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Hi,

 

Just wondering if there is a way for me to share the AD assets that I've added to the app on my laptop so they also appear in the app on my desktop. I've added a load to the assets panel on my laptop, but when I opened the app on my desktop this morning, none of them were there. Guess it's because it's app based and not cloud based. Is that right? Is there a way of saving them and uploading from one to the other?

 

Cheers,

Cathie

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Hi CathieLive,

 

You can export the assets from your laptop version by clicking on the menu icon on the assets panel and selecting Export (as shown in attached screenshot)  This will export out a .afassets file which you can then copy onto a Cloud drive or USB storage and then using the same menu on the assets tab on the  Desktop, you can then import them.

 

I've attached a screenshot showing the import assets and export assets menu

Screen Shot 2018-04-23 at 15.31.55.png

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Would be cool to change the storage option of Assets to such as DropBox, Mega etc. so they are synced to all your Affinity designer versions.

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Note that the export & import must be done separately for each category -- AFAIK there is no official way to do all of them in one operation.

 

What might work for doing this in one shot is to copy the assets.propcol file from the laptop to the desktop, overwriting the original, but this is an unsupported, 'try at your own risk' thing that should not be attempted without a good backup of all of your Affinity Designer per user files!

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10 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

Would be cool to change the storage option of Assets to such as DropBox, Mega etc. so they are synced to all your Affinity designer versions.

So how should that work if one instance of the app is on a computer that has no internet access when the app on it is in use? A cloud-based sync of the local copy might be better, particularly if it was something a user could choose if or when to do that, & there was some simple way to resolve the differences that might occur if the local copy was modified when the internet was not available.

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2 hours ago, R C-R said:

So how should that work if one instance of the app is on a computer that has no internet access when the app on it is in use? A cloud-based sync of the local copy might be better

Dropbox is cloud based but I've just used Dropbox and Mega as an example for both Mac and Windows users alike, I'm sure Mac users would easily benefit from such an option.

 

2 hours ago, R C-R said:

there was some simple way to resolve the differences that might occur if the local copy was modified when the internet was not available.

Many apps seem to be able to cope with modified files from one computer to another so I can't really see that being much of an issue.

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4 hours ago, firstdefence said:

Many apps seem to be able to cope with modified files from one computer to another so I can't really see that being much of an issue.

But I still wonder if this would be suitable for something as complicated as a file containing what could be hundreds or even thousands of assets in a great many different categories. There must be at least some local storage for when the internet is not available; otherwise there would be no assets available at all. And that makes syncing with the cloud-based asset resources complicated if, for example, an asset or category is added locally to the app while it is running on a computer that isn't connected to the cloud when it eventually is. There could be namespace collisions or several different versions of the same asset, & that would have to be resolved somehow.

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On 23/04/2018 at 11:16 PM, R C-R said:

But I still wonder if this would be suitable for something as complicated as a file containing what could be hundreds or even thousands of assets in a great many different categories. There must be at least some local storage for when the internet is not available; otherwise there would be no assets available at all. And that makes syncing with the cloud-based asset resources complicated if, for example, an asset or category is added locally to the app while it is running on a computer that isn't connected to the cloud when it eventually is. There could be namespace collisions or several different versions of the same asset, & that would have to be resolved somehow.

Fair points, but I'm sure if such a thing was to be considered the dev's would eliminate most if not all of those issues with a first release. Having a central sync space that updates a local source would be a bonus if done right. I doubt there are many instances where the lack of an internet connection would be a hindrance, if only for the short term, I would suspect that syncing would be done when one had access to a WIFI port, that could be pretty much anywhere in the modern world and even in such places as internet access is not readily available it would be available at some point. If you were working on a project and required an Asset that say somebody else had created or added, you would be in communication with them anyway and would find an access point to facilitate asset transfer. 

 

Internet access is a workaround problem that would be dealt with by the Asset Access'ee, As the saying goes, " Where there's a will, there's a way".

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  • 5 months later...

