Great option for nonprofits

Before Swivle, the marketing team estimated a loss of 5 hours per week searching for assets living on 3 different servers and an undetermined number of Google Drives, Dropboxes, individual drives, etc. Often after an asset was located, we often still had to do investigative work to learn who is in the image, where it was taken, when, do we own the copyright, does the image illustrate the correct program, etc? Now we are spending less than 1 hour per week searching for assets, and we do no investigative work because all of the information we need is in the metadata.

Pros

I never say "I wish Swivle had X" because it has everything I need. Intuitive interface Compatible with all file types our team uses Preview and download in various pre-set sizes Drag-and-drop uploads Customizable metadata input Excellent filtered search tool - quickly find the ideal assets for every project - search tool even works within PDFs! Ability to track copyrights and copyright expiration dates Easy folders/collections/tagging tools for organization Affordable for a medium-size nonprofit

Cons

I found the initial plan/purchase options a little confusing, as far as how many seats we got for how much money. The final contract was very satisfactory, but it took awhile to get there.

Simple, intuitive, powerful Digital Asset Management

Can't really ask for a better DAM for the power and storage offered at the price. So many other competitors may have a massive suite of features, but they seem to want your soul in exchange. Swivle really just gives you what you need, and stays out of your way.

Pros

Upon first use, you'll see that Swivle has a flexible UI with ability to toggle between masonry, thumbnail, list and filmstrip views. You can open and close panels to customize your view or change it depending on the task at hand. Don't need the folder browser or filter panel? Close them. What's great about the UI is that it feels like it's simple, but it's actually very powerful with beneficial little details, e.g. the "show files in subfolder" option which just makes browsing that much more helpful. The ability to create collections is great as a function separate from the browser, so you can assemble assets into your own custom groups without needing to duplicate assets or create folders. And then there's the ability to share a Collection via a share link, so outside agencies can get access to just those assets. This is a nice middle ground before giving full access as a portal user. And on that note, Portals is a great feature too for granting larger scale access to assets. Lastly, customer service is superb and engaged, and genuinely seems to care about your issues.

Cons

If you're working in a folder with a lot of assets, it can drag your browser a little bit when trying to scroll. There doesn't appear to be support for the HEIC image format yet (as far as generating thumbnails). Most people think assets are high-res JPGs or TIFs, and that makes sense, but we often take a lot of behind-the-scenes iphone photos at shoots, and treat them as assets, and give agencies access to them for marketing and things. So we've had to convert to JPG prior to upload, which isn't a big deal, but it's just an extra step.

Works good for the price

Pros

This is our company's first DAM software. My favorite feature is the vast amount of meta data options. It's a lot easier for our sales reps to search for images by typing in a keyword instead of searching through a bunch of images. Overall I have found it very easy to use and great deal for the price.

Cons

I wish there was an easier way to download files. I also would like the option to send links with expiration dates, and the ability to drag and drop images and other media directly into apps.

Swivle is easy to use and offers a great range of useful functions.

Easier to search and find the right files, also more efficient for different tasks. We compared many different digital asset management systems and Swivle was the most flexible solution at a very reasonable cost and easy to set up. You can start using it within a day, not within weeks as with other DAMs you need to set up in your company's own network structure.

Pros

We first purchased Swivle to organize our picture library, but now also use it for all the PDFs of our different publications, videos and for our freelancers to submit data to the editorial office. It's easy to use and doesn't require lots of knowledge for new users. Working gets more and more flexible and individual and therefore it's great to have all the data in the cloud. Customer support also works perfectly, I always got good advice and helpful answers within a short period of time.

Cons

There are different ways to set user rights and you can create groups and rules all of it can become a bit complicated and it's sometimes hard to actually look through.

We love it

We use Swivle to provide marketing assets to our sales force, and as a home for our video and photography assets in house. It’s great!

Pros

It’s flexible. We have a private collection of assets and public collection. Ease of use. Many non technical users on my team contribute assets and have no issues using the app. Value. Good value considering what you get with higher priced competitors. Service. I get the support I need and have had the opportunity to give input when testing enhancements.

Cons

It’s not as easily usable on mobile. Opportunity to enhance.