Asset Manager File paths & Resources

[AlanPickup]

Hi

Could someone please advise how the Asset Manager in Affinity products works with regard to resources etc. I am using Windows 10 on both machines

I have just watched the user  Video Tutorial on Asset Manager by Multi4G and decided it was time I sorted out my assets and how I use them across the full suite and before doing all the work thought it best to clarify first and same some angst later, so any clarity greatly received on the following

1  How does Asset Manager work with regard to resources i.e. is it just storing a thumbnail and link to the asset in its current location or is it creating a file with a copy of the asset in user profile somewhere. If linking to the current location does it mean if I reorganize my files the asset will not link, similar to linked resources in files if you move them.

2  Does having  to many assets slow the performance of the Affinity programmes.

3 I use both my laptop and Windows PC, both of which have SSD drives for the boot C: drive for programs etc, then my files are stored on a normal Sata drive with partitions for the folder/files  on one partition and my Onedrive folders on another partition synced to my online 1TB onedrive so I see all my files on both machines. Is there a  way of putting my asset files in a shared location on the synced drives so both machines can use the same assets folder?

4 Can the various affinity programs share the same asset file location are do they have to be created then exported/imported in to the other program?

Any ideas on best way to proceed gratefully welcomed

[R C-R]

1. Assets are stored together in a single file, independent of where the originals might be saved (if they are saved at all). There is no link to other files, nor can you open the assets file itself & add to or delete from its items.

2. No

3. Maybe. It requires what amounts to a hack. It is unsupported, not recommended, & how well it works depends on the shared location. 

4. Same as 3. 

[AlanPickup]

Thanks for the reply

I suppose the only good news is that it is not dependent on the original file so will not affect it is I reorganise my files  at some stage. The main thing I was worried over was slowing down performance.

Will build up my assets in one program / one machine and then export them out and import in to other programs on a  when needed basis

Thanks again

[PaulEC]

56 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Assets are stored together in a single file, independent of where the originals might be saved

Presumably this means that, if you have a large number of Assets, you could end up with a very large file, using up a lot of disc space.

[R C-R]

50 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

Presumably this means that, if you have a large number of Assets, you could end up with a very large file, using up a lot of disc space.

It does, but there are several other things to consider as well:

1. Since vectors usually use much less disk space than raster images, if you mostly store vector assets, you can store a lot of assets without the file becoming very large.
2. From what I can tell, assets are stored more efficiently in a single file than if they were stored in individual Affinity files, so less total file space is needed.
3. Typically, the assets file will be considerably smaller than the brushes ones, at least if you save many brushes (because brushes contain raster images).
4. It may be easier to backup one asset file than many individual ones, particularly for automatic backups.

This post includes info on where to find the files for Macs & Windows for Designer & Photos. The assets file isn't specifically mentioned, but it should be in a file named "assets.propcol" in the same location as the other "propcol" files. The file path may be different for Affinity Publisher & for the betas.