Seems like a good idea.  Creative Cloud 'needs' an internet connection to update assets files, but they're still there when offline!  Would be great to be able to use something like Dropbox / OneDrive / etc to achieve this.

I agree about the concern of many assets being synced, but I am sure a lot of people work like me - desktop in the office/studio, and laptop 'on-the-road'.  Using laptop for tweaks in client meetings!  

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  • 8 months later...

Would also be a great thing for small teams to share assets. Easiest solution would be setting a path in the preferences to point to the external asset storage location. This way the user could either choose a cloud synced folder (via dropbox, onedrive, gdrive, ...) or an external hard drive.

Only thing to keep in mind would be Affinity Designer checking the file version of the asset file when accessing the assets panel.

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5 minutes ago, s.auler said:

setting a path in the preferences to point to the external asset storage location.

Hi s.auler, just looked at the preferences and couldn't see this option.. am I missing something?

 

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@Algoz s.auler is merely suggesting that the ability to specify a location for shared assets would be a useful addition to the program.

This is not currently a feature of the Affinity software.

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@Aammppaa Thank you for pointing that out and my apologies to @s.auler. It seems we have similar ideas about setting a sync location and if that were to be cloud based, then syncing across multiple devices - and even sharing libraries - would be great.  

I think Adobe CC Libraries does a pretty good job of this and for me its a killer feature!

 

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3 hours ago, Algoz said:

I think Adobe CC Libraries does a pretty good job of this and for me its a killer feature!

While I see the benefits of a Affinity-own cloud system, I currently don't see the possibility for them to develop the whole server-side structure as well as a sync client for multiple platforms. I would also say, that in a world with endless options for cloud services and every company relying on their own preset, creating another one would not create much benefit. Therefore I suggested to "just" let us specify a path to an external asset/palette/brush/whatever library location without the hassle of an own cloud. This way even local network paths would be an option without needing to sync over the internet.

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Just now, s.auler said:

While I see the benefits of a Affinity-own cloud system, I currently don't see the possibility for them to develop the whole server-side structure as well as a sync client for multiple platforms. I would also say, that in a world with endless options for cloud services and every company relying on their own preset, creating another one would not create much benefit. Therefore I suggested to "just" let us specify a path to an external asset/palette/brush/whatever library location without the hassle of a cloud. This way even local network paths would be an option without needing to sync over the internet.

Yes, this makes perfect sense!

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6 minutes ago, s.auler said:

Therefore I suggested to "just" let us specify a path to an external asset/palette/brush/whatever library location without the hassle of an own cloud. This way even local network paths would be an option without needing to sync over the internet.

However, if it is a remote location, it would still be dependent on internet access, so there are several issues that must be considered for this to work reliably & without undesirable side effects.

For example, there could be a huge amount of data that needs to be synced. Just syncing raster brushes alone could involve moving several GB over the internet, which could take quite a while over a slow or intermittent connection. Many ISP plans include very high speed downloads, but often upload speeds are much lower than that, so the two-way sync process could result in long delays before brushes or whatever are available to one or several different users.

Since adding new items or changes to existing ones could happen at any time on any computer, there would need to be a background process constantly monitoring for that anytime an app is open, plus some way of resolving conflicts that could occur if different users tried to modify the same item at the same time. Plus, since all this stuff is stored on a per user account basis, & more than one user could be logged into a computer at the same time, some provisions must be made for when & how syncing occurs for each of them.

Licensing issues also need to be considered, since currently the license for some items prohibits this kind of network sharing or requires purchase of a separate license for each user or computer.

Some of this also applies to local networks, but ignoring that for a moment, I wonder if using symbolic links might in some cases provide some of this functionality, at least on systems that support sym links across different local storage locations. I am not brave (or knowledgeable) enough to try that myself, but perhaps others might be?

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Hi all,

Happy to find this thread! As a new user I also tried to find the configuration option where I could set the Settings and assets folder but could not. Now I know it does not exist :)

My use case is the same, I switch often from laptop to desktop and all settings and assets are lost. The ability to set a folder would solve many issues as I'd then be able to store all of that on my external SSD disk which holds of my data and is hooked up either to the laptop or the desktop depending on what I'm currently using (windows 10).

Indeed by just having the ability to set a settings and/or assets folder for Designer, one can put that data on an external disk, on a onedrive/GDrive/Dropbox folder to sync it, etc

I had not thought about the licensing issue for sharing though and this might be an obstacle

Quote

For example, there could be a huge amount of data that needs to be synced. Just syncing raster brushes alone could involve moving several GB over the internet, which could take quite a while over a slow or intermittent connection

@R C-R Only the initial sync would take some times, updates are real quick. And as you have the local copy anyway, no internet location is not an issue unless you forgot to sync the folder before leaving.

Quote

there would need to be a background process constantly monitoring for that anytime an app is open

Dropbox/GDrive/OneDrive do that automatically and transparently, unless I'm not understanding what you say. Maybe an issue would be for Designer to adjust to, say, an asset that was modified in the background since the app was launched? Something developers could handle I think.

Quote

I wonder if using symbolic links might in some cases provide some of this functionality, at least on systems that support sym links across different local storage locations. I am not brave (or knowledgeable) enough to try that myself, but perhaps others might be?

@Aammppaa @s.auler On windows, you can create "Junctions" which are equivalent to symlinks on Linux and Mac. This is what I use on the other app I have that don't let me customize the storage paths.

I am happy to report that this seems to work fine with Affinity Designer for assets and configuration. I:

- Quit AD

- Moved the C:\Users\{{my_user_name}}\AppData\Roaming\Affinity folder to {{my_external_drive}}:\system\data\Affinity

- Created a junction from C:\Users\{{my_user_name}}\AppData\Roaming\Affinity to {{my_external_drive}}:\system\data\Affinity

- Restarted AD: all config and custom assets were there after restarting.

For me the target folder is on my external SSD drive but if it works that way, you can also put the target folder on a Dropbox/GDrive/OneDrive to have it synced between machines. Likewise for a shared network drive.

Again, a configurable assets and/or config path would likely be more resilient.

Cheers

 

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14 hours ago, Yannick Gaultier said:

I had not thought about the licensing issue for sharing though and this might be an obstacle

Obviously, Serif would have to consider potential licensing issues or risk losing the support of third party vendors. This almost certainly would mean changes in the code & file formats of shared assets, brushes, etc. to enforce licensing restrictions, & even if that was practical, it means only some of these items could be shared across computers.

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16 hours ago, Yannick Gaultier said:

On windows, you can create "Junctions"

I was intending to try this today, glad to hear it works! 

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1 hour ago, Aammppaa said:

I was intending to try this today, glad to hear it works! 

Hopefully, you & anybody else trying this will do so in a way that won't violate any licensing terms. That Otherwise, it could be bad for everyone if it causes third party suppliers to lose interest in supporting the Affinity products.

Edited by R C-R
Thanks, Alfred

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6 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Hopefully, you & anybody else trying this will do so in a way that won't violate any licensing terms. That could be bad for everyone if it causes third party suppliers to lose interest in supporting the Affinity products.

A way that won’t violate any licensing terms could be bad for everyone? How so?? :/

Any third-party suppliers who are concerned about it could simply tighten up their licensing terms.

 

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Hi

I assume R CR means that if it becomes known that assets can be used across a network for instance, by the 25 people in a company without corresponding licensing, then some assets suppliers could lose faith in Affinity and pull their products from Affinity.

I would argue that whether we do it or not, it's always been possible as part of all operating systems Affinity products operate on. So those suppliers knew from the get go that Affinity is NOT enforcing any kind of license control outside of Affinity products own and their products could be shared.

In other words, if any such supplier requires a licensing scheme more restrictive than the Affinity one, they know that license compliance relies on the user. It is and was very clear from the start that no assets licensing was enforced by Affinity.

Is this a theoretical discussion or are there assets suppliers with licensing requirements more stringent than the Affinity ones?

 

 

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