Canto

How to Export Asset Metadata from Canto

Canto is a popular DAM for mid-market and enterprise teams. Here's how to extract your asset metadata into a spreadsheet for quality assessment.

Built-in Export

Yes (CSV)

Admin Required

Standard user

Best Output

CSV

Time to First Export

5-15 min

The short answer

Canto has a built-in metadata export feature. Select items in the library, choose export metadata, and download a CSV of their properties. For automated or large-scale exports, the Canto REST API provides full programmatic access.

Canto Library - Metadata Export

EasyBest for: Brand managers, marketing teams, creative operations, DAM administratorsOutput: CSV~5 minutes

Canto allows users to select items in the library and export their metadata as a CSV or Excel file. No files are downloaded, only the metadata. This is the fastest way to get a metadata spreadsheet with no technical setup required.

Log in to Canto and navigate to the Library. Use albums, smart albums, or search to find the assets whose metadata you need. To assess your full library, browse without filters or use a broad search.

Select the items whose metadata you want to extract. Use Select Allto grab everything in the current view, or pick specific items.

Click Export Metadata from the actions toolbar (or right-click menu). Choose your export format (CSV or Excel).

Configure which metadata fields to include in the export. For the most complete assessment, select all available fields and click Export.

✓

Smart Albums for targeted exports

Create a Smart Album with filter criteria (e.g., all assets uploaded this quarter, all images in a specific category). Then export the Smart Album contents. Since Smart Albums update automatically, you can re-export anytime for fresh data. This is useful for assessing specific segments of your library separately.

Canto REST API

TechnicalBest for: Developers, IT teams, automated workflowsOutput: JSON to CSV~20-30 minutes

The Canto API provides full access to asset data including metadata fields, custom fields, tags, categories, and usage information. It supports searching, filtering, and pagination for large libraries.

Get your API credentials from your Canto admin. You need an App ID and App Secret for OAuth2 authentication, or use a personal access token if available.

Authenticate and get an access token, then query the search endpoint to list assets.

python

import requests
import csv

CANTO_DOMAIN = "your-org.canto.com"
ACCESS_TOKEN = "your_access_token"
HEADERS = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}"}

def search_assets(keyword="*", limit=100):
    """Search all assets with pagination."""
    all_assets = []
    start = 0
    while True:
        resp = requests.get(
            f"https://{CANTO_DOMAIN}/api/v1/search",
            headers=HEADERS,
            params={
                "keyword": keyword,
                "limit": limit,
                "start": start,
                "scheme": "image,video,document,audio,presentation,other",
                "sortBy": "time",
                "sortDirection": "descending",
            },
        )
        data = resp.json()
        results = data.get("results", [])
        if not results:
            break
        all_assets.extend(results)
        start += limit
        if start >= data.get("found", 0):
            break
    return all_assets

assets = search_assets()

with open("canto_metadata.csv", "w", newline="") as f:
    writer = csv.writer(f)
    writer.writerow([
        "ID", "Name", "Description", "Scheme", "Size",
        "Width", "Height", "Created", "Modified",
        "Tags", "Categories", "Copyright"
    ])
    for asset in assets:
        default = asset.get("default", {})
        writer.writerow([
            asset.get("id", ""),
            asset.get("name", ""),
            default.get("Description", ""),
            asset.get("scheme", ""),
            asset.get("size", ""),
            default.get("Image Width", ""),
            default.get("Image Height", ""),
            default.get("Date uploaded", ""),
            default.get("Date modified", ""),
            ", ".join(asset.get("tag", [])) if asset.get("tag") else "",
            ", ".join(
                cat.get("name", "") for cat in asset.get("relatedCategories", [])
            ) if asset.get("relatedCategories") else "",
            default.get("Copyright", ""),
        ])

print(f"Exported {len(assets)} assets to canto_metadata.csv")

A note about Canto reporting

Canto's admin panel includes usage reporting for downloads, views, and user activity. These reports track how assets are being used, not the metadata fields themselves. For metadata export, use Method 1 (UI export from the library) or Method 2 (API).

What metadata fields can you export?

Field	UI Export	Canto API
Asset name	✓	✓
Description	✓	✓
File type / scheme	✓	✓
File size	✓	✓
Dimensions (W x H)	✓	✓
Upload date	✓	✓
Modified date	✓	✓
Tags	✓	✓
Categories	✓	✓
Custom fields	✓	✓
Copyright	✓	✓
Approval status	✓	✓
Album membership	✕	✓
Download count	✕	✓
EXIF data (photos)	✓	✓
Preview / thumbnail URL	✕	✓

Known limitations

Custom field names: Canto custom fields are defined by your admin. The API returns them under the default object with their configured names. Verify field names in your Canto admin settings before building export scripts.
EXIF and embedded metadata: Canto extracts EXIF, IPTC, and XMP data from uploaded files. These fields are available in the UI export and API but may use different field names than the original embedded metadata.
Canto Classic vs. Canto (New): If your organization is still on Canto Classic (formerly Canto Cumulus), the API endpoints and export features differ significantly. This guide covers the current Canto cloud platform.