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Reuse Media Across Projects (Asset Libraries)

Learn how to speed up the video creation process and maintain consistency across your videos with Camtasia asset libraries.

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In this tutorial:

A library stores assets for reuse across Camtasia projects to create consistent looking videos. Download or save intros, animated backgrounds, icons, lower thirds, music, groups, annotations, and more to a library.
 
Camtasia offers two types of libraries:
Library dropdown menu

  • Camtasia Libraries: The library installed with Camtasia contains customizable, royalty-free assets, such as music, titles, and dynamic backgrounds, to add a professional look to your video. See Customize Library Assets.
  • User Libraries: Create custom libraries to organize assets based on a project, video type, asset type, or a company’s video guidelines.

To add an asset to your video, drag the asset to the desired location on the timeline, or right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) the asset in the library and select Add to Timeline at Playhead.

Organize Assets

Create a Custom Library
  1. Click the Library tab.
  2. In the Library dropdown, select Create New Library.
  3. Enter a name.
  4. Select an option in the Start from dropdown to create a blank library or create a copy of an existing library.
  5. Click Create.
Add an Asset or Group to a LibraryAsset or Group from Timeline:
  1. Right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) an asset or group on the timeline and select Add to Library.
  2. Enter a name.

    3. Tip: Best practices when naming assets

    • Keep the name short.
    • Avoid generic names such as “callout1”. Use descriptive cues such as video purpose, asset type, or color in the name. For example, “blue-speakerintro”.
  3. Select a library option from the Library dropdown.
  4. Select Use Canvas Size to have the asset or group automatically resize based on the canvas dimensions or Use Visible Size to keep the original dimensions.
  5. Click OK.

Selection from Timeline:
  1. Click and drag the green and red handles to select an area on the timeline.
    Timeline selection
  2. Right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) the selection and select Add Timeline Selection to Library.
  3. Enter a name.
  4. Select a library.
  5. Select Use Canvas Size to have the asset or group automatically resize based on the canvas dimensions or Use Visible Size to keep the original dimensions.
  6. Click OK.

From Computer:
  1. Click the Library tab.
  2. Click the + icon and select Import Media to Library or drag the desired assets into a library or folder.
    Import assets button

From Media Bin:
  1. Click the Media tab.
  2. Right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) an asset in the Media Bin and select Add to Library.
  3. Select a library from the Add to dropdown.
  4. Click Import.

From TechSmith Assets Store:
Click the Download More Assets link. See Download & Install TechSmith Assets.
Add a Folder to the Library
  1. Click the Library tab.
  2. Select a library from the Library dropdown.
  3. Right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) within the library and select New Folder.
  4. Enter a folder name.
  5. Press the Enter key.
Move Assets or Folders within a Library
  1. Click the Library tab.
  2. Select a library from the Library dropdown.
  3. Click to select the asset or folder. Ctrl+click (Windows) or Command+click (Mac) to select multiple assets or folders.
  4. Drag the selection to the desired folder or location in the current library.

Note: To nest a folder in a library, click and drag the folder onto another folder.

Move Assets or Folders to Another Library
  1. Click the Library tab.
  2. Select a library from the Library dropdown.
  3. Click to select the asset or folder. Ctrl+click (Windows) or Command+click (Mac) to select multiple assets or folders.
  4. Right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) the selection and select Move To > the desired library.
Delete an Asset or FolderRight-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) the asset or folder in the library and select Delete.

Find Assets

Search within a library or across all libraries to find assets based on file names.

Search for Assets in Library
  1. Click the Library tab.
  2. Click the Search icon and select the scope of the search: Search All Libraries, Search Current Library, or select a recent search term from the dropdown.
    Library search dropdown
  3. Type in the Search Library field.
  4. The search results appear. To sort the search results, right-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) a result and select Sort By.
Download More AssetsTo download additional assets, click the Download more assets link at the bottom of the library. See Download & Install TechSmith Assets.
Sort AssetsRight-click (Windows) or Control+click (Mac) a folder or asset in the library and select Sort By. You can sort by name, type, date added, date used, or reverse the order.
Preview an AssetDouble-click the asset in the library. A preview window appears.

Share a Library

To maintain a consistent video style across a project or organization, share your library assets with others.

Create a Camtasia Package (.campackage) to back up and share your Camtasia resources such as templates, shortcuts, libraries, themes, and presets to another user or computer. See Package & Share Camtasia Resources.

Note: If you upgrade from Camtasia version 2019 or newer, user libraries are automatically imported into the latest version of Camtasia during installation. To import libraries from previous versions, complete the steps below.

Export a Library
  1. Click the Library tab.
  2. Select a library from the Library dropdown.
  3. Select Library dropdown > Manage Library > Export Library.
  4. Click Save to save the .libzip file.
  5. Send the .libzip file to others to import into Camtasia.
Import a Library
  1. Select File > Library > Import Zipped Library.
  2. Locate the .libzip file to import and click Open.
  3. Choose to create a new library or add the assets to an existing library and click Import.
Camtasia adds the assets to the selected library.

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