Better Dropbox Support on iPad

[Spraypaintsensei]

I use Affinity on iPad and PC, so iCloud is nonideal. (I also already have a Dropbox account).

[Aaron Martin]

I use one drive. It works fine except if u want ti save a file, u have to drag and drop it from affinity to one drive and rename it (again) afterwards 

[Boldlinedesign]

You can save a file from Affinity Designer or Photo on the ipad over to dropbox pretty easily if you just use the "save a copy" option - it allows a native file to be saved out without using icloud at all. @Alfred helped me learn this trick. Prior to this I was feeling stuck with the export feature not giving me the option for a native file to export that way aside from icloud.

[Spraypaintsensei]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the pointers. I should have been more specific. I've tried the Save a Copy option, but have found it a bit painful to keep track of which version I am working in.

It would be nice to be able to point the apps to Dropbox one time and then save/sync on an ongoing basis. I expect Apple doesn't allow directing the backups straight to other cloud providers so that they can sell iCloud, but if there is any way to make the workflow cleaner, I would be very happy.

-SPS

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, Spraypaintsensei said:

have found it a bit painful to keep track of which version I am working in

Why do you need to keep track? Once you’ve loaded the saved copy from Dropbox, any future saves will automatically go to Dropbox, so you can simply close the sandbox copy and forget about it.

[Spraypaintsensei]

Yeah, but the process of:

1. Create document
2. Click "Save As"
3. Navigate to Dropbox
4. Name document
5. Save document
6. Leave document
7. Close local copy
8. Navigate Dropbox to open Dropbox copy

...Really stacks up when I'm doing 40 quick illustrations for a kids book.

Am I missing a simpler workflow?

[Alfred]

I see what you mean! Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a simpler workflow at present.

[Spraypaintsensei]

Appreciate you confirming I wasn't missing something obvious at least - thanks!

[Zoomie.Roomie]

I would also love that. You can already choose between "On my Ipad" and "ICloud Drive". Other options would be great as well.

Although I can imagine Spraypaintsensei might be right that Apple is the one making that impossible.

[Spraypaintsensei]

Hi everyone, here's a quick update with my improved workflow in case it's helpful for anyone else:

• Allow all files to save to default iPad locations
• Save all files using Affinity Designer "save" function
• When project is complete, navigate to folder via My Files
• Use Select function to select all and move to Dropbox folder

This means I just have to move everything one time instead of once for every image.

It still reduces the file protection/backup functionality of Dropbox, but Apple offers 50 GB of iCloud space for a buck a month, so I just sucked it up and paid them. Annoying, but not as annoying as losing a project when my kid spills juice on my iPad. 50GB goes quick, but if I'm only using for a project or two at a time before moving back to Dropbox, it will hopefully be enough.

[Zoomie.Roomie]

37 minutes ago, Spraypaintsensei said:

Hi everyone, here's a quick update with my improved workflow in case it's helpful for anyone else:

• Allow all files to save to default iPad locations
• Save all files using Affinity Designer "save" function
• When project is complete, navigate to folder via My Files
• Use Select function to select all and move to Dropbox folder

This means I just have to move everything one time instead of once for every image.

It still reduces the file protection/backup functionality of Dropbox, but Apple offers 50 GB of iCloud space for a buck a month, so I just sucked it up and paid them. Annoying, but not as annoying as losing a project when my kid spills juice on my iPad. 50GB goes quick, but if I'm only using for a project or two at a time before moving back to Dropbox, it will hopefully be enough.

Sadly having a consistend workflow between two devices is not possible then. But I agree that it is a lot better than the above mentioned method.

I usually frequently "save to device" and "save a copy" with the same name to a prepared DropBox folder replacing the existing file every now and then. Both for security (backup) and for working across devices. 

[RocketBoots]

This has been bugging me for a while when trying to work between devices - I really hope the ability to set Dropbox as the default save location (or google drive, one drive etc) is something that happens soon.