How Creative Force Works

A content creation workflow with Creative Force

Ready. Set. Go.

Avatar_Catherine_Gibbs
Studio Manager
Define Your Workflows
This dictates the automatic flow of assets, requirements, stakeholders, and more.
Avatar_Catherine_Gibbs
Studio manager
Create Job
Ingesting product data automatically triggers the appropriate workflows, including required production types, style guides, post-production vendors, and delivery destinations.
Avatar_Catherine_Gibbs Avatar_Nicki_Brown Avatar_Helen_Pinot_McClintock
Planning team
Plan Your Production Calendar
While you work through your pre-production steps, you can schedule, organize, and plan production on a unified calendar. Then, once your teams are on-site, you can assign teams and monitor progress in real-time.
Alerts notify you in case of double bookings.
Avatar_Camille_Sonderland
Sample Manager
Sample Check-In
Scan barcodes on your samples to check them in and print new barcodes, as needed. Samples can be checked in to any number of locations, sub-locations, or containers.
Alerts notify you of duplicate samples or missing data.
Avatar_Helen_Pinot_McClintock
Stylist
Styling
Your stylist will scan samples and see styling requirements, outfits, reference images, and shot lists.
Reference Images
Avatar_Robert_Manic Avatar_Camille_Sonderland Avatar_Nicki_Brown Avatar_Helen_Pinot_McClintock Avatar_Laurent_Fenoche
Team on set
Photography
Directly integrated with Capture One, Creative Force makes sure no sample leaves set until all creative requirements are met.
Avoiding Incomplete Sets
Files are automatically named, tagged, and distributed.
Avatar_Timothy_Cornell-1
Copywriter
Copywriting
Begin your text-based asset production in parallel with visual assets, all within the same platform.
Avatar_Claire_Bennett Avatar_Zi_Lieu
Art director and stakeholders
Final Selection and Review
Art directors or other stakeholders make their final selects and add mark-ups and instructions for post-production. All in the cloud, accessible from anywhere in real-time.
Assets automatically go to post, as defined by the workflow.
External Post Production
Post-Production Vendor
External Post-Production
Your post-production vendor automatically receives not just the image files, but also color references, visual mark-ups, and any instructions given by your team.
Color References
Integrations
Data insights on vendor performance let you continually optimize production.
Avatar_Thomas_Teiton
Post-Production Supervisor
External Post QC
Approve or reject the work performed by your external post-production vendor and add comments for your internal team.
Auto QA and Alerts
Avatar_Tali_Jaffot
Retoucher
Internal Post-Production
Color references, visual mark-ups, and detailed instructions are embedded with each file and displayed right in Photoshop.
Color References
Tasks can be assigned to specific team members.
Avatar_Thomas_Teiton
Post-Production Supervisor
Internal Post QC
QC steps can be added or removed according to your needs and you always have a complete, visual version history available.
Auto QA and Alerts
Final Delivery 2
Final Delivery
All your assets are automatically named according to your specifications, enriched with metadata that can be used by your downstream services, and finally delivered to your DAM, FTP, or wherever you want it to go.
Chart
Insights & Reporting
Review and optimize your content production process with built-in insights into every aspect of your platform
Production Workflow Completed 🎉
Accurate, creative, and consistent assets – delivered much faster and without costly, time-consuming errors or manual tasks.
Digital Style Guides

Style guides in Creative Force are more than creative references for your production teams. They ensure consistency and enforce creative direction by intelligently managing photography requirements, post requirements, and automated file naming – and they appear automatically wherever they're needed throughout production.

Category Triggers
Category Triggers

Set category triggers for each of your style guides. Whenever product data with a matching category is imported, that product will automatically be assigned the appropriate style guide and workflow.

Production Types
Production Types
Easily select the required production types for each workflow, including video and automated imagery.
Production Steps

Automation will do the heavy lifting, while you're in complete control of the production process. Which production types are needed for a certain kind of product? Will the photographer be doing the selects? Should assets go through external or internal post-production? Perhaps both? How many rounds of review should be done and by whom? You can be certain that each product goes through exactly the steps you want it to.

File Naming
File Naming
File naming is a notoriously error-prone and time-consuming task in studio production. In Creative Force it's completely automated. Here, your style guides dictate how each type of asset is automatically named using product data, event data, studio data, free text, and more.
Asset Delivery
A multitude of integrations with industry-leading partners makes file delivery a breeze. In your workflow setup, you'll specify the delivery matrix for each product or even each production type, so you're always certain the right assets end up at the right destination – without your team ever manually handling a file.
Import Data
Import Data
Creating a job in Creative Force is as easy as uploading a spreadsheet (or CSV or JSON file, for that matter). Your product data is automatically mapped to product categories in Creative Force, triggering the right style guides and workflows.
Create From Scan
Whether it's a box of samples that – somewhat unexpectedly, perhaps – showed up at the studio or a list of barcodes, you can create a job in Creative Force simply by scanning the products you want to include.
Data Sources
Upload product data once – or connect a data source, which Creative Force will then automatically check for updates. You can connect a local file, a feed URL, or a file hosted on FTP, Amazon S3, or Google Cloud.
Add New Session
Add New Session
New sessions are added with a simple button click. Add as much or as little information as needed, with the flexibility to update it at any time, even during the session itself!
Assign Production Tasks
Assign Production Tasks
Assign already-created production tasks – from photography to video and editorial – to your session. These are updated automatically as the session progresses, flowing from planning into your workflow without any latency
Monitor via Session Card
Monitor via Session Card
Sessions are all easily viewable and monitored via session card, making key information available to studio managers and other teams. Progress and sample availability are also updated instantaneously
Load Planned Sessions & Shot Lists
Load Planned Sessions & Shot Lists
When your on-set teams log in, they’ll be prompted to confirm their assigned session. Creative Force will also automatically load the planned shot list, syncing to any last-minute changes, with shooting then tracked in real-time
Scan Barcodes
Scan Barcodes
Use a handheld barcode scanner or smartphone to check in samples. The system logs time stamp, location, user, and sample data. You even have the option to review and update the associated data and can set up as simple or elaborate check-in flows as needed to always know exactly where your samples are – and where they are needed.
Print Sample Label
Print Sample Label
If the received samples did not come with barcodes, or if you prefer to use barcodes specific to Creative Force and the job at hand, you have the option to print barcodes, as you're checking in the samples. You can also print barcodes for containers, such as sample racks, boxes, bins, shelves, or however else you might store and move samples in your studios.
Assign Locations and Sub-Locations
Assign Locations and Sub-Locations
Location and sub-locations in Creative Force enable teams to track the flow of products as they move from set to set around your studio, or to and from your warehouse. Get complete visibility into where a sample is at any point in the creative process.
Organize Samples in Containers
Organize Samples in Containers

Containers in Creative Force make the process of managing large groups of products much easier. Containers are a set of samples that have been grouped together and can be actioned in bulk.

Containers usually correspond to the physical containers used to store and transport samples in your studio, like boxes and clothing rails.

For example, you can move a container of products from one location to another by scanning the container label, rather than having to scan each individual sample in the box.

Configure Alerts
Configure Alerts
Creative Force has visual and audible alerts to make scanning samples easier. A standard tone confirms a successful action, whereas an alert tone notifies team members of an exception to investigate. 

You can choose to be made aware of any or all of the following exceptions.

Check-in alerts:
  • Already checked in
  • Already checked in (different sample size)
  • The product is in production with the ability to define specific workflow steps
  • Sample has defined property value
Check-out alerts:
  • Product is still in production
Styling Wardrobe
The styling wardrobe includes garments the studio keeps on hand for a season or longer to complete an outfit when a sellable product may not be available or fit the shoot aesthetic.

By maintaining a styling wardrobe in Creative Force, teams always have a record of the items in the image. Users can also pre-style a complete outfit and load it into the platform, giving prep teams a way to make sure the product and wardrobe are on the right set at the right time.
Outfits
Outfits
Build and track outfits for on-model photography with Creative Force.

Outfits are built around a primary product, with other samples in the outfit recorded as secondary products for the asset. This information is stored in Creative Force and can be used in metadata fields, asset naming, and in generating reports.
Capture One Integration
Capture One Integration

Creative Force has a seamless integration with Capture One, which offers the fastest tethered shooting in the industry.

Features:

  • Session Controls: Enforce file naming conventions for every shot.
  • Backup Assistant: Ensure files are retrievable with accurate file naming and secure data backup.
  • Reversible Crop: Transfer full-size image files, including cropped pixels, with “undo” abilities.
Stream Photography (Coming soon)
Stream Photography (Coming soon)

Stream photography allows images to flow effortlessly from the studio set into Creative Force production in real-time. 

  • Minimize mouse clicks
  • Enhanced barcode scanning
  • Auto-maps files to style guides
  • Auto-transfers files to production
Automatic File Handling

No more missing images or misnamed files.

Creative Force is powered by Style Guides and Workflows which route assets through the production process. Assets are automatically advanced to the next step as tasks are completed, while the status of the product is updated in real-time.

Creative assets are automatically uploaded and stored in the cloud, so your team members won’t have to worry about renaming or transferring files during production. In addition, a copy of the asset is saved at each step of production and review.

Once selects have been made, retouching is done, and final assets have been generated, Creative Force automatically names files according to your preset naming conventions and delivers them to their final destination.

Grid Layout
Grid Layout
Fully-customizable and tied to your style guides, content sections can be added, removed, or adjusted to meet your specific needs
Set Content Guidelines
Set Content Guidelines
Add text-based content to any new or current workflow, then pre-select content parameters such as length, color options, iconography, and much more
Enrich via AI
 Enrich via AI
Generate starting product descriptions based on simple prompts via dreem.ai integration, then adjust and iterate to get your best end result
Track & Improve
Track & Improve
Visually monitor your Copywriting output via detailed reports:
  • Production tracks throughput across tasks and team members
  • Cycle Time breaks down how long tasks are taking, quantifying overall efficiency
  • Edit Reasons provides insight into common feedback patterns across all written content
Final Selection Process

Creative Force handles your final selection and review processes within the platform, without the need for disconnected emails and separate project management platforms. 

There are no copies, no low-resolution proofs, and no cloud-based folders full of non-selects to dig through. Your team is always working with assets and sample records in a way that allows them to quickly reference a product’s journey from check-in to final delivery.

Creative Force makes it easy for key stakeholders to select images, provide in-context visual feedback to your retouch teams, and approve final assets with the click of a button.

Markups and Instructions
Markups and Instructions
Creative Force’s selects process allows reviewers to provide notes and image markups explaining rejections to the photo team or provide instructions for retouching. 

The relevant team is automatically notified by Creative Force that more work may be required for that product.
Production DAM
Scale your production with cloud-based storage that syncs assets across multiple studio locations and enables access from anywhere.

Images and videos are immediately visible as they’re captured, so you can search, view, and review assets in real-time. A visual version history provides transparency and enables optimization throughout production.

Create and save your preferred views based on advanced and accurate filtering, and easily print contact sheets from specific selects or full search results.
Share for External Review
Share for External Review
Simplify the review process for internal teams and external stakeholders by consolidating all feedback in a single platform.

Invite anyone with an email address, from an agency to the CMO, to review and approve assets before delivery. No Creative Force account is required.
Connect Vendors
Integrating external vendors into your Creative Force workflow is simple. If your preferred post-production vendor can accept images via FTP, then they can be set to receive images from Creative Force. Some post-production vendors like Pixelz can be set up with API integrations.

You can set up as many vendors as you like, and setting up multiple vendors allows you to use the right vendor for each job. For example, if you prefer one vendor for on-model work and another vendor for tabletop work, simply set up those respective workflows to route to your preferred vendor.
Bypass External QC
Workflow settings in post-production allow admins to set the workflow to bypass external post-production QC in cases where it is not required.
Photoshop Integration
Photoshop Integration
Creative Force’s native Photoshop extension enables retouchers to manage images directly in Photoshop. All the files and information they need are loaded into Photoshop automatically, increasing productivity and reducing errors.

When a retoucher picks a task in Creative Force, the extension loads all the images for that task in Photoshop. The retoucher will also see retouching instructions and output requirements in a side panel. 

