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Migration guide

Move media from Frontify to FileSpin

Build a reconciled asset library and a working delivery route. Start with a regional campaign: find the right approved asset by market, prepare the required formats, share with a partner and deliver the selected media without duplicating the original.

There are two ways to run the move. Both start with an inventory and a representative sample before the full transfer.

Assisted migration
We provide the necessary tools to migrate assets from on-premise and cloud storage while your technical team runs the migration, including metadata mapping, import and validation.
Managed migration by FileSpin
The FileSpin team carries out the migration: source extraction or export coordination, field mapping, import, validation and cutover support. Your team grants source access and signs off the result.
Four migration stages, retrieve, map and import, validate and cut over, showing who carries out each one in an assisted migration and in a managed migration by FileSpin
Who carries out each stage in an assisted and a managed migration.

1. Retrieve the source files and records

Use Frontify’s OAuth-enabled GraphQL API to enumerate the required libraries, folders and assets. Export asset IDs, tags, customMetadata values and properties, relationships and selected revisions. Use the original downloadUrl for the asset type, rather than previewUrl. A download-protected asset can return no original URL until an approved download request is valid. Refresh expiring download references during extraction. Pages return 25 items by default.

Retrieval uses an authorised source account, with credentials kept out of exports, screenshots and public URLs. Each completed inventory page and download is saved, so interrupted work resumes where it stopped, and expired download links are refreshed.

2. Create a manifest you can reconcile

One record per source file or retained version: source system, asset ID, file or version ID, original name, source path, file type, bytes, a checksum recorded at download, tags, custom metadata, collection membership, rights information and source update time. The FileSpin asset ID and transfer status are added as work progresses.

Original files are kept separate from thumbnails and delivery renditions. Every exception, such as a missing original, a restricted download or an unsupported format, is listed with its resolution.

3. Map what moves and what gets rebuilt


Part of the library

What happens

Originals

Authorised source files downloaded and reconciled against the manifest

Metadata

Map libraries and collections to the destination organisation model, and map custom metadata types and options before loading values. Keep rights, availability dates and related assets in the manifest. Map both expiry dates and availability.

Collections

Membership rebuilt from source IDs after import

Versions

The revisions you keep, retrieved alongside the current files

Access

Roles, private delivery and review workflows set up in FileSpin; past review decisions archived

Delivery

Brand guidelines, templates and publication workflows stay in Frontify or are rebuilt; embeds and share links switch once access and outputs pass.

History

Past requests, downloads, review histories and usage records archived from Frontify

An illustrative Frontify record (asset ID, library and folder, custom metadata, rights, revision, and brand guidelines and templates not moved here) mapped to a FileSpin record in the E-Commerce schema with SKU 31077 and season SS27, and the collection recreated with the destination asset IDs
A Frontify record (synthetic example) mapped to the imported FileSpin asset.

4. Import and check a sample

The sample includes several file types, a multi-value metadata field, an asset in more than one collection, a retained revision and restricted content. Files are loaded, FileSpin IDs recorded, mapped metadata applied and relationships rebuilt.

In an assisted migration, your team stages the retrieved files with the tools we provide and loads metadata through the mapping. In a managed migration, the FileSpin team carries out these steps.

The sample passes when:

  • The correct file and intended version opens in FileSpin.
  • Required fields, types and controlled values match the mapping.
  • Collection membership counts match and related assets resolve.
  • Version records and current files match the scope.
  • An authorised user gets access and an unauthorised user is refused.
  • A content owner finds the selected assets by business fields and completes a review.
  • Real pages, players and feeds return the intended output, including after a replacement.
  • A test campaign link and a share download appear in Delivery Insights and Share analytics.
  • If agent work is included, its first run touches only the selected assets, stays within budget and reports its outcome.
  • Every exception is listed and resolved before the full run.
FileSpin Overview showing users, assets, collections, shares and total storage used
FileSpin Overview: compare asset and collection counts with the source inventory.
FileSpin AI Usage account ledger listing credit grants and debits with amount, running balance and operation source
AI Usage ledger: credits used by each agent run, for the budget check.

Frontify migration questions

Do our Frontify links keep working?
No. Frontify share and delivery links are served by your Frontify account, so the migration replaces each reference with a FileSpin URL using the ID manifest. Your pages then get the sizes and formats they need straight from the FileSpin link.
Can we keep working in Frontify during the migration?
Yes. Frontify’s change notifications, with modified dates, picks up new, changed and deleted assets, and the final sync brings them across before any route switches.
Do metadata and collections come across?
Yes. Tags, custom metadata values, rights and availability dates, related assets and collection membership are exported through Frontify’s API and mapped to your FileSpin schemas and collections, without duplicating files. The mapping is checked on a sample before the full transfer.
Do we need to run the migration ourselves?
No. In a managed migration, the FileSpin team carries out the transfer. In an assisted migration, we provide the tools and your technical team runs it. Either way, you provide API access with permission to download the originals.

5. Cut over

1. Set the switch-over
Agree when FileSpin becomes the system of record and how new uploads and replacements are handled.
2. Final sync
Pick up the last changes through the source’s change mechanism or a refreshed inventory, import them and reconcile counts.
3. Switch one route first
Move a selected collection or application route to FileSpin, then test public output and protected access.
4. Expand and retire
Keep the source available through the recovery window, with a rollback for each route, then expand and retire it.

6. Sign off the result

  • Every in-scope source file has a destination ID or an accepted exception.
  • Required metadata, relationships, versions and access controls pass the agreed checks.
  • Applications use the intended delivery route and updates appear correctly.
  • The exception report, ownership map and recovery procedure are handed over.
Reconciliation report for four synthetic Frontify assets: source IDs beside FileSpin asset IDs, file, metadata and collection checks, and one exception where a market option was mapped to the agreed locale
Reconciliation report with synthetic source records: one row per source asset, its FileSpin ID and checks, and the exception resolved before sign‑off.

Plan your Frontify migration with FileSpin. Tell us the size of your library, the history you need and the systems it feeds, and we’ll scope an assisted or managed migration with you.