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Canto
A modern DAM platform with everything you need.
Last updated: October 2024
Canto is the single source of truth for all your digital assets. Our platform centralizes and organizes content, ensuring teams have quick, consistent access to what they need. Its AI Visual Search uses natural language for instant discovery, making asset retrieval effortless. Canto unlocks the full value of your assets, driving higher ROI and faster time to market for global brands.
Typical customers
Platforms supported
Support options
Training options
Value for money
4.4
/5
683
Starting from
No pricing info
Value for money contenders
Functionality
4.3
/5
683
Total features
61
5 categories
Functionality contenders
Overall Rating
4.5
/5
683
Positive reviews
95
%
387
265
28
1
2
Overall rating contenders
Pamela M.
Project Manager- Design & Construction
Design, 51-200 employees
Review source
Transcript
Pamela M.: Hi, I'm Pamela. I'm a project manager, and I give Canto a five out of five. For more reviews like this, click below. Before we started using Canto, we weren't really using a specific program. We were using our server backup. So basically everything just connected to our server that was just ran by our IT department. We had all that, but we weren't able to share it the way we wanted to and collectively put on it. It wasn't probably as protected as we'd like. I know that we wanted something that was going to give more protection to everything that was uploaded, things that we could upload and look at where multiple people could put on it. So before, that was a good place to store everything, but it just wasn't working in all the ways we wanted it to work for our company. We chose Canto after looking at quite a few different software programs. Some of them not as extensively as others, but we wound up going with it. One, it had a lot of wonderful reviews from other clients, other companies that are using it, had been using it. And they had like great things to say about what it had done for their company. It has wonderful firewalls and security points, which was a big factor for our owners, keeping things safe. We love the fact that people could upload from all different departments of our company that we can upload mobilely because pictures are a big deal and they happen wherever you are, whenever it happens. So you need to be able to put them on there in real time and not always have to wait, because then sometimes other things happen, other things come up and you forget, and then they're just sitting there and then the photo's there, but never gets to where it needs to be to actually make an impact. So we like that point. We loved the point that we could put any type of software that we all use onto this program that anybody could see it. So for us in the design and construction field, being able to use CAD and being able to put an actual CAD plan or a drawing onto there and have someone who we send it to can actually view it without actually having to download CAD was a beautiful thing for us. And that was a huge deal where we could actually see actual drawings done in CAD, along with photographs and put them together and be able to send them to somebody. So those were some of the main reasons why we really wound up choosing Canto and going forward with them. I would say as far as getting going with Canto, it was an easy enough process getting it downloaded. I just think it takes some learning though. I will say that it's complex and it has a lot of things about it. So I think to properly use it, you have to know all those things. So I will say that when we brought it in, we did quite a bit of training. But I think if you've made a decision to bring in the software that's going to ultimately help your company quite a bit, it's worth the time and money to train the people on how to use it properly. That way it's benefiting us to the best of our advantage. So I will say that you definitely need some training. I'm not saying you couldn't just pop on it and navigate through, but it definitely wouldn't be as effective, I don't think. So it was definitely, I think people need to be trained on it. We had great backup help from Canto who were able to answer questions, help us with things we needed help with and guidance. But we basically, they taught someone here so that they could then relay that to us. So we did quite a few classes trying to learn that, to show us how to best use that, probably the best features for each of our departments. So I think as long as you're doing that, and as long as you're getting that training, which you should be getting anyway on a software like this, that it's easy to implement. You have to make sure there's some training involved. I think that if your company is looking at a new software program and specifically looking at Canto, I think that just keep in mind that one, it is capable of doing so many amazing things. So make sure that you are looking into all those and you're really getting all of the details and the information about what it does. Because it really does do amazing things, but if you don't know what it does or how to properly use it's not going to be most beneficial to you or your company. So make sure you have those. Just know that to me and to our company, being able to put so many different kind of softwares together in one place for people to view, no matter what on a link is amazing. The amount of stuff it holds is amazing. So I think just keep in mind that there's going to be some training needed and that people need to get a good direction and a feel and really understand what they're doing. But moving on from there, it is smooth sailing, I think once you get everybody trained and it really is a fabulous program with great security.
