Frequently Asked Questions

The following list of frequently asked questions and answers is aimed at answering some of the most common business questions that our customers have already asked.

Can we use IMS with our company intranet or web site? eg. URL and look and feel.

Yes, and we are very happy to help with this sort of integration work. Your IMS site can be hosted with an address of your choosing (including under your own domain name). The product is customisable, including look and feel, colour scheme, logo graphics and layout and custom coding options. We offer the ability to connect IMS into existing sites. HTML and CSS pages can be edited: they are XHTML and CSS compliant.

Having a professionally designed website can make your site stand out from the rest. That is why Third Light work in partnership with Siftware Ltd, designing and developing professional websites to achieve the image you want. They also fully integrate the IMS software onto your site: if you are looking for complete integration of your web site and IMS, this is the right option for you. Please click here for more details and prices.

How long does it take to set up?

IMS Corporate Appliances normally take 10 days to deliver; we will agree a firm delivery schedule with you before you order. Virtual Appliances take 1 day to deliver. IMS subscription sites can be activated in a few hours, but we encourage all new customers to take a 30 day trial and consider design aspects before launching.

How do I upload files to the system?

You can upload files to IMS directly from your browser. IMS includes a special Java tool which will allow you to easily upload files directly from your Mac, PC, camera, CD or DVD drives in one easy step.

We also provide a drag-and-drop upload tool, which makes uploading to IMS very easy, as well as plugins for popular software such as Adobe Creative Suite, Apple Aperture and Adobe Lightroom.

Lastly, IMS supports FTP, so that you can use industry-standard tools and other platforms, such as Linux. FTP can handle large files such as high-res images or videos. If you choose to use FTP, we recommend GlobalScape CuteFTP. A free alternative is SmartFTP, and on Mac CyberDuck.

Can you recommend a good tool for embedding meta data in lots of images?

You can perform these tasks within IMS. It includes a batch editing tool for IPTC and XMP, and the ability to create your own meta data fields if you wish.

If you require desktop-based keywording, Photoshop is also able to embed metadata, including IPTC and XMP.

Is there a way to upload pictures from a mobile device directly to IMS?

You could use a 3G data card with a laptop, and upload from that (wherever you have coverage in the world, or perhaps a Wi-Fi hotspot). You can also upload data directly from PDAs, some of which are equipped with the latest wireless features that mean seamless communication from a wireless camera card. One such product is available from Idruna.com. This product works with IMS.

My organisation has a large stock of existing media. Can you import them for us?

Certainly. We can accept files on removable hard drives and in any suitable format. You may wish to prepare some folders before this process begins, but we will complete your bulk uploads for you as thoughtfully as possible, including establishing your initial library layout if you wish.

I work in the IT department. Can you tell me more about the IMS installation and software?

By default your IMS is a black box: you don't have to do anything involved if you just want to use our software. However, if you would like to know more about the IMS installation, we are happy to share some more details.

IMS is built upon Debian Linux, which has a reputation for great reliability and excellent quality control. Using Debian means we can offer a very wide range of hardware support, too - effectively, anything that is available in the latest kernel release.

To install IMS, you simply need to download a bootable CD-ROM image and burn it to a CDR (or boot from it on your VM host). This is used to create your server, and an interactive installer helps you take care of the disk partitioning and network setup. We provide a very detailed guide including screengrabs of every step, so you do not need to be familiar with Linux as such.

IMS uses a MySQL database and Apache. For advanced users, you can make full use of your Linux installation by running other applications as well as IMS (for example, a Windows file share is often able to use the same storage as the image library). The entire Third Light application is in just one sub-directory, while its main file store - a deep set of folders referred to by the database - is in another partition. The main store can be NAS or SAN storage if you have it, and it's designed to be backed up easily.

What types of security and safeguards do you use to protect our data online?

Our responsibility is to protect our customers' data, personal information and provide as close to 100% uptime as we can. We operate servers in a physically secure, protected environment including argon gas fire extinguishers and card-keyed access controls. We have four separate bandwidth providers and operate our servers in clusters, all designed to eliminate single points of failure. Our internet services are double-firewalled, and data is backed up once on site and once off site. This means we actually replicate all our customers' media to physically separate locations each day as part of our standard service.

In terms of payment security, we accept and manage card charges via a 128 bit encrypted link to Streamline and American Express, and do not store card details on site. Our card payment systems are PCI DSS compliant and subject to continuous audit. We also operate an audit log which can show how any aspect of the system has been used for up to 12 months.