Transferring files between devices

Overview

These days we may be doing our digital art on multiple devices. For example we could be working most of the day on our desktop computer and then want to continue our work on a laptop or on a mobile device like an iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab.

To make this work we need to make sure our digital art files are available on these devices. And there are different options we have each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

This document provides a few options that I am familiar with or have used.

Cloud-based sync

This method involves a “cloud-based drive” - a folder that lives in the cloud that is synched to your devices.

The most popular ones these days are

• Google Drive

• Microsoft OneDrive

Direct file transfer

if you're looking for an easy way to send files between devices without having to sign up for any sort of account or cloud based storage there are a few options.

My favorite is LocalSend (https://localsend.org/).

• It is free!

• It is very popular

• It works on many different operating systems (Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS/iPadOS)

• It's extremely fast

• it's extremely simple

NAS-based shared folders

All NAS devices offer “shared folders” - folders that everyone in your home or workplace can access given the right permissions.

NAS-based sync

Effectively this is like a "Google Drive" except your devices are not syncing with anything in the cloud but rather with your NAS. This keeps your data in your hands.

Some NAS devices offer their own “drive” software. I use a Synology NAS and use Synology Drive.

Peer-to-peer sync

Peer-to-peer sync works like the other other sync methods - except that there isn't a special location in the cloud or a locally (NAS server). The files are simply synced between every computer participating in the sync.

• Many people use SyncThing (https://syncthing.net/) for this purpose. It runs on Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

• Another option is FreeFileSync (https://freefilesync.org/). I runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux.

App-based sync

Some applications have their own system for syncing content across devices.

Clip Studio Paint has this feature. And many people use it, but I prefer to to use syncing that is not tied to a specific apps.