---
name: asset-delivery-workflow-builder
description: "Builds an end-to-end asset delivery workflow for DTC creative production — mapping the handoff from shoot completion through retouching queues, naming conventions, QA gates, and final site upload, with roles, SLAs, and file-routing rules for each stage. Use when standardizing photo/video asset delivery, fixing a broken post-production handoff, onboarding a retouching vendor, or setting up naming and folder conventions for a new product launch or seasonal shoot."
argument-hint: "[shoot-type] [channels]"
allowed-tools: ["Read"]
---

# Asset Delivery Workflow Builder

## Purpose
Produce a complete, stage-by-stage asset delivery workflow that moves creative from the moment a shoot wraps through retouching, review, and final placement on the site and in each downstream channel — with named owners, file naming conventions, folder structures, and SLA targets at every handoff. Eliminates the "where's the final file?" chaos and the version-control mistakes that cost DTC teams launch dates.

## When to Use
Invoke this skill when the user asks to:
- Build or document an asset handoff workflow from shoot to site upload
- Fix a broken or slow post-production process where files get lost or delayed
- Create a file naming convention and folder structure for product/lifestyle assets
- Set up a retouching queue and vendor handoff process
- Standardize asset delivery for a new product launch or seasonal shoot
- Onboard a new retoucher, producer, or agency into an existing pipeline

## Inputs Required
Before starting, collect:
- **Shoot type(s)**: Product/PDP, lifestyle, model/on-figure, video, UGC, or a mix
- **Destination channels**: Where assets end up — Shopify/site PDP, Amazon, Meta/paid social, email, retail partners
- **Team & vendors**: Who's involved — in-house producer, photographer, retoucher(s), copy/merch, dev/site uploader; internal vs. outsourced retouching
- **Volume & cadence**: Approximate SKUs or assets per shoot and how often shoots happen
- **Tooling**: Current stack — DAM, Dropbox/Drive, project tool (Asana/Monday/Airtable), PIM, retouching platform
- **Target turnaround**: Deadline from shoot wrap to live on site (e.g., 5 business days)
- **Existing pain points**: What breaks today — lost files, wrong versions, missed SKUs, slow retouching, upload errors

If tooling or SLA targets are missing, assume a Dropbox + Airtable + Shopify stack with a 5-business-day shoot-to-live target and note the assumption.

## Instructions

### Step 1: Define the Workflow Stages and Handoffs
Map the full pipeline as discrete stages, each with a single accountable owner and a clear "done" definition that triggers the next stage. Use these seven core stages, adjusting for the team's actual roles:

1. **Shoot Wrap & Capture Confirmation** — every planned shot/SKU accounted for against the shot list before crew leaves
2. **Ingest & Backup** — raw files offloaded, backed up (3-2-1 rule), and logged
3. **Selects & Edit Approval** — best frames chosen and approved before retouching begins
4. **Retouching Queue** — approved selects routed to retouchers with specs
5. **Review & QA** — retouched files checked against the retouching brief and brand standards
6. **Export & Naming** — final files rendered per channel specs and named to convention
7. **Site Upload & Channel Distribution** — assets placed on PDPs and pushed to each channel, then verified live

For each stage produce: **Owner**, **Trigger (what starts it)**, **Action**, **Deliverable**, **Handoff to next stage**, and **SLA**.

### Step 2: Design the File Naming Convention
Create one convention that survives being sorted, searched, and machine-read. Build it from ordered, delimited components:

`[brand]-[sku]-[shot-type]-[sequence]-[status]-[version]`

- **Brand code**: 2–4 char lowercase abbreviation
- **SKU / product ID**: exact system SKU, never a nickname
- **Shot type**: controlled vocabulary (e.g., `front`, `back`, `detail`, `lifestyle`, `on-fig`, `swatch`)
- **Sequence**: zero-padded (`01`, `02`) for multi-shot SKUs
- **Status**: `raw`, `select`, `retouch`, `final`
- **Version**: `v1`, `v2` — never "final-FINAL"

Rules to state explicitly: lowercase only, hyphens as delimiters (no spaces or underscores mixing), no special characters, dates in `YYYYMMDD`, and a locked controlled vocabulary list so shot-type values never drift. Give 3–4 fully worked example filenames using the buyer's actual channels.

