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About this lesson
We’ll learn how to use cloud-based storage solutions like Dropbox to share Keynote files with others.
Exercise files
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Quick reference
Topic
We’ll learn how to use cloud-based storage solutions like Dropbox to share Keynote files with others.
When to use
Dropbox is a great cloud storage system which allows us to access our data from anywhere, including Keynote files. We can also use Dropbox to share files with others.
Instructions
There are many cloud storage systems available today, including Google Drive, OneDrive, Box and more. Dropbox is my preferred cloud storage solution, so these instructions will be specific for Dropbox.
To save a file to Dropbox, we simple choose to save our Keynote file to our Dropbox folder. Anything saved to our Dropbox folder will automatically sync with our Dropbox account (in the cloud).
There are two types of shares from Dropbox:
- copy a public link to a specific file
- share an entire folder
To share a folder:
- right-click on the folder to be shared in Finder
- choose “Share this folder…”
To share a single file:
- right-click on the file to share
- choose “Share Dropbox Link”
- paste the link into an email, text message, etc
Files shared via link will not be able to edit our copy of the file. If you need them to have full access, you will be better off sharing an entire folder with the other party.
If you share a folder with another user, they will also need to have their own Dropbox account.
Login to download- 00:04 There are a plethora of cloud based storage solutions available today.
- 00:09 Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Box and
- 00:13 Amazon are just a few that come to mind.
- 00:14 There are certainly advantages to using one over another, but
- 00:18 those advantages depend on your personal preference and your requirements.
- 00:22 My personal preference is to use Dropbox.
- 00:25 For more information on these benefits you can visit www.dropboxforyourbusiness.com.
- 00:32 But one feature that all cloud based storage services have in common is well,
- 00:37 cloud storage.
- 00:38 While the mechanics of this lesson will differs slightly from one provider to
- 00:41 another.
- 00:42 The JS will be the same, whether you're using DropBox, Google Drive, or
- 00:46 another provider.
- 00:48 Because I can't cover all the specifics for
- 00:50 every provider here, I will use DropBox as my example.
- 00:54 In this lesson, we will walk through how to save to our DropBox account,
- 00:57 how to access that file from another device using DropBox,
- 01:01 as well as how to share that file with another user.
- 01:04 First, let's save the new document to our Dropbox account.
- 01:07 To do this, we will start by going to file, and save.
- 01:11 Because we have the free Dropbox uploaded on this computer,
- 01:15 we will see the Dropbox folder located on the sidebar of our finder window here.
- 01:20 We can click on DropBox, navigate through our folder structure, and
- 01:24 save our file as we normally would anywhere else.
- 01:27 The difference between saving to our DropBox folder versus another location on
- 01:31 our internal drive is that the content saved within this folder
- 01:35 is automatically synched with the cloud and
- 01:38 thus sync to any other device we use to access our DropBox files.
- 01:42 If I switch views so that you can see my iPhone now, you will notice that our new
- 01:46 file is already accessible on this device via the Dropbox app.
- 01:50 If we wanted to, we could tap on that file to preview and then open for edits.
- 01:56 Next let's look at how we can share this file with another user.
- 02:00 There are two ways we can share documents in Dropbox.
- 02:04 We can either share an entire folder or we can share a single document.
- 02:08 If we share a folder, we share it in such a way in which the person we are sharing
- 02:12 that folder with would have access to everything within that folder.
- 02:16 Depending on the level of access we give them
- 02:19 they could also add their own content to the shared folder.
- 02:22 This creates a very collaborative environment great for
- 02:25 working on long-term projects.
- 02:27 To share a folder we can start by right clicking on the folder in our finder
- 02:31 window, then choosing share this folder.
- 02:35 The rest of the process should be pretty intuitive.
- 02:39 If our intend is to simply share one file with the recipient one time,
- 02:43 we're probably better of sharing that file individually using a link.
- 02:47 We can do this by right clicking on the file,
- 02:49 then choosing the share Dropbox link option.
- 02:53 This will copy a complex link directly to that one file to our clipboard.
- 02:58 Next, we can open a new mail message and paste that link into the body.
- 03:03 We can also text the link, share the link on various social networks, or
- 03:07 post the link on a webpage.
- 03:09 Keep in mind that whoever has access to the link will have access to the document.
- 03:15 If you share your keynote file with someone using a link to that file
- 03:18 they will be limited only to view the file.
- 03:21 This is because clicking on the link will download a local version of that file and
- 03:25 since there is no way to upload a modified version of the file to your
- 03:28 dropbox account, they will essentially have read only access.
- 03:33 If you need the recipient to have full access,
- 03:35 with the ability to make changes to the file, you will be better off sharing
- 03:39 a folder with them, even if that folder only contains a single Keynote file.
- 03:44 If you do plan to share a folder with another user, one thing to keep in mind is
- 03:48 that they too will need their own Dropbox account to accept that share request.
- 03:54 DropBox, along with other cloud storage providers does offer a free and
- 03:59 somewhat limited account for light users.
- 04:02 There are of course many other reasons to use DropBox or
- 04:05 other cloud storage solutions.
- 04:07 Synching and sharing keynote files is only one of the benefits.
- 04:11 Give it a try today.
- 04:13 Share a file with someone to test out how these features could work well for you.
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