Everything is moving into the cloud these days. Key players in the market are definitely Dropbox, Google Drive and Skydrive, there’s no doubt that competition is tough and sometimes it’s really hard to decide which service to use.
In this article I would like to share my experience using cloud based file sharing services from a designer’s perspective.
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I personally use Drobpox for hosting my files and photos and Google Drive to work on documents with my peers at the academy. Below you will find some tips on how to use these services more effectively.
Descriptive folders
Use descriptive folders as much as possible. Instead of naming folder “Resources” you can create some sub-folders of most used resources for example “Icons“, “Textures“, “Fonts” etc. Too much of folders are also not good idea because it is going to create too much noise in your system and that can be confusing.
Even more descriptive file names
Another good practise is to use even more descriptive names for your files. I am a freelance designer and when I work on projects I place my designs on Dropbox for the client to review. Usually it is very handy to indicate date (day/month/year) project name and version e.g. 071212_city_app_design_v2.jpg. It takes much more time but it pays of in the long run.
Collaboration made easy
Google Drive is merged with Google Docs where you have an alternative for Microsoft Office to work on word document, spreadsheets and presentations. The best feature I find is that you can work with your team on one document simultaneously from anywhere in the world. Simply share it to your colleagues and you can get started right away.
Another thing I use is shared folder option. On Dropbox you can easily create a shared folder and invite your friends to join it. All the content within the shared folder is available and editable by you and your friends (in my case with a client).
Easy mobile access
Cloud services are excellent because of their accessibility. You can access your files from any other computer or mobile device in the world. Surprisingly it can save you a lot of nerves. Put presentation files, important project files in case your machine breaks and access them when needed without having to sweat in front of your boss.
Hassle-free backups
I put a backup of important project files on Dropbox in case my computer crashes. Usually you get 2-5 GB of free space so you can put only most important stuff otherwise you should consider buying additional space.
For bloggers and website owners I recommend this article How to Backup WordPress Sites to Dropbox by Trevor on 1stWebDesigner where he shares some really useful tools to put your website or blog backup to cloud.
Do you see the benefits of using the cloud services? Please share your tips and tricks on how to increase the productivity.