### Step 3: Build the Folder / DAM Structure
Provide a nested structure that mirrors the workflow so files physically move as they progress:

```
/[Shoot-Name-YYYYMMDD]
  /01-RAW
  /02-SELECTS
  /03-RETOUCH-QUEUE
  /04-RETOUCHED
  /05-QA-APPROVED
  /06-FINAL-EXPORTS
    /site
    /amazon
    /social
```

State the rule: a file exists in exactly one working stage folder at a time; approved exports are the only files that get channel subfolders.

### Step 4: Specify the Retouching Queue
Turn retouching from a black box into a managed queue:
- **Intake spec sheet** each retoucher receives per batch: SKU list, shot count, retouching brief (color accuracy, ghost mannequin, background spec, blemish/dust removal scope, shadow treatment), reference images, and due date
- **Priority tiering**: rush (launch-critical) / standard / backfill
- **Batch sizing**: recommend grouping by SKU family or shot type to reduce context-switching
- **Round limits**: cap at 2 revision rounds; anything beyond triggers a call, not another email
- **Tracking**: each SKU carries a status (`queued` → `in-progress` → `submitted` → `revision` → `approved`) in the project tool

### Step 5: Define QA Gates and Channel Specs
Build a QA checklist retouched files must pass before export, plus an export matrix by channel:

| Channel | Dimensions | Format | Color profile | Max file size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site PDP | (state) | JPG/WebP | sRGB | (state) |
| Amazon | 2000px+ | JPG | sRGB | — |
| Paid social | 1080×1080 / 1080×1350 | JPG/PNG | sRGB | — |
| Email | ~600px wide | JPG | sRGB | <200KB |

Populate real values for the buyer's stated channels. QA checklist covers: correct SKU match, naming convention compliance, color/white balance, crop and alignment consistency across the set, background uniformity, and no dust/artifacts.

### Step 6: Assemble the RACI and SLA Table
Produce a single table: rows = the seven stages, columns = Responsible / Accountable / Consulted / Informed, plus an SLA (business days or hours) for each. Sum the SLAs to confirm they fit within the target shoot-to-live turnaround; if they don't, flag the bottleneck stage.

### Step 7: Build the Exception & Escalation Plan
Define what happens when the workflow breaks:
- Missing SKU discovered post-shoot → reshoot vs. substitute decision path
- Retouching misses SLA → escalation owner and re-prioritization rule
- File fails QA twice → who owns the reshoot/re-edit call
- Site upload error or wrong asset live → rollback and verification procedure

## Output Format
- **Structure**: A deliverable workflow document organized by the sections below, with the naming convention, folder tree, retouching spec, channel matrix, and RACI/SLA presented as tables or code blocks — not prose paragraphs
- **Length**: 1,000–1,500 words
- **Format**: Structured document mixing short instructional prose, tables, and code-block diagrams
- **Sections**: Workflow Stages (7-stage map) → File Naming Convention (with examples) → Folder/DAM Structure → Retouching Queue Spec → QA Gates & Channel Export Matrix → RACI + SLA Table → Exception & Escalation Plan
- **Tone**: Creative operations manager — precise, checklist-driven, opinionated about defaults, written to be handed to a team and followed without further explanation

## Quality Checklist
Before delivering output, verify:
- [ ] All seven workflow stages are present, each with an owner, trigger, deliverable, handoff, and SLA
- [ ] The naming convention includes at least 3 fully worked example filenames using the buyer's actual channels — not bracket placeholders
- [ ] The folder structure maps one-to-one to the workflow stages so files move as they progress
- [ ] The channel export matrix has populated dimension/format/color values for every channel the buyer named
- [ ] The RACI/SLA table's summed SLAs are checked against the target turnaround, with any bottleneck flagged
- [ ] The retouching queue includes an intake spec, priority tiers, and a capped revision-round rule

## Notes
- The single highest-leverage fix for most DTC teams is a locked controlled vocabulary for shot types — value drift ("detail" vs. "close-up" vs. "closeup") is what breaks searchability and downstream automation
- Recommend the one-folder-per-stage rule over tagging-only systems; physical file movement makes bottlenecks visible at a glance
- If the buyer runs high SKU volume (200+ per shoot), push for SKU-family batching in the retouching queue and Airtable/Monday status tracking over spreadsheet tracking, which fails at scale
- Keep raw files immutable — never retouch or rename in `/01-RAW`; every downstream file is a copy

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