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Use Media Library for basic asset management manage-assets-using-media-library

Media Library is a lightweight Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution built into the Adobe Experience Manager platform for basic asset management. Media Library enables users to upload a small number of assets to the repository, search for those assets, use those assets within webpages, and accomplish simple asset management tasks. Because it handles the core upload-search-use workflow, Media Library is well suited for content authors who need straightforward asset handling directly inside the authoring environment.

Media Library capabilities

Media Library is a lightweight Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution that is included at no additional cost with the Adobe Experience Manager Sites license. Sites is a Web Content Management (WCM) offering, and Media Library works with all capabilities of Experience Manager. As a result, teams that already license Experience Manager Sites can perform basic asset management without purchasing a separate product, making Media Library a practical option for smaller asset volumes and simple use cases.

Experience Manager Assets vs. Media Library

Adobe Experience Manager Assets is available separately for purchase. Unlike Media Library, Experience Manager Assets is designed for robust, enterprise-scale asset handling and extends well beyond the basic capabilities Media Library provides.

Experience Manager Assets adds:

In short, Media Library covers basic asset management for teams already licensed for Experience Manager Sites, while Experience Manager Assets serves organizations that require comprehensive, customizable Digital Asset Management (DAM) across enterprise workflows.

Licensing requirements avail-media-library-license

Customers with a Sites license are entitled to use Media Library in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM). No separate license, add-on, or package purchase is required, which simplifies procurement and provisioning for teams already licensed for Sites.

Media Library works with all components of Adobe Experience Manager (AEM). This broad compatibility ensures that Media Library functions seamlessly across the AEM environment rather than being isolated to a single module.

Media Library installs automatically as part of Sites. Because it is bundled with the Sites offering, no additional deployment steps beyond the standard Sites installation are needed to make Media Library available.

Key licensing facts:

Because Media Library is delivered with the Sites license and installs as part of Sites, customers gain immediate access without evaluating separate licensing terms or completing an additional installation, streamlining onboarding for organizations that already run Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Sites.

Assets versus Media Library assets-and-media-library

Experience Manager Assets provides enterprise-grade Digital Asset Management (DAM) functionality. Assets functionality is delivered with Experience Manager in one single package, meaning the capabilities are present in the installation regardless of whether a customer has purchased a license.

Licensing and Feature Entitlement

Only users who have purchased an Assets license are entitled to use the advanced DAM features. Without an Assets license, only Media Library features are available. Because the full Assets feature set ships in the same package as Media Library, the distinction between the two is governed by entitlement rather than by installation — the advanced DAM capabilities are technically present but not licensed for use.

Preventing Unintended Use of Unlicensed Assets Features

To prevent unintended use of unlicensed Assets features, remove all Assets-specific configuration from Experience Manager. Specifically, remove the following:

Removing these elements prevents users from accidentally using Assets features that you did not license, because these components would otherwise remain visible and accessible within the interface even though the license does not cover them.

Use Media Library use-media-library

Media Library is a capability of Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Sites that delivers essential Digital Asset Management (DAM) functionality. Media Library broadly covers the following use cases:

To use the Media Library functionality, you can use the default Experience Manager user interface. Media Library is part of the Experience Manager Sites installation, so no separate interface or add-on is required. Because it reuses the existing Sites UI, teams can begin managing assets immediately without additional deployment.

Tasks You Can Perform with Media Library

Using the existing Experience Manager interface, Media Library users are entitled to accomplish the following tasks:

Licensing Boundaries and Restrictions

You cannot use smart tags, Asset link, Asset selector, bulk tagging, modify asset workflows, or standard Adobe Experience Manager user interface to access Media Library without Assets license.

See also