Use the asset library to maintain documentation consistency

Glossary

• Repository: A centralized collection of approved and published Lucid documents, accessible to all users on an account.
• Asset library: A collection of assets that have been approved and published to a repository in your Lucid account. Users can add assets to any Lucidchart document using the asset library.
• Asset: A document or shape that has been added to a repository in your Lucid account. Assets can be added to Lucidchart documents through the asset library. When an asset is updated, the changes are automatically reflected in all documents where the asset is used.
• Document asset: A Lucid document that has gone through an approval process and has been added to a repository in your Lucid account. Document assets can be added to Lucidchart documents as an embedded link.
• Object asset: A specific shape that includes data—such as a role, system, or risk—that has been added to a repository in your Lucid account.
• Approval flow: A process within Lucid where a user submits a document draft for review. This ensures that only versions approved by a repository or asset owner are published to a repository.

Asset management for repository owners

The information in this asset management section is for repository owners. If you are not a repository owner and want to know more about using the asset library in your Lucidchart documents, skip to the Access the asset library section below.

Create a new object asset

Before an object asset can be added to a Lucidchart document, a repository owner needs to create it.

Object asset types

You can create the following object assets:

• Department: A vertical swim lane representing a department. Use this to maintain standardization of team names and quickly find every document that needs to be updated if a department changes.
• Role: A horizontal swim lane with a specific job title. Use this to quickly see every document that is affected if a job changes or if a position is removed.
• Activity: A rectangular shape representing a specific task or process step. Use this to standardize actions and see exactly which different teams are doing that same work.
• IT System: A cylindrical shape representing a software application or database. Use this to create a reliable map of technical dependencies and see a list of every document that would be impacted if that software is changed or deprecated.
• Document: A document shape representing a specific file or template. Use this to make sure every document uses the newest version of a file and to find which documents still need to be updated.
• Risk: A bracket shape containing a specific threat or vulnerability. Use this to keep track of all threats and see every document where that specific risk is present.
• Control: A bracket shape containing a specific mitigation or compliance step. Use this to verify the consistency of your internal oversight and instantly audit every location where a specific security measure is being applied.

Create a new document asset

Document assets are approved Lucid documents that have been added to a repository in your Lucid account. While any licensed user can request to add a document to a repository, it only becomes an asset once it passes the formal approval process.

Because repository owners are the primary approvers for what is added to a repository, they can directly add any document (bypassing the approval process), making it available to all account members as a document asset.

For more information on the approval process for documents being added to a repository, check out our Use repositories to centralize and standardize your organization's documentation article.

Edit an existing asset

Changes made to document and object assets are reflected in all documents where they are in use. How changes are made depends on the type of asset.

Edit an object asset

Object assets can only be created and edited by a repository owner. To edit an existing object asset, repository owners can follow these steps:

1. Select Repositories from the navigation menu on the left side of the Lucid Home Page.
2. Select the repository that contains the assets you want to see.
3. From the top of the page, select Object asset.
4. Click the three-dot menu from the far-right side of the object asset you want to edit.
5. Select Edit asset.
6. Make edits as needed, then click Update.

Edit a document asset

Any licensed user on your account can propose changes to a document asset, but these edits must be approved by a repository or asset owner before being published. While standard users must wait for official approval for their changes to take effect, repository owners can publish their updates immediately.

For steps on how to approve changes made to a document asset, check out our Use repositories to centralize and standardize your organization's documentation article.

Access the asset library

Asset libraries are collections of Lucid documents and objects (assets) that have been approved and published to a repository. To access the asset library, follow these steps:

1. Open a new or existing Lucidchart document.
2. Select the Asset library icon from the Primary Toolbar to the far-left side of the canvas.

Here you can access all approved documents and objects that have been added to repositories in your Lucid account. Use the search bar at the top of the panel to search keywords or use the “All repositories” dropdown menu to see assets from a specific repository.

Insert an asset into a Lucidchart document

To add an asset from the asset library to a Lucidchart document, follow these steps from the document:

1. Select the Asset library icon from the Primary Toolbar to the far-left side of the canvas.
2. Locate the document or object you want to add.
   • Use the search bar and dropdown filter to narrow your search.
3. Click and drag the asset onto the canvas.

Propose a change to an existing asset

Before edits to an asset in a repository can be published, they must go through an approval flow. For more information, check out the articles below:

• Request updates to a published repository asset
• Approve or deny updates to a repository document

View asset details

Any user on your Lucid account can see details for assets that have been added to a repository. The details panel includes information such as description, asset owner, and version. To open the details panel for an asset, follow these steps:

1. Select Repositories from the navigation menu on the left side of the Lucid Home Page.
2. Select the repository that contains the assets you want to see.
3. From the top of the page, select Published documents or Object assets depending on what asset you want to see details for.
4. Click the three-dot menu from:
   • The bottom-right corner of the document you want to view details for.
   • The far-right side of the object asset you want to view details for.
5. Click Show details.

View where assets are in use

From the details panel, you can view where documents and objects are being used as assets. At the bottom of the details panel, you’ll see various details sections depending on the type of asset:

• Occurrences: This displays a list of where the document or object you selected is being used as an asset in other documents.
• Assets in use: This only appears on document asset details and shows a list of other repository documents that are used as assets in the document you have selected.

Related articles

• Process Accelerator overview
• Use repositories to centralize and standardize your organization's documentation
• Request updates to a published repository asset
• Approve or deny updates to a repository document

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