Software Review: Dropbox
Hot on the heels of my NomaDesk review, I had requests to review Dropbox as an alternate way to store and share files online. So come along as we delve the deep dark Dropbox, and I’ll promise to stop with the alliteration.
Much like NomaDesk, Dropbox is like a virtual hard drive that you can store and share files on. It’s a fairly straight forward way to sync your files with the added benefit of being able to access them with any computer with Internet access. Simply drop your files into one of DropBox’s folders and you’re done.
Install
There’s really nothing to installing DropBox, just download and run the program. Everything after that is pretty self explanatory. After you have the program installed you can either use the Private or Public folders to start sharing your files or make new folders. If you are looking to share your files you add users by putting in their email address into DropBox and they’ll be sent out the invitation.
Using the Software
The number one way I use Dropbox is for clients to share large files and images with me while I’m working on a design. You all know how much a hassle email can be when you’re working with a load of photos shot from your client’s 10 MP camera. The free version of Dropbox comes with 2GB of storage which should be plenty for most users, and I have yet to have a client who hasn’t been able to figure out how to share files with me using Dropbox.
Another great use for Dropbox is for collaboration on a project. Whenever a shared filed has been modified, Dropbox will notify you almost immediately with a little popup message. One small downside is that you shouldn’t try and work on the same file at the same time. That will make Dropbox cry.
Dropbox Tips
Dropbox is a great file sharing tool, but here are a few uses that you may not have thought about:
- Access to Favorites – if you want a quick and simple way to access your web bookmarks from any computer, just drop your Favorites Folder into your Private Dropbox Folder. Now you’ll have access to your bookmarks on any computer.
- Share Files from your site – technically you can put a file into your Public folder and share a link from your website so that the whole world can access your Public folder.
- Backups – have certain important files that you need to backup remotely? Drop them in your private folder to back them up instantly.
- Host a Wiki – if you like you can use Dropbox as a simple web server. So anything that can be run from a USB stick, like a small Wiki, can be run from Dropbox.
- Photo Gallery – Dropbox sports a nice built-in photo gallery. Similar to Flickr, it will make thumbnails of your images and set up all the navigation for you.
- Password Sync – I have heard of people using Dropbox to sync their password files. I can’t say I really recommend this unless you are running heavy encryption on the files.
Conclusion
Dropbox is a great little program that is simple enough to use that most clients will not have any problem figuring it out. There is a word of caution, however, that goes along with any information you share on the cloud. Dropbox is only as secure as your password, so don’t share any private information that you can’t afford to lose.
Travis King is a freelance designer and likes to bust out many new and original dance moves. Tell your friends.
I have been using Dropbox for about a month and really enjoy it, however I did fill up my 2GB’s of space so stopped using it.
Thanks for this review, I think I may change the way I use it and maybe start considering it more like an online pen drive or pen drive backup solution.
I’ve been using Dropbox as well, its brilliant and means that I have at least two copies of any important files.
You might want to add that if you refer someone to Dropbox you both get an extra 256mb of space (as if 2GB isn’t enough for free already) which is pretty generous.
I use dropbox every so often but sometimes it seems to take forever to upload things to the server. Sometimes it’s just easier to open up Transmit and ftp whatever it was online, or even email it.
My primary use was just to show people i was talking to at that time something. Didn’t ever use it for anything long-term so space was never an issue.
I’ve been using the same 2GB promotion and I have to say I’m still in the air about it. I’ve got web space of my own set up with an FTP that I use for the exact same purpose. I will say that it’s been useful when I’m in a hurry, and I definitely see the potential.
You’ve covered some points that I wouldn’t have thought of, good article.
A simpler way of syncing folders in Dropbox is to create symbolic links to those folders inside Dropbox, rather than copying or moving them there. Just open the terminal and type ln -s ~/path/to/desired/folder ~/Dropbox/path/to/folder
Also, I’ve found that there’s an easy way to remotely start BitTorrent dowloads with Dropbox: http://blog.gesteves.com/post/84438959/start-bittorrent-downloads-remotely-with-dropbox
One thing that your review and many users seem to miss is the versioning aspect of Dropbox. It’s subtle, and you may not notice it until you need it, but Dropbox keeps backups of everything you upload and every iteration of those files, too. For every file you can choose the “revisions” option in the pull-down menu to see every version of the file you’ve saved AND lets you download any of these previous versions. This is especially useful if you are working on files inside your local Dropbox directory. Each time you save (and you save often, right?) the file is automatically synced to Dropbox and uploaded, BUT Dropbox doesn’t just overwrite, but notes the version and allows you to retrieve these older versions later.
So lately when on some small web projects I work right out of my Dropbox folder. It’s like a seamless poor man’s source control. It’s save me a few times already. And a co-worker was able to restore a corrupt Photoshop file the same way.
Go Dropbox!
Dropbox is the best thing to come out in a while.
While all of the features you pointed out are awesome, the thing that makes it completely worth the upgrade for me is the versioning of each file automatically when you upload it.
When you upload a new file to your Dropbox folder, Dropbox only uploads the changes to the file. On the web interface, you can roll any file back as far back as you’ve had it in the Dropbox. This is awesome.
