Asset Viewer

What if you didn't have to download 500 photos just to find the 20 worth using?

That's the reality for most PR teams and publicists working with production stills. Someone sends over a folder (or worse, a ZIP file), and now you're downloading gigabytes of images just to flip through them on your laptop. By the time you've found the shots you need, you've burned an hour and half your disk space.

The asset viewer in ReelStorage lets you review photos at full resolution directly in your browser. No downloads, no waiting, no juggling desktop applications.

Full-resolution viewing

When you open an image in the viewer, you're looking at the full-resolution file. Not a compressed preview. Not a downsized thumbnail. The actual image, rendered in your browser.

Zoom in to check sharpness on a headshot. Read the signage in a background plate. Inspect the lighting detail on a product shot. You get the same level of detail you'd see opening the file in Photoshop, without the download.

The viewer handles high-resolution files from professional cameras (40MP, 60MP, even medium format) without choking. Images load progressively, so you see a sharp preview almost immediately while the full file streams in behind it.

Keyboard-first navigation

The viewer was built for people who review hundreds of images at a time. Reaching for the mouse on every image slows you down.

• Arrow keys move forward and backward through your images
• Number keys (1-5) apply star ratings on the fly
• Letter shortcuts apply color labels
• Spacebar toggles zoom
• I toggles the metadata overlay
• T opens the tag panel

If you've used Photo Mechanic or Lightroom's loupe view, this will feel familiar. The goal is the same: get through a large set of images quickly while making decisions along the way.

Metadata at a glance

Toggle the metadata overlay to see technical and descriptive information without leaving the viewer:

EXIF data shows the camera settings:

• Camera body and lens
• Exposure, aperture, ISO
• Focal length
• Capture date and time
• GPS coordinates (when available)

IPTC data shows the editorial information:

• Copyright holder
• Photographer credit
• Caption and headline
• Keywords
• Contact information

This is especially useful when you're comparing shots from different photographers on the same event, or when you need to verify that metadata was applied correctly before a delivery.

Compare mode

Picking between two similar shots is hard when you can only see one at a time. Compare mode puts images side by side in the same view.

Select two or more images, then enter compare mode. The images display at the same zoom level, and zooming or panning syncs across all images. Move to the subject's face in one shot, and every comparison image moves to the same position.

This is the fastest way to choose between similar takes, compare lighting setups, or evaluate different crops of the same scene.

Rating and tagging in the viewer

You don't need to leave the viewer to make decisions. The sidebar panel gives you access to:

• Star ratings (1-5 stars via keyboard or click)
• Color labels for your team's labeling system
• Tags from your project's tag library
• IPTC metadata editing for quick caption or credit updates
• Select tiers for organizing your picks into delivery groups

Changes save immediately. When you close the viewer and return to the grid, your ratings, labels, and tags are already applied.

Slideshow mode

Need to present a set of images to a group? Slideshow mode cycles through your current selection or folder automatically. Control the pace, pause on any image, and use it as a presentation tool during team reviews or client meetings.

Works with your whole library

The viewer isn't a standalone tool. It's deeply connected to how you organize and find images in ReelStorage:

• Open from search results to review matching images in context
• Open from collections to review curated sets
• Open from the grid with any active filters preserved
• Face recognition clusters can be reviewed in the viewer with cluster tags visible

The navigation order in the viewer matches whatever sort and filter you had active in the grid. If you filtered by a tag and sorted by date, that's the order you'll flip through in the viewer.

Built for team review

Multiple team members can be reviewing images in the same project simultaneously. Ratings and tags applied by one person appear for everyone in real time. There's no file locking, no "checked out" status, no waiting for someone else to finish.

When a publicist rates photos in the viewer and a production coordinator is watching the grid, they see the stars appear as they're applied. This makes collaborative review sessions fast and transparent.

Perfect for

Publicists selecting photos for press releases and EPK deliveries, PR managers reviewing event photography for client approval, and talent representatives inspecting portraits and headshots before signing off on usage.