Creative Force automatically checks image requirements and warns the retoucher if they are not met.
Dashboard View
Review automatically-captured data from across all stages of production, with the ability to drill-down into any section of a report with one click
Schedule Delivery
Schedule Delivery
Set frequency, location, format, and granularity of reports for team members and cross-functional stakeholders so they’re always up to date on the latest production data 
Trusted by the world’s top brands
Columbia Sportswear
Bestseller
Tommy Bahama
Nuuly
Lulus
Aldo
Boohoo
Nasty Gal
Otto
Orendt Studios
Breuninger
PrettyLittleThing
Karen Millen
Debenhams
Scotch & Soda
The Line Studios
Zalora
Pixelmoda
Subdial
The Sting
Just Brands
PVH Corp
Burton Snowboards
J. Lindeberg
David Yurman
Hogarth
I Heart Studios

Why top studios pick Creative Force

High-volume content production comes with its fair share of obstacles. Only Creative Force eliminates key complexities at every stage from vendor request to asset delivery.

automated file handling

Eliminate time-wasting manual tasks

Goodbye repetitive, error-prone tasks and outdated spreadsheets. Hello automated file handling and workflows.

manage-production

Manage production, not problems

Extensive integrations and intuitive collaboration tools let your team focus their creativity where it belongs.

collaboration

Better content online, faster

An intelligent and collaborative production flow dramatically reduces your studio lead time.

software

Works with your existing software

Our intuitive UI merges seamlessly with the software you're already using – like Capture One, Photoshop, and Slack.

scale

Built to handle production at scale

A thousand products or a million – with Creative Force you scale your throughput, not the complexity.

reporting

Make data-driven decisions

Data is captured throughout production and formatted into actionable reports to improve studio operations.

Ready to see Creative
Force in action?

Talk with one of our experts to learn how you can empower your creative teams to work faster, deliver superior results, and simplify creative content production.

  • Consistently deliver higher-quality content on time and on budget
  • Reduce time-to-market
  • Increase operational visibility

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Creative Force, and how does it work?

Creative Force is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that helps brands and retailers accelerate their eCommerce creative content production. It simplifies the process of planning and producing eCommerce content, improves cross-team collaboration, and ensures more transparency across every stage of production. With Creative Force, companies always deliver the highest-quality content on time and on budget.

Built on “flow production” principles, our platform utilizes intelligent automation to streamline workflows, resulting in consistent and repeatable processes. Creative Force also integrates seamlessly with existing systems, like Capture One and Adobe Creative Cloud, and features an intuitive interface.

How does flow production work?

In traditional batch production, all assets go through a single production stage before moving to the next step. This approach can lead to bottlenecks and delays. 

Creative Force simplifies content production through a continuous process called "flow production." This process involves moving individual assets through various production stages as soon as they are ready, resulting in an efficient and scalable content production workflow.

Who can use Creative Force?

Creative Force is for brands, retailers, and commercial studios with in-house or external teams that produce and manage eCommerce content, such as photography, video, and copywriting.

Creative Force provides intelligent workflow automation, enhanced production visibility, and a range of collaboration tools that benefit all teams, including studio intake, styling, capture, post-production, marketing, and more. By choosing Creative Force, you can scale your content production, gain better operational visibility, and speed up time-to-market.

Does Creative Force integrate with my existing systems?

Yes, Creative Force is designed to seamlessly integrate with your existing tech stack. We have industry-leading integrations with Capture One, Adobe Creative Cloud, and more.

The platform’s API-first architecture enables our customers to seamlessly connect with Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems, Product Information Management (PIM) systems, cloud storage platforms, and any other required destinations. 

Creative Force also makes it simple to work with external post-production vendors via FTP or API integrations.

Finally, our VPI Management extension makes it simple to work with product vendors to request, receive, and manage vendor-provided images (VPI).

What kind of support can I expect?

We understand that implementing a new system can be challenging, but our team is here to make the process as seamless and stress-free as possible. Our onboarding team will work closely with your team to set up Creative Force and empower your future success.

After onboarding, your Customer Success Manager will check in regularly. Our customer support team is also available 24/7 to help you with any product questions or concerns. In addition, we offer self-paced learning resources such as academy courses, support center documentation, and other materials to help you along your Creative Force journey.

On top of best-in-class customer support, we continuously update our platform with new features and improvements. Our biweekly releases can be easily installed without interrupting your work.

Connect your existing tech stack