This has saved me from having “mockup.psd”, “mockup2b.psd”, “mockup_final3c-for-real.psd”, etc.
Completely worth the upgrade fee in my opinion.
i’ve bee using drop box since the 2gb beta, it’s been great. drag, drop, copy & paste link to client.
I’ve been using Dropbox for a decent amount of time now…probably 8 month, and I find it invaluable.
I use it to share files with clients. Generally it’s only been one way though. I need to research their ability to send me items also.
I’ve been using dropbox for quite some time and love it. It’s definitely a plus that it’s simple and intuitive so I don’t have to explain it several times for clients to figure it out. As long as you delete old items to keep it current, there is plenty of storage space.
My business partner and I have been using it to share project files for about 4 months now. I just upgraded to the 50GB plan a few days ago. It’s invaluable to us now, especially being able to pull up an earlier revision of a file for up to 30 days. That’s saved me once or twice!
I love dropbox. Use it all the time.
Drop box is great, however I definitely recommend upgrading its storage capabilities. I found mine to be quickly filled up by images for a single project. Granted it was a a rather large project but I think its worth upgrading. It has a much faster connection than my server. Most of the time.
I tried creating an alias to files or folders in my Dropbox directory, but it does not appear to sync the files within – just the alias file itself. So instance, I’ve created an Automator script to sync the directory twice a day… Not as clean as real-time sync, but still very useful as an automated daily backup!
I use Livedrive – http://www.livedrive.com
Much more professional and faster – and you can get unlimited storage! Even their standard package is 100Gb.
Travis… Great article, as always … I’ve just started using DropBox and love the ease of use…
Dropbox is good idea for synch files across computers platform mac, win, linux.
Simply and useful.
Cant live without it
Dropbox has definitely become a must for me. It saved my ass one time when my USB stick broke down on me during a presentation.
The other big plus is the versioning of files which you missed in your review.
Sorry I forgot to mention the versioning. I did know about it…perhaps I can roll the article back to a different version?
My business partner and I love dropbox. We both work remotely and this allows us to have a virtual server to share project files without being together. We always have the most recent version of files and can roll back changes if we need to. It’s been the best “investment” that we have made for our business being in two completely different locations.
I have a Windows XP and a Linux box, so if I’m doing a lot of heavy processor work on my Windows XP box (Photoshop, etc), I just move to Linux and open files on there through Dropbox. When I’m done, everything’s on both systems.
I also use it when I’m on vacation or out of town through the web interface as well. Though a USB thumb drive is probably a better way for that.
I’ve been using Drop Box for a while and its been great, the versioning has got me out of a pickle a few times and clients find it easy enough to use. An all round great product especially if you do a lot of computer hopping.
I used to use Dropbox and it worked well – just had to remember to copy files/folders to the dropbox folder for it to sync.
I knew I had to sort it out to sync automatically other folders on computer without having to have 2 copies of the files – I read about created symbolic links etc
However I then discovered Syncplicity (http://www.syncplicity.com/) which is similar to Dropbox but you can select any folder on your computer. You get 2Gb free and up to 5Gb if you invite ppl (1Gb per person invited and signed up).
If anyone wants an invite let me know and then I can get those extra Gigs!!
I’ve been using Dropbox, but didn’t know about the versioning and rollback. Thanks guys. Dropbox is great for any type of group work. I used to use Groove, but Dropbox is nice because it’s free and easily accessible.
I’ve been using Dropbox for some time now. I use it to move small files from my Mac to a PC and it has become a replacement to breaking out an external or thumb drive for small file transfers.
Works as stated, only issue I’ve ever had was uploading file via the flash uploader on a PC using Firefox…other then that, I love it for what it does.
I love Dropbox since it was introduced to me. I like that sharing files across the web is so easy through this. I recommended it to my man who is a graphic designer. It allowed him to share close to 300 photos a day with his client. His client purchase an upgrade and he inherited 50gb of space, too without upgrading. How? The client enrolled his computer as one of her own. There are times when their folders are not syncing probably due to the large number of photos shared. They’re using notepad to note if folders are synced or not. But overall, it’s a wonderful online file sharing software. There’s also this really helpful screencast from their website: https://www.getdropbox.com/screencast#screencast
I’ve been using DropBox about 3months now and I love it. I’ve introduced it to a couple of friends and we use it often. It’s great.
I tried creating an alias to files or folders in my Dropbox directory, but it does not appear to sync the files within – just the alias file itself. So instance, I’ve created an Automator script to sync the directory twice a day… Not as clean as real-time sync, but still very useful as an automated daily backup!
I have been using both dropbox and sugarsync for more than a year now and so far I am satisfied with both. Both services are useful for me, especially when file sharing and collaboration are needed in school. Both services also keep my files sync on my macbook air and my PC at home. I only noticed one difference between the two. Dropbox syncs files faster than sugarsync.
I have been using both services especially when we have projects in school that needs collaboration and file sharing. It is very easy to share files/folders between groups of people. Both services also keep an online backup and keep my files sync on my macbook and my PC at home. The iPhone app of both services works great and is very handy.