Asset IDs: Short Identifiers for Quoting Your Files
Give every file a short, speakable identifier – unique within your organization. Pick a format, issue the IDs, and find them again everywhere in VAULO.
A filename is not an identifier: product_photo_final_2.jpg exists in four folders, and a file's internal ID is a long string nobody reads out loud. Asset IDs close that gap – one short identifier per file that you can put in an email, read out over the phone, and type into the search box.
Asset IDs are part of Data Studio and therefore available to your organization without a separate subscription. You'll find the setting under Settings → Add-Ons → Data Studio → Asset IDs.
Asset IDs are off by default. While they are not enabled, no file carries an identifier – so nothing is lost if you only decide to use them later.
When Asset IDs Are Worth It
Whenever a file has to be named outside of VAULO:
- In invoices, quotes, or delivery notes that refer to one specific image
- Over the phone or in a voice message: "Please send me 260901-F4KRM"
- In print approvals, export lists, and handovers to agencies
- In your own ERP or editorial system, as a reference back into VAULO
The Two Formats
When enabling, you pick a format. Both cards show you an example of what the identifier will look like.
| Format | Example | A good fit if … |
|---|---|---|
| Incrementing number | 000001, 000002, 000003 | … you want the shortest identifier to read out and type. Downside: the number reveals how many files you have. |
| Date + suffix | 260901-F4KRM | … you want to see at a glance when the file was created – and don't want your inventory size readable from the outside. |
The six-digit number is a minimum width, not a ceiling: past a million files it simply grows to seven digits.
The date in the second format is the file's creation date in YYMMDD form – not the moment the identifier was issued. So a file from 1 September 2026 gets 260901-… even if you only enable Asset IDs months later.
The suffix uses dictation-safe characters only: A F J K M R S V X Y Z 0 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. Characters that sound or look alike are deliberately left out – no O beside 0, no N beside M, no 2 beside 3. That is why reading one out over a poor phone line still works.
Assigning Asset IDs
- Open Settings → Add-Ons → Data Studio → Asset IDs.
- Under Format, select one of the two cards.
- Click
Assign asset IDs. - Confirm in the dialog by typing
confirm.
A background run then gives every existing file in your organization an Asset ID. Progress is shown in the same tab; with large inventories the run can take a while. You can keep using VAULO in the meantime – the identifiers appear on the files as they are issued.
From then on, every newly uploaded file automatically receives an Asset ID without you doing anything.
While the run is active, the format and the activation cannot be changed. If the run stops early, an Assignment cancelled area appears with the Continue assignment action: Asset IDs already issued stay valid, and assignment continues where it left off.
Where You Find the Asset ID
| Location | What you do there |
|---|---|
| File details → General | The Asset ID sits in its own field with a copy button next to it. |
| File cards | Under Display → First line, choose Asset ID so the identifier replaces the name or title on the card. |
| Sorting | The sort dropdown offers an Asset ID entry. With incrementing numbers this matches the order in which IDs were issued; with the date format, chronological order. |
| Search | Just type the Asset ID into the search box. A complete identifier in the date format is searched as a whole – so you don't get every file from that same day back. |
The Asset ID options under First line and in the sorting dropdown only appear once your organization actually issues Asset IDs – otherwise they would be empty everywhere. If an option is already selected and you turn Asset IDs off, it stays visible so the setting is not left without an active choice.
Changing the Format Later
You can switch to the other format at any time – but this is not a small toggle:
Changing the format re-issues every Asset ID. Any identifier already communicated – in emails, exports, invoices, or in your customer's system – will no longer match afterwards. Change the format only while the identifiers have not yet left your organization, if you can.
How it works: select the other format card in the tab. VAULO then shows a warning with the number of affected files and offers Cancel and Change format. Only Change format plus the typed confirmation starts the re-assignment – selecting a card on its own changes nothing.
Turning Asset IDs Off
Disable asset IDs stops the assignment. This is deliberately harmless and reversible at any time:
- Asset IDs already issued are kept, stay valid, and stay findable.
- Newly uploaded files no longer receive an identifier.
- If you switch it back on later, issuing resumes on the files that are missing one.
Good to Know
- Each identifier is issued exactly once. If you delete a file, its Asset ID stays taken and is never passed on to another file. An identifier you have handed out therefore never points at something else later.
- Copies get their own Asset ID. When you duplicate a file, the copy does not inherit the identifier – otherwise two files would carry the same number.
- The Asset ID is system-assigned and not editable. That is also why it is not a metadata field in the Data Studio catalog and does not appear among the required fields.
- The identifier is per organization. Two organizations can issue the same number without getting in each other's way.