Ben C.
Digital Marketing Manager
Entertainment, 51-200 employees
Review source
Transcript
Ben C.: Hi, my name is Ben. I'm a marketing manager and I give Canto a 5 out of 5 stars. For more reviews like this, click below. We had primarily been using Google Drives and local hard drives, even physical hard drives to manage our photo libraries. We had been trying to organize them into folders and structures where we could find content but found that that wasn't anywhere near as robust as what Canto offers for image management and tagging. We chose Canto because we... Oh, sorry, let me start that over. We chose Canto because the interface was very modern and easy to use. It makes it extremely easy to share photos and collections of photos or specific groupings with other people who don't then get access to the entire archive, which is extremely helpful. The tagging and organizational system within Canto is really robust. It's capable of handling a lot of different information or pieces of information assigned to your photos or to your files. I would say it was as easy as it could be. Their systems and processes and customer service were really helpful. That being said, when you're talking about organizing a system for your own content management, it requires some work upfront. You need to decide what tags you want to use, what tags you don't want to use, how you're going to describe and organize all of your structure of the content that you're putting into Canto. Nobody can do that for you so I would say it was a great onboarding experience and they were extremely helpful. Canto was a game-changer for our management of photos. As a marketing team, we handle a really high volume of a lot of different kinds of photos and we need to have access to... We need to be able to search for specific content really quickly. And so, it was hugely helpful in that sense. I would recommend that you put in a lot of the thought and work in the beginning though about what tags you're going to use. Is it going to be smiling or smile? Is it going to be happy or... I mean, whatever information you're going to assign to those photos, you need to develop a system or a plan to yourself. And then Canto can help make that happen, and it's very, quite capable of doing that. But if you don't develop that plan beforehand, it can get disorganized and out of hand, where you're tagging one photo is happy and one photo is smiling, where you should have chosen one. And so, making sure to do your planning before you jump in and start tagging and organizing your files is really important. But the product is quite capable.
Joseph M.
Performing Arts, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
Review source
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Right from the start, the user-friendly nature of the platform ensures that all users, whether trained in asset management and best-practices or not, will be able to explore our content in a dynamic fashion, with very little training necessary to get their bearings. From a seamless upload/download process to an intuitive tagging and keyword system, Canto allows its Administrators full control during the process, including the option to customize additional metadata facets as needed, offering you and your team a curated experience. Canto has revolutionized the way that we store, tag, organize, and share our digital assets while at the same time securing their future integrity. The customer care has been excellent, and the Canto team is committed and engaged at all times.
Canto's user-friendly interface allows for an easy, intuitive platform to host, organize, and share all of our digital assets. Having something that is so intuitive puts all team members at ease, and increases their implementation of the platform in their day-to-day work.
Canto divides its users between three levels: Admin, Collaborator, and Consumer. There is very little that you can't do in Canto. A fully customizable experience for Administrative and Collaborator level users means a great deal of your DAM needs are met. I do feel that the Consumer-level experience can be expanded further, for example: with regards to facial recognition, a Consumer-level user is more than capable of identifying faces within a photograph, but the current constraints of the consumer level does not allow for this level of data input. Overall, this dynamic spark of the Canto platform is sometimes lost at the Consumer-level.
Thanks for your review! We appreciate the kind words. We're happy to know that Canto allows your team to be at ease while working with digital assets!
Kayla R.
Paper & Forest Products, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used weekly for less than 6 months
Review source
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The sales process was a pleasure to go through and I would rate Canto number 1 in creating an enjoyable, no pressure experience. We have other vendors that I would be happy to continue my working career never speaking again to due to their practices and lack of overall respect.
The product itself is straight forward, easy to use and fairly customizable. The tagging system works great, file storage is good (once you identify what you would like), upload links are beneficial and the portals are key for deliverable.
