Capture & PM selection

During the product review process for photography, each Product Manager and Brand Manager provides feedback following the process below. For every SKU these tasks live in the subitems on the Product Planning (NPI) board. This page covers the two photography subitems: photography_originals and photography_versions. All review happens in Iconik.

Stage 1 - photography_originals (PM angle selection)

photography_originals are the RAW images produced by AMC/USA or an outside vendor. These images are flat and unedited and are not to be judged for cosmetic flaws at this stage. Once photography is completed, an Iconik review link is pushed to Monday and the task enters PM review by itself (PM Review) - no one has to announce “ready for review.”

Schonbek USA shoots skip this review

When the SKU’s Brand is any Schonbek line and Photography (USA) = Yes, photography_originals skips PM review entirely: the Iconik link landing writes Completed directly and editing (photography_versions) starts at the same moment. This is the only brand-based exception in the system.

What the Product Manager does in Iconik at this stage:

1. Select the angles to use. The PM decides which angles/shots will be edited and post-processed by Jude Li and team. Approve only the chosen angles by giving each a green thumbs up in Iconik.

   

2. Rejection is optional. The PM may Reject (red thumbs down) any shots not approved, but it is not required. Default position: any image not Approved is considered rejected - this minimizes the number of decisions PMs must make.

3. Flip the Monday status. If enough images are deemed suitable, update the photography_originals subitem status on Monday to Approved. This tells Jude and team to edit only the selected angles and prepare them for the next step.

   

Exception - reshoot needed

If all images are rejected in Iconik (red thumbs down) and the PM requires a reshoot, flip the Monday status to Revisions Needed and move the raw images into a folder called _rejected inside /originals. photography_originals is a shoot folder, so its return to review is deliberately manual - when the reshoot arrives, the PM sets the status back by hand (cameras don’t use _v## suffixes for the board to auto-match a replacement).

Stage 2 - photography_versions (PM review + PPID angle selection)

photography_versions are the edited images post-processed by Jude Li and team at AMC, based on the PM selection made in Stage 1. This stage runs a Brand Manager → Product Manager chain: the Brand Manager clears brand compliance first, then the PM selects PPID angles. Each reviewer just sets Approved and the board advances.

1. Brand Manager clears compliance first. The board enters the task at the Brand Manager’s stage; the BM checks brand compliance and sets Approved, which advances the task to the PM. (If no Brand Manager is assigned, the board skips straight to the PM.)

2. Review the edited images. The PM reviews the post-processed images until satisfied. Any revisions requested should be annotated directly on each image in Iconik until results are satisfactory.

3. Select PPID angles. At this stage the PM is only responsible for selecting which image angles should move forward as PPID candidates. Make the selection in Iconik using the Approve function (green thumbs up). This indicates which angles should be edited and carried forward - it is not final website tagging.

   

4. Approve the subitem. Once all edited images meet standard requirements and angle selections are complete, set the photography_versions subitem to Approved. This is the final approval in the chain, so the board carries the SKU forward; Jude and team then edit only the approved angles, avoiding unnecessary work on unused shots.

Important

The Brand Manager clears compliance and the Product Manager owns angle selection. No images need to be rejected at the versions stage - only approved angles move forward, and the board carries the task to the next reviewer on each Approved.

What happens next

Only images with a green thumbs up in photography_versions (or renders) are eligible to enter the ppid_images stage. From there they are prepped, named, and published - see PPID & web export and the full Iconik Review Process.

Troubleshooting

• All originals rejected / reshoot required - set the photography_originals status to Revisions Needed and move the raws into /originals/_rejected. See the exception callout above.
• Image versioning not tracking in Iconik - duplicates break Iconik’s automatic versioning. Never copy-paste files within the working filespace; see the automation ecosystem and folder structures.