Presentation Studio, no VAULO account of their own required, just the shared link.

When you upload a file with the same name again, you decide what happens: create it as a new, independent file, or add it as another version of the existing one. Every version is kept and can be reactivated at any time — building a complete timeline of what changed on a file, and when.

Five label colours are available — the colours themselves are fixed, because they follow the same standard as Adobe products: set a label in VAULO and it shows up there immediately, and the other way round too. What you name the labels, though, is up to you — visible only inside VAULO, which is exactly what makes it useful for your own sorting. A red label might mean "Cleared for press" for you, showing at a glance which pictures are already allowed out.

Star ratings follow a standardised format too, compatible with Adobe products. If a photographer already starred a picture in Lightroom or Bridge before uploading, you see that directly in VAULO — and the other way round: rate a shot in VAULO and the rating shows up there as well. That works for every media type, not just photos — handy for agreeing quickly, as a team, on the strongest shots from a shoot.

A usage right that quietly expires is usually something you only notice once it's too late. VAULO makes it visible: once the stored usage period runs out, the copyright note in the grid view turns red automatically — one glance tells you where to check. VAULO also warns you by email ahead of time, and you decide how many days in advance. You store your own usage terms directly as text on the file.

Sometimes a picture simply can't be used any more — a sponsor pulled out, a campaign got cancelled, a model release expired. With restrictions you block downloads immediately, or from a set point in the future, independent of the usage period. A key icon in the grid makes the lock visible at a glance, so the file doesn't accidentally end up somewhere it no longer belongs.

Create custom fields for exactly what you actually need to track — from a required field for the AI labeling of generated campaign images mandated since August 2026 (EU AI Act, Article 50) to individual details for your press and marketing team. If photographers or agencies deliver via ExternalUpload, these fields can be made mandatory: without a completed credit line or usage note, the file doesn't even upload. With VisionAI switched on, custom fields can even be filled in automatically by AI instead of by hand.

Instead of picking from ready-made roles, you create your own — down to the smallest detail. One person might only be allowed to keyword, but not download; another only to comment; a third to give final approval. You assign each role individually to the right people, instead of giving everyone access to everything by default. Combined with separate spaces for press and marketing, that lets you define exactly who can see, edit or approve what — right down to individual folders or files.

Your own press portal, set up in minutes: journalists access approved pictures and documents directly, without requesting individual files from your press office. You write press releases and articles directly in VAULO — no separate CMS, no extra tool you first have to connect. That saves not only the cost of more software, but also the detour of downloading content from VAULO just to upload it into another system again.

The logical extension of Feed Page: articles that appear there, you send out directly as a newsletter, without writing them again somewhere else. Design and custom variables adapt fully to your corporate design — everything is written directly in VAULO. When you send, you pick recipients straight from your Contacts, including individual distribution groups.

You manage press and distribution contacts directly in the system, instead of in a separate spreadsheet. Every contact gets up to five freely definable attributes — besides the required email address, for example name, phone number or newsroom. Groups let you build your own distribution lists, say by desk or region, and pick exactly the recipients you want to reach when you send a newsletter.

One link, two levels: whoever opens it sees the public area right away — freely accessible to anyone with the link, no sign-in required. If a journalist logs in with their own access, a second, more exclusive area opens up for them. That lets you make exclusive content available to specific people — pictures, documents or information nobody else gets to see.

Find any shot by its content, not just its file name — with fuzzy or precise search, whichever fits what you're looking for right now. You create your own search filters individually: just for yourself, or shared with the whole team. Compared to classic search on your own machine, that saves noticeable time — VAULO teams spend up to 35% less time searching.

The real trick isn't just the corporate design, it's the building-block system behind it: you assemble every presentation yourself from individual blocks — which folders show, what layout the pictures appear in, how filtering works, which header image, with or without login via VisitorHub. With over 1,000 customisation options, that turns into a quick media kit for journalists, a media portal with individual access, or a permanent brand portal as a fixed brand presence, depending on the occasion — no two presentations look alike. Once you've designed one, save it as a template: the next presentation is then built with a keystroke, instead of starting from scratch again.