The configuration of SSO does not allow enough control for the administrators of this tool, it also caused quirks for administrative accounts, where one experience via login vs via SSO was different for the admins; and the system didn't recognize licenses as being used when configured via SSO. Overall, we had to disable it for the time being which is a big loss/hit to our change management process. The Style Guide tool is a great idea, but needs some work and should not be used as a deciding factor in the tool. It needs some more work and analysis on managing font, including details on using logos, etc. to be a proper style guide. It works well for corporate colours, and that's about it. Lastly, the integration process needs some evaluation on the Canto side. It is lengthy, the "integration specialists" cannot answer questions that we can figure out ourselves with ease, and it doesn't seem like there is much support or guidance. In all honesty, we could do it ourselves must faster.
Thanks for your feedback on the onboarding process, Kayla. We're always working to improve our processes and this information helps us out so much!
Neil C.
Printing, 51-200 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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It’s fairly intuitive but there are shortcomings. We had a half day online training but there is virtually no backup support. My emails remain unanswered and nobody answered the phone on the occasions that I rang.
It’s easy to use and fairly intuitive. The filter system is very powerful. Love the portals.
The choice of ‘views’ you get is limited. Some of our products are pens and rulers and the ‘list view’ thumbnails are too small to see what the product looks like. The other views show only cropped images of the product if it is beyond a certain size, making it impossible to see what the product actually is. It also has numerous bugs, such as not being able to display a greyscale image if it is saved as a .psd. Also, another wonderful fact of Canto is its portals, and we have a need to set up a great deal for our distributors. However, each one has to be created manually even though 95% of them are all the same. There should be a template facility to copy.
Shannon K.
Religious Institutions, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Several features have really simplified my photo management role. Metadata is customizable to your needs - and while it takes careful thought initially, when set up is easy to apply. 'Upload links' allow outside people to add photography directly to the system in a controlled manner - this has significantly helped with timeliness and ease of receiving photography. I love the branding portal, and the versioning capabilities. I also love the Facial Recognition feature - no more tagging the same people over and over. The company consistently improves the software and innovates - releasing frequent feature updates.
While it is fairly intuitive, there are aspects (of the portals for example) that need to be explained to a new user - this can be time consuming. I have been frustrated that new features are sometimes expensive paid add-ons, even when they were discussed as 'coming' during the research process (features I thought would be included with upcoming releases). As much as possible, try to envision future features you will need and consider that in your contract discussions.
Romnee P.
Marketing and Advertising, 201-500 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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We've had a good experience with Canto. The best part is the company listens to its users and creates new features based off of the input. I have been responsible for a number of features in recent releases.
Canto is very well designed and easy to navigate.
Everything can always be cheaper, but Canto prices are competitive.
Canto has the following pricing plans:
Free Trial: Available
Q. Who are the typical users of Canto?
Canto has the following typical customers:
Large Enterprises, Mid Size Business, Non Profit, Public Administrations, Small Business
Q. What languages does Canto support?
Canto supports the following languages:
German, Chinese (Simplified), Spanish, Japanese, English, Dutch, Czech, French, Italian, Korean, Russian, Swedish, Thai
Q. Does Canto support mobile devices?
Canto supports the following devices:
iPad, iPhone
Q. Does Canto offer an API?
Yes, Canto has an API available for use.
Q. What other apps does Canto integrate with?
Canto integrates with the following applications:
Microsoft SharePoint, LinkedIn Jobs, Drupal, Microsoft Outlook, Dropbox Business, Adobe Premiere Pro, Microsoft PowerPoint, Zapier, Pinterest, Adobe Lightroom, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, Microsoft Teams, Egnyte, WordPress, Twitter/X, Adobe InDesign, Slack, TYPO3, Canva, Adobe Photoshop, Vimeo, Adobe Illustrator, Meta for Business, monday.com, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Workfront, Mailchimp, Wrike, Greenfly, Figma, YouTube, Marq, Microsoft Word, Google Chrome
Q. What level of support does Canto offer?
Canto offers the following support options:
FAQs/Forum, Phone Support, Email/Help Desk, 24/7 (Live rep), Chat, Knowledge Base