Best Lightweight DAM System for designers?

[vdonahue]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently trying to research Digital Asset Management systems for my company, and it's tougher than I thought it would be. I'm actually pretty experienced with DAM, as I managed one for 2 years at my former company - but searching for a good option that fits for my company is more difficult than I thought. Now I am a designer and feel we need a good DAM system to streamline our workflow.

If you have experience with a good cost-effective, feature-rich piece of software, I'd be very interested to hear about it.

I'm looking for something very user-friendly and intuitive. Low-expense is key, and so are features such as searching, asset history tracking, file downloads through the web for clients and non-designer employees, etc...

Also good would be comment sections for assets, project tracking, versioning, checkout/in functions, and some social integration for sharing.

If you have experience in DAM or with one in particular and have a suggestion of where to look - please let me know! Thanks!

[Ang]

Originally Posted by vdonahue

a good cost-effective, feature-rich piece of software!

Well, that's like asking for good, cheap and fast design, not gonna happen.

Drupal is good for web design, Xinet is really good for page layout. I have minimal experience with Xinet and I think it is kinda pricey, but well worth it. You should really research it and find what works best with your company's needs/budget. There are about a hundred different programs in a wide range of prices out there.

Good luck!

[PrintDriver]

Something on the order of Cumulus but maybe not that expensive? I had the same thought you did, Ang. That's a lot of 'want' for not a lot of 'got'.

[vdonahue]

I agree that it's a tall order, so far however I am either finding super-expensive and feature-rich, or super-cheap and lackluster. Looking for some kind of middle ground. I know I won't get everything I ask for, but there's got to be something out there that hits some of those points for lower-cost than some of the heavy hitters out there.