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Digital Asset Management

What can a DAM API do

6. February 2024

APIs are revolutionizing how businesses manage digital assets, enabling seamless integration of their DAM system with multiple platforms. In this article, we’ll explore how DAM APIs work and the significant benefits they bring.

The importance of APIs continues to be on the rise: In the 2023 State of the API Report, 92% of respondents say their investments into APIs will grow or stay the same. Which is an up of 3 percent points from the year before, indicating a strong upwards trend.

What does that mean?

Modern users expect to have a seamless experience across all their digital products and platforms. And this is the task APIs delivers on.

Read on to learn what an API is and how it relates to your Digital Asset Management (DAM) system.

What is an API?

API stands for Application Programming Interface. You can think of it as a set of “connectors.” APIs make it possible to connect one product or service with another, so they can exchange information.

Another way to think about an API is as an interpreter that helps two systems understand each other.

An example you may be familiar with is signing into a website with your social media account. The website uses an API to communicate with the social media platform, validate your credentials, and log you in.

Without an API, this kind of communication might still be possible, but it would require a lot more time and effort from a developer to write custom code.

This brings us to one of the benefits of APIs: they help improve existing products by creating integrations and building a digital ecosystem. By using APIs, a developer doesn’t need to understand the inner workings of the system they’re connecting to. This speeds up development and reduces costs.

It’s also important to understand API release types:

  • Private API – for internal use only
  • Partner API – available to business partners
  • Public or external API – open for everyone

APIs can also be free or paid. For example, when signing in to a website using a social media account, platforms like Twitter offer a public, free API that developers can use to connect their product to Twitter.

 

APIs for Digital Asset Management systems

You might now wonder how APIs apply to a DAM system like Fotoware—and whether you need one.

A Fotoware DAM system works well out of the box. However, by using the API, you can significantly extend its functionality and improve your return on investment.

 

Example: Microsoft Office plugin

Let’s take a simple example.

The Microsoft Office plugin for Fotoware lets you use assets from Fotoware directly within Microsoft PowerPoint or Word, through a side panel interface.

This is possible because the Office plugins use APIs that connect two systems — Fotoware and Microsoft Office. As we now know, an API “translates” the communication between the DAM and Office.

For the Microsoft Office Plugin, you don’t need to write a single line of code to use it with Fotoware. It can be considered an out-of-the-box solution.

 

What if I need a customized connection?

Let’s take another example.

Let’s say you are using Fotoware to store and manage all your media files. If you also have a CMS (Content Management System), it makes sense to integrate Fotoware with it.

This way, when writing content in your CMS, you can easily search, find, and insert pictures, graphics, and artwork from the Fotoware system directly into the CMS. This means you always have access to your collection of media files.

Read more: 3 benefits of integrating DAM and CMS

 

Integrating your CMS using the Fotoware API is easy

Our customer GASAG Gruppe did exactly this. The developers used the Fotoware API to connect it to Sitecore, a popular CMS, to improve their content workflows.

An API is a powerful tool to help integrate your DAM with other business systems and create new, exciting innovations.

Read more: Real-life examples and how to start with the API

Want to learn more?

Talk to one of our experts to discover how we can streamline your organization's content workflows.