Sending Files and Folders

This topic presents an introduction, both quick-start and detailed procedures, and details an expert user should know.

Introduction

Send others a copy of your source material using the Packages app. Once you send the copy, changes you make to the source material do not affect the copy you send. Changes your recipients make to the copies you send do not affect your source material.

This drawing shows that when you send a package, you send a copy of the package contents as they exist at the moment of sending to each of your recipients. Packages contents are a fixed snapshot.

Note: To troubleshoot transfer issues, see Transfer Issues.

Quick Start

  1. Open the sending form in the Packages app or in the Files app:
    • In the Packages app, click Send files.
    • In the Files app, right-click the file or folder to send, then select Send.
  2. Add recipients.
  3. Enter a subject.
  4. Drag and drop files and folders to the form, or click Upload to browse for files and folders.
  5. Click Send.

Detailed Procedure

  1. Open the sending form in the Packages app or in the Files app:
    • In the Packages app, click Send files to open the sending form.
    • In the Files app, you can:
      • Send one item by right-clicking the item and selecting Send.
      • Send multiple files or folders by selecting each item to send, then clicking Send at the top of the files list.
    Note: You cannot attach an entire folder that has been shared with you; instead, open the folder and attach the contents as individual items.
  2. In the To field, enter recipients (see the Recipients section below).
  3. To send a blind copy, click BCC in the Recipients field to display the BCC field; enter the blind recipients (see the BCC section below).
  4. In the Subject field, give this package a label. This label identifies this package in your Sent list and in your recipients' Inbox lists.
  5. If required, add more files or folders to send using one of these methods:
    • To send content contained in one of your existing packages, click the package row to display the content, then drag the intended files and folders to the file attachment area of the form.
    • Drag content from your computer or a remote source and drop it into the file attachment area of the form.
    • Click Upload, select File or Folder to open your Finder or Explorer and browse for items to attach.
    • Click Upload, select Upload from Files to view files in your Files application. You can select files and folders from any location in your Files app to add to this package.
  6. If you see the Apply watermark toggle, you can switch it to On to apply a digital watermark to enable security and traceability for files in this package.
    Note: Include only supported file types and profiles in a watermarked package. Supported files types are: .ts; .ps; .mpg; .mpeg; .mov; .mxf; .mp4; .m4v. For details on supported profiles, includes file types, dimensions, codecs, and so on, see the Irdeto documentation. If a watermarked package includes unsupported files, your recipient will be unable to download any packages contents. See the Watermarking section below.
    Note: You may be unable to send a watermarked package to recipients who are not members of your workspace. Your admin controls this setting.
  7. To include an optional message with this package, enter it in the Message field.
  8. If you need this content to remain encrypted at the destination, do the following (for more information, see Sending with Encryption at Rest):
    Important: Do not apply encryption at rest to a watermarked package.
    Note: Your administrator may have required encryption at rest for all packages in your workspace; in that case, skip to step c below.
    1. Click Options.
    2. Click Password protection.
    3. Enter and confirm a password for this package. Your recipients must apply this password to decrypt the content.
    4. Deliver the password to your recipients according to your local site security practices.
  9. Set expiration for this package if desired. When the package expires, the content is no longer available to recipients. Your administrator may have given you the ability to set an expiration policy for this package, or to change the expiration policy set globally by the administrator. If you have this capability, you can do the following (for details, see the Package Expiration Policy section below):
    1. Click Options.
    2. Configure package expiration based on a number of days after the user receives it. The smaller the number, the sooner the package is deleted.

      Click the caret under Delete files by time. Select a pre-configured time period or set a customized number of days.

      Note: If you set both policies for this package, AoC deletes the package according to the policy that applies first.
    3. Configure package to expire after all recipients have downloaded it.
      Click the caret under Delete files by download and select After all recipients download the package. When all recipients have downloaded the package, Aspera on Cloud automatically deletes package contents from all recipients' inboxes.
      Note: If you set both policies for this package, AoC deletes the package according to the policy that applies first.
  10. Send notifications about this package if desired (for details, see the Notifications section below):
    1. Click Options; see Notify people.
    2. To notify a user that this package was uploaded to the relevant transfer server and is now accessible by the recipients, enter the username or email in the When the package is available field.
    3. To notify a user that this package was downloaded, either in whole or in part, and by whom, enter the username or email in the When the package is downloaded field.
  11. Do one of the following:
    1. Click Send.
    2. Click More. On the next panel, enter the relevant information into the fields displayed; click Send. See the Sending to a Shared Inbox section below.

Aspera on Cloud transfers the content you selected and notifies the recipients. You can monitor the transfer in the Transfer Activity Monitor.

When the transfer completes, the package displays in each recipient's relevant Inbox list (in My Inbox for packages sent to Aspera on Cloud users, groups, or workspaces; or in the shared inbox) and in the sender's Sent list.

Become an Expert

Overview of Sending Files and Folders

Sending content using Aspera on Cloud is similar to sending an email with attachments.

You can select content to attach (files, folders, video, images, etc.) directly from packages in your Packages app (from any inbox and from your Sent and Archived lists), from your local machine, from a remote source, or from your Files app.

When attaching folders that are in your Files app (rather than on your desktop or a remote source), note the following:

  • You can attach a folder that you uploaded to the Files app yourself.
  • You can attach a folder that you moved to your Files app from a package you received.
  • You cannot attach an entire folder in your Files app that has been shared with you; instead, open the folder and attach the contents as individual items.

Aspera on Cloud collects the content you select into a digital "package" (for details, see What is a Package?), and transfers the package to your recipients when you click Send.

Recipients

You can send a package to either:

  • One shared inbox (enter the shared inbox name)
  • One or more of the following:
    • Aspera on Cloud users in your workspace (enter Aspera on Cloud usernames)
    • Aspera on Cloud groups (enter Aspera on Cloud group names)
    • All members of your workspace (enter the workspace name; your administrator can disable this capability).
    • Aspera on Cloud users outside your workspace (enter Aspera on Cloud usernames; requires specific permission: see "Sending to Outside Users" below)
    • People who are not Aspera on Cloud users (enter email addresses; requires specific permission: see "Sending to Outside Users" below)
Note: You can add recipients to a package already sent. For details, see Adding Recipients to a Sent Package.

BