“Can you send me the high‑res one from the spring launch? The side view.”
ClientNorthwind · 09:42, and again on MondayTurn your filesinto rich mediastructures.
Sotto is a smart database that youses your work folders as a source, converts them into sottosets that can be easily searched, ranked and distributed.
app.sotto.zone
The web portal, recorded end to end: narrow the library by a tag, open an asset, give it a name that means something, collect it and share the collection.
Heard this week
ClientNorthwind · 09:42, and again on Monday“Do you still have the scans from the 2019 series?”
Gallery ownerasking an artist“Can you resend the brief? And the logo. And the fonts.”
Agency clientasking a freelancer“Which version did we actually approve?”
Brand teamthree weeks after launch“Print‑ready by five? CMYK, 300 dpi.”
Producerprint deadline today“Send me everything you shot for them.”
Distributorfor a regional campaignDifferent people, different work — the same question, over and over.
With Sotto: three tags and one link.
The person asking could have found it themselves.
Spring launchandSideandPhoto2019 seriesandArchiveandScanBrand kitandHandoverandSource fileSpring launchandApprovedandLatestCatalogueandPrintandCMYKNorthwindandCampaignandPhoto
Sound familiar
Every request goes through you.
Sales, distributors, the client’s own team — they all ask the one person who knows where things are. The library only exists in that person’s head.
Files live in five places.
A drive per client, a Dropbox from the last agency, a Google folder from the freelancer, attachments in mail. Nobody knows which copy is current.
Drive
Dropbox
Google
Mail
Local
Names don’t describe.
“KV_hero_v6_approved (1).jpg” tells you nothing about the product, the angle or whether it was ever released. Search by filename fails exactly when you need it.
- KV_hero_v6_approved (1).jpg
- IMG_4411.jpg
- teaser_15s_export.mp4
- final_FINAL_v2.jpg
0 results
From your folder to their link
From messy folders
to a library in four steps.
No migration project. You keep working where you work; Sotto reads it, proposes structure, and waits for your yes. Here is the whole pipeline — from the folder on your Mac to the link your client opens.
01
Keep working where you work.
Desktop app · on your Mac
Install the app and point it at the folder you have used for years — on your Mac, in Dropbox, in Google Drive, in SharePoint. Nothing moves. Nothing is copied anywhere you did not choose.
Sotto reads that folder the way a colleague would: the path, the names, the dates, what sits next to what. Your structure stays yours; it is read, not replaced.
02
It proposes. You say yes.
The review sheet
For every folder Sotto drafts one asset: what the client sent in IN, working files in WRK, deliverables in OUT. Tags are read off the path you already use — the client, the campaign, the format — so the vocabulary is yours before you type a word.
You review the whole proposal in one sheet, fix what it got wrong, and confirm. Until you confirm, nothing is published and nothing is renamed.
03
Search by what it is.
The library
Everything lands in one library you search by meaning, not by filename. Inside a column the tags mean or; across columns they mean and; and you can say not. Previews open full size, video plays, versions stack behind the latest.
The hunt that used to be four messages, three drives and a guess is three tags and a glance.
04
Hand over a link, not a folder.
Client portals
Give a client their own portal under their own name, a collection for one campaign, or a single link for one asset. Viewers never pay and never create an account — you pay for the people who manage the library, not the people who look at it.
Access follows the asset rather than the link, so revoking it actually revokes it. The person who used to ask you can now find it themselves.
Why Sotto.
Enterprise libraries have the structure but need a quote call. Simple tools are quick to start and stop scaling at the second client. Sotto takes the structure and leaves out the call.
01
Keep your storage.
Files stay in your folders and the Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or SharePoint you already pay for. Sotto adds the structure on top, not another silo to migrate into.
02
Built for clients, not just teams.
One organization, many clients — each with its own vocabulary, storage, colour and people. The structure agencies need, without an enterprise sales call.
03
Tag-first search.
Three dimensions per client — what it is, how it is shown, what format it is in. Combine them with and, or and not. Every view is a link you can send.
04
Their name on top.
Each client sees their own logo and colour, and on paid team plans their own address: sotto.theirbrand.com. Sotto stays underneath, where it belongs.
05
A desktop app that does the dull part.
Thumbnails, video posters, versions, uploads and cloud delivery happen in one run from your Mac. Unchanged files are skipped by content hash.
06
Pay for editors, not viewers.
Clients, sales teams and distributors who only look and download are unlimited and free on every plan. You pay for the people who manage the library.
For everyone who works with too many files.
- 01AgenciesOne library per client, a portal on each client’s domain, and no more “can you resend the logo”.Client·Campaign·Deliverable
- 02Marketing teamsBrand assets the whole company, every distributor and every agency can find without asking you.Brand·Market·Channel
- 03Content creatorsYears of shoots, edits and exports, findable in seconds and deliverable in one link.Shoot·Cut·Export
- 04ArtistsAn archive that knows every series, medium and version — and a clean way to show it.Series·Medium·Year
Before you ask.
What people want to know before they move their library.
Do I have to move my files into Sotto?
No. Your working folders stay where they are, on your Mac and in the Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or SharePoint you already pay for. Sotto reads them, publishes previews and deliverables to a fast delivery network, and keeps the metadata — tags, versions, ratings, comments — in its own database.
What does “bring your own storage” mean in practice?
The desktop app publishes each deliverable to the cloud destinations you configure for that client: Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or SharePoint, or a local synced folder. Browser-facing thumbnails and originals are served from Cloudflare R2 so the library is fast for everyone. If you leave, your folders are still your folders.
Who pays for a seat?
Only the people who manage assets: Editors and Admins. Members and viewers — your clients, sales teams, distributors, freelancers who only need to look and download — are unlimited and free on every plan.
Can my clients see Sotto’s brand?
They see theirs. Every client portal carries the client’s logo and colour, and on Small Team and above it can run on the client’s own domain, for example sotto.yourclient.com. Your client’s IT adds two DNS records; Sotto does the rest.
Is it ready?
Sotto is in open beta. Request beta access to try it with your team.
Which computers does the desktop app run on?
macOS today. The web portal works in any modern browser and on phones. Tell us in your beta request if your team is on Windows or Linux.
Bring one messy folder.
Sotto is in private beta. Tell us what you work with and how much of it there is. We are opening it to a few teams at a time and answer every request within two working days.
