3 tips for effective indexing of your digital assets

At Einden, we are currently teaching an AI to pre-index media stored in Ephoto Dam, while specialising in the corpus it indexes. Thanks to our research conducted through our DAMIA Lab, we have formalised a number of concepts applied to the indexing of digital assets.

In this article, we offer some indexing tips that we have formalised during our work on AI, in the form of best practices and mistakes to avoid, which you can apply to your DAM solution.

1 – Too much is too much

Too much indexing means too much documentary noise.

Let’s face it, the volume of assets means that we tend to shorten the indexing phases rather than switch to essay writing. However, it is worth remembering that it is always more relevant to focus your indexing efforts on the main subject represented by the image. By doing so, you are meeting the expectations of the searcher, which, in the context of Ephoto Dam, is the primary role of photo library software.

In the vast majority of cases, users will begin their search using the main subject. If the multimedia files in the results displayed are already relevant, this saves them valuable time. Of course, doing this may sometimes mean missing out on an interesting (but secondary) item. But given the choice, we often prefer a little documentary silence to noise.

Here is an example with this photo to explain:

✅ Good indexing: Public workshop by Jean-Baptiste Briand (designer) during the ‘Design au cœur des cités’ event.

⛔ Poor indexing: Jean-Baptiste Briand (designer) on stage during the ‘Design au cœur des cités’ event on 9 December 2025 at the Cité du Design in Paris (France).

The limited audience at this workshop allowed for a high level of interactivity between the designer and the participants.

The workshop ended with the screening of a film produced by the ‘Aliens’ design collective.

2 – Connotation is a choice, not a rule

It is common, particularly with illustrative images, to want to apply an abstract concept when indexing an image. As we have already said, there is no such thing as a photo of ‘Holidays’ or ‘Conviviality’. It is the sum of the objects visible in the image that allows us to deduce this. Beyond the fact that this is subjective, it is potentially variable from one culture to another and is therefore not necessarily true.

This example shows that the minimum requirement for indexing is to stick to what is factually represented. This way, there is less chance of making a mistake. Each user will be able to use the image in their own context, if the atmosphere or impression it conveys suits their needs at that particular moment.

It is entirely possible to have a connotative indexing section because it may meet a content management need, but it must then have a given scope (for example, the team must agree on the concepts to be represented) and apply to a given collection and not to just any asset.

3 – One field = one piece of information

This is part of the ‘semantic cocoon’ concept that we are developing for our indexing AI with our DAMIA Lab research laboratory. In fact, descriptive fields with instructions for use should be avoided as much as possible. For example, ‘in the Description field, start with the date of the event, then describe it, and finally add the people represented and any conditions of use.’

No, it is better to provide a descriptive field or, at the very least, a separate descriptive element for each type of information.

Here are a few good reasons to do so:

• it is faster to index this way
• for certain fields or items, you can define lists, which further speed up indexing
• it limits lyrical flights of fancy that more often create documentary noise than relevant additions (see tip number 1)
• it provides filters that can then be used on the search side

When it comes to indexing and volumes, every saving counts in order to maintain a favourable indexing time/search time ratio for users.

We support you in consolidating your thesaurus

There are many other best practices you can implement in your digital asset management solution, some of which depend on your specific context. We won’t cover everything here, but with these three key tips in mind, you’ll be able to create a relatively quick and effective indexing system for your users. If you need more advice, feel free to check out our videos and webinars on document management.

We can also assist you in developing your documentation language. Our expert iconographers and documentalists will help you formalise your workflows, taking into account your specific requirements, corporate culture and vocabulary, enabling us to offer you a thesaurus that is consistent with your needs.