Sotheran’s MediaSync Application
Application Overview and Project Justification

Sotheran’s generates approximately 100 product images each week—a figure that often increases during catalogue preparation, peak trading periods, or following large stock acquisitions.

Once photographed, these images must be processed and distributed across multiple repositories: the website, BookManager, and the Media Server. The current workflow includes the following steps:

  1. Renaming each image file to match the stock number assigned to the corresponding item in BookManager. This is a manual process and prone to human error, such as duplicates, typos, or formatting mistakes.

  2. Image editing, including straightening, cropping, and enhancement.

  3. Generating high-resolution images for print use. This step is currently not being performed. These images should be 300ppi, CMYK colour space, and print-optimised.

  4. Generating low-resolution images for digital use. Also currently not performed. These files should be resized to 72dpi, interlaced, adjusted to the correct aspect ratio, and set to the sRGB colour space.

  5. Storing high-resolution images in the designated HighResolution image repository.

  6. Uploading low-resolution images to the Media Server, the website, and BookManager.

Project Requirement

To streamline this workflow, we require a solution that:

  1. Automatically imports hundreds of images and checks filenames for errors (e.g. spaces, non-alphanumeric characters, and syntax issues).

  2. Creates both high-resolution and low-resolution versions of each image, adhering to the technical specifications described above.

  3. Automates the upload of all final assets to the Media Server, BookManager, and the website (post-synchronisation with BookManager).

Solution: Sotheran’s MediaSync

The MediaSync application addresses all of the above requirements. Key benefits include:

  • Dramatic time savings: Reduces a multi-day process (2–3 working days) to under two minutes, depending on image volume.

  • Improved accuracy: Minimises the risk of image naming errors that can result in incorrect or missing asset assignments.

  • Print readiness: Automatically generates high-resolution, print-optimised images.

  • Web readiness: Automatically generates web-optimised, low-resolution images.

  • Automated distribution: Seamlessly uploads all digital assets to the appropriate online repositories.