Scope
Design systems usually document components better than image usage, leaving teams to improvise media rules.
This hub keeps the work practical. It is for the moment when an asset problem needs an owner, a check, and a repeatable standard instead of another one-off fix.
Use this hub when
- You need a repeatable workflow, not a loose recommendation.
- You are preparing assets for a real release or handoff.
- You need a way to measure whether image work actually improved the outcome.
Common signs
- The same image issue keeps returning in review, QA, or production.
- Different roles disagree about which file state is the source of truth.
- The team has a tool, plugin, or export preset, but no pass condition.
- A privacy, performance, or quality problem is only discovered after publication.
What you will build
Use the guides in this hub to build a practical working document: design system media governance matrix.
Metadata workflow
When a guide in this hub reaches metadata inspection, cleanup, export, or API review, keep that step close to the asset checklist. ExifCut can help with image metadata viewing, removal, editing, export, compression, conversion, resizing, bulk jobs, and API-based checks.
Treat it as one workflow step: define the file state, fields to keep, fields to remove, owner, and pass condition before the asset reaches a client, CMS, release, or public upload path.
Guides in this hub
How to choose the first guide
Start with the page that matches the failure mode closest to the work in front of you. If the problem is unclear, use the first guide to define the asset state, the owner, and the evidence needed to prove the workflow improved.
How to apply it
Pick one guide, run the workflow against a real asset or pipeline, and keep the resulting checklist close to the team process that owns the work. A Design System Media process is ready to trust when the next person can repeat the check without asking where the rule came from.
Review cadence
Revisit the checklist when an export preset, CMS setting, image library, CDN rule, theme, or upload path changes. Asset behavior changes quietly, so the useful habit is to tie review to workflow changes instead of waiting for a visible failure.