File Naming Convention

Core Vocabulary

The Asas Method depends on a precise vocabulary. Every file, no matter how small or large, belongs to one of these categories, and every part of its name carries deliberate meaning.

• Controller Orchestration files that manage or automate larger systems. Examples include InDesign Books (INDb), batch-processing scripts, or other files that govern the assembly, export, or consistency of multiple assets.

• Asset A complete, publishable creative work. Assets may be standalone (a social graphic, a product diagram) or grouped (a catalog spread, a campaign toolkit). Each asset represents a “deliverable” that serves a defined marketing or creative purpose.

• Ingredient The smallest reusable building blocks that feed into assets. Ingredients aren’t publishable by themselves, but they are essential components. Examples include vector illustrations, icons, textures, copy blocks, or shared style libraries (fonts, swatches, object styles).

• Layout The structural variation of an asset. Different layouts may exist for the same underlying content (e.g., a square social graphic vs. a 16:9 banner), or different master pages within InDesign representing alternate layout variants.

• Rendition The final exported file produced from an asset’s scope page, following the naming grammar: [Controller__][Asset][_Layout?][__Scope][_Sequence?][.Language?][.State?][.Extension]. A rendition is what scripts generate and what automations look for. It is always scoped (e.g., to a piece index, kit index, SKU, or series) and may include Sequence, Language, and State.
  • Example: InfoGraphic__Only-For_Factory__08##48BLK_02.es.min.png

• Language A locale tag appended before State and Extension (English is the default and is omitted). Examples: .es, .fr, .de, .pt-BR.

• Extension The file format suffix (e.g., .indd, .ai, .psd, .svg, .png, .jpg, .pdf, .md, .json). Always the final element.

• Scope The context or “span” of an asset’s applicability. Scope can be at the piece level (a single nut), the kit level, or broader groupings like series or category. This ensures assets are tightly mapped to the right product data.

• Sequence A numeric or alphanumeric marker used when multiple variations of an otherwise identical file exist. For example, two diagrams of the same nut might be labeled _01 and _02 if they show different perspectives or styles.

• State A file’s condition or role in the workflow. Common states include:

  • Functional States: These states denote a file that is an asset, ingredient, or rendition that is serving a different purpose than its stateless counterpart.
    • .min → Minified for fast loading speed. Relevant for CSS, JS, and image files.
    • .bak → A duplicate file kept as a backup (when the repository is not source controlled).
    • .tst → A duplicate file kept as a test (when the repository is not source controlled).
  • Partial States: These states denote a file that is a fragment of an asset, in the same way that an ingredient can be considered a fragment, except unlike ingredients, partials exist for use within one asset file only. This is why they don’t receive their own names. Should only be used when the source file type doesn’t support embedding.
    • .pri → primary
    • .sec → secondary
    • .ter → tertiary
    • .qua → quaternary
    • .qui → quinary
    • .sen → senary
    • .sep → septenary
    • .oct → octonary
    • .non → nonary
    • .den → denary