How do I hand off artwork from the Ipad app to the desktop app

[sotx]

I have some artwork that I created on the ipPd app and would like to bring it into the desktop app to finalize. 

I can't seem to find a way to save my iPad artwork as a .afdesign file. The only way I can kind of get it to work is to save the iPad artwork as an SVG,  and open that SVG file in the desktop app. This kind of work, but some of my shapes are wonky (wrong size, not clipped to the layer they are supposed to be, mirrored, etc). 

What is the best way to transfer artwork from the iPad app to the desktop app (and vice versa) with minimal bugs in the artwork? 

 

[Dan C]

Hi sotx,

Welcome to the forums

I'd recommend watching this video as it shows you how to save .afdesign files to your local iPad storage or directly onto the cloud.

After saving your work, you can close the document from within the iPad app, work on the file on your desktop and save it back to the cloud. Then back on your iPad you can import the .afdesign file from the cloud with all of the changes you'd made on the desktop!

[R C-R]

9 hours ago, Dan C said:

Then back on your iPad you can import the .afdesign file from the cloud with all of the changes you'd made on the desktop!

If you want to have just one document that you can work on in both your iPad(s) & desktop computer(s), on the iPad it is important to use "Open From Cloud," not "Import From Cloud." Make sure you use "Save" from the burger menu on the Home screen after editing on the iPad & then "Close" from the same menu to send the changes back to cloud storage & remove the document from the app's internal storage. Likewise, on the desktop computer save & close the document after making any edits there. In each case, make sure you allow enough time for the document to be saved to cloud storage before opening it on another device.

This also works for editing an Affinity Designer document in Affinity Photo & visa versa.

The reason you need to do the save & close steps on the iPad app is documents on the Home screen are like documents in tabs or separate windows on the desktop versions -- they are not actually closed & still reside in application's internal storage.

[gdenby]

If you are transferring to a Mac, you can use "air drop." Set up both machines for 2 way hand-offs. Save the .afdesign file to Files, select it, and share to your other mac.

[R C-R]

4 minutes ago, gdenby said:

If you are transferring to a Mac, you can use "air drop." Set up both machines for 2 way hand-offs. Save the .afdesign file to Files, select it, and share to your other mac.

AirDrop from Files on an iPad does work but unless I am missing something it sends a copy of the document to the other Mac or iOS device. That copy is not linked to the original version, so editing it on one device does not propagate the edit back to the original or to any other instance of the document stored on any other device. So you can easily end up with several different versions of the same document, each with different edits. That's fine if that is what you want, otherwise the "Open From Cloud" method I mentioned above is the way to go.

Also keep in mind that for AirDrop to work the two devices need to have both Bluetooth & WiFi turned on & close enough together for them to get good signals from each other, typically 30 feet or less. Using cloud storage works anywhere both devices can connect to the internet, which could be just about anywhere.

[gdenby]

Last week, I had my home internet connection re-wired. The technician said that the wires should have been replaced at least 10 years ago, which is when the last one said they were fine. I now hopefully have a reliable connection to the "cloud." Personally, I feel dubious about cloud storage for the above reason and others. So I was happy to have air drop. Tho' my internet connection is now reliable, and ever so slightly faster than before, air drop works about 5 times faster.

Personally, I don't care if my documents are synchronized between various devices. I tend to have 4, 5, 6 versions of anything, and am happy if there are a few other variants else where.

 

[R C-R]

16 minutes ago, gdenby said:

Personally, I feel dubious about cloud storage for the above reason and others

Be that as it may, iPads are highly portable devices that frequently are used outside homes or offices where no other suitable device is in AirDrop range. If you have an iPad with a cellular radio, or even one that doesn't & a phone that can be used as a personal hotspot with it, anything stored in cloud storage is accessible anywhere you can get a decent cellular signal. There are now cars that have built-in personal hotspots features too, so you may not even need a phone.

[gdenby]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Be that as it may, iPads are highly portable devices that frequently are used outside homes or offices where no other suitable device is in AirDrop range. If you have an iPad with a cellular radio, or even one that doesn't & a phone that can be used as a personal hotspot with it, anything stored in cloud storage is accessible anywhere you can get a decent cellular signal. There are now cars that have built-in personal hotspots features too, so you may not even need a phone.

Until yesterday, I did not have a cell phone. My iPad could not connect to anything except to the home network. 2 weeks ago, my car was an 18 year old model that didn't have anything that could connect. My current one is only 11 years old, and I think I can plug my new phone into it. See, I'm leaping ahead! But crap, now I have to learn how to text (noooo).