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Library: store and reuse your own images and videos
The Library holds the images and videos you own. You keep them in folders, tag them, and reuse them in Studio. Open it from Create > Library. The page heading reads Creative Library.
Problem and intended user
A creative strategist (the person who plans and makes ad creatives) needs the right product photo or brand video at hand when a new ad starts. Files that live in shared drives, email threads and design tools are hard to find. The same file gets uploaded again, and an old version can end up in a live ad.
Current workflow
The creative strategist keeps brand images and videos in a shared drive, in Shopify admin files, in a design tool or with an agency. To make an ad, the file is found, downloaded, and uploaded again into each tool.
Prerequisites
- Files: your own images and videos.
- Integration, for Shopify photos: Shopify is connected. The Shopify photos tab reads the photos of one product from your store.
You need nothing else to browse or upload.
How Nexus works
Nexus stores the files you upload and lists them with fixed filters. No AI sorts, names or tags your files. The Library is store-wide. It shows every file you upload, whatever product it belongs to. You can narrow the view to one product at any time. Studio offers your Library files when you create or edit a Creative Set.
You decide every change. Nexus asks you to confirm a delete.
Upload files
- Choose Upload and pick one or more files. You can also drag files onto the grid.
- Watch the progress list above the grid. Each file shows a percentage, then Done.
A new file goes into the folder you have open. If you filtered by product, the file is linked to that product too.
Find a file
- Type in Search by name to match file names.
- Choose All assets or Unfiled in the Folders sidebar, or open a folder.
- Select a tag in the Tags list. Select it again to clear it.
- Use the Product filter to see the files linked to one product.
If you open an asset from another page, the Library may show that one file. Choose Show all assets to see the full list.
Organize your files
Choose New folder, type a name and choose Create. The folder is created inside the folder you have open. Folders can hold other folders. Use the arrows in the sidebar to expand and collapse them.
To rename a file, add tags or link products:
- Choose Edit on the file's card.
- Change the Name.
- Type Tags as a comma-separated list.
- Under Products, choose a product to add it. Remove a product with the bin icon on its label.
- Choose Save.
Removing a product hides the file from that product's view. The file stays in the Library. If that product used the file as its creative reference, it falls back to an image Nexus picks.
WARNING
Deleting a file cannot be undone. If products use the file as their creative reference, Nexus tells you how many. Those products then fall back to an image Nexus picks.
To delete a file, choose Delete on its card, then confirm.
Save a Nexus creative
Creatives that Nexus produced do not live in your folders until you save them.
- Open the Produced by Nexus tab.
- Choose Save to Library on a creative.
- In the Folder list, choose a folder, or leave Unfiled.
- Choose Save.
Nexus copies the creative into your Library. Saved files carry a Nexus label on their card.
Use a file in your ads
The buttons on an image card start your next step:
- Create creative set opens Studio on the From image step with this image selected. Videos do not have this button.
- Create similar ad opens the Similar Ad Wizard, where you set up a batch of new images based on this image. Videos do not have this button. See Clone an ad.
Inside Studio you can also pull files in directly:
- When you create a Creative Set, choose From image and pick your images from the Library.
- In the editor, choose Insert from Library to add files to a design, or Replace from Library to swap a background image.
See Studio and Studio editor.
Exact output
The Library gives you a page of files you can sort and reuse.
Filter tabs
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| All | Every file you uploaded. |
| Images | Image files only. |
| Videos | Video files only. |
| Shopify photos | The photos of one product, read from your Shopify store. This tab appears only after you pick a product in the Product filter. |
| Produced by Nexus | Creatives that Nexus made for you. |
Asset cards
Each card shows the file, its name, its type and its first tags. A file saved from Nexus carries a Nexus label. An image card has Create creative set, Create similar ad, Edit and Delete. A video card has Edit and Delete.
The Shopify photos are read-only. Nexus greys out a photo it cannot read and says why, under the picture. You cannot use that photo as a reference.
What to do with it
| What you see | Decision or action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| A file you want to keep | Choose Upload, then sort it with New folder and Edit. | creative strategist |
| An image you want in a new ad | Choose Create creative set. | creative strategist |
| An image that shows the look you want | Choose Create similar ad. | creative strategist |
| A creative on Produced by Nexus worth keeping | Choose Save to Library. | creative strategist |
| A product photo greyed out in Shopify photos | Replace or re-host the photo in Shopify admin. This happens outside Nexus. | ecommerce manager (the person who runs the store) |
| A file you no longer use | Read the warning, then choose Delete. | creative strategist |
Expected value and measurement
The Library can help you find and reuse your own images without hunting through other tools or uploading them again. The Library has no measurement of its own. To see how ads built from your own images perform, open Performance > Ad performance and compare their Spend and ROAS with your other ads. You cannot isolate the image as the cause when copy, audience or budget changed at the same time.
Limitations and exceptions
- File types and size: Image and video files have a size limit. A file Nexus cannot take, or a file over the limit, shows an error in place of Done.
- Duplicates: Nexus keeps one copy of an identical file.
- Long lists: The grid shows the first page of results. Use search, a folder, a tag or the Product filter to reach other files.
- Videos: They have no Create creative set or Create similar ad button.
- Shopify photos: The tab is read-only. A photo Nexus cannot read shows "Can’t be used as a reference — hosted somewhere we can’t read."
- Empty states: An empty library says "No assets here yet — drag & drop or use Upload to add your own images and videos." It offers Upload assets. A product view with no files says there are no creatives for that product yet. Produced by Nexus says "No Nexus-produced creatives yet." Shopify photos says "This product has no photos in Shopify yet."
- Errors: A page that fails to load says "Couldn’t load the Creative Library." and asks you to retry. A folder or edit dialog shows the reason when it cannot save. A link to a removed file says "This asset could not be found."
Demo Mode
In Demo Mode the Library shows sample files. Upload and Delete are switched off there. Their tooltips read "Uploads are disabled in Demo Mode" and "Deleting is disabled in Demo Mode". Create creative set also fails there, with this message: "Creating design sets from Library images isn't available in demo mode — disable demo mode to use this flow." Turn off Demo Mode to add or remove your own files.
In the public demo, a change that Nexus refuses to save shows "This action is not available in the public demo." See Demo Mode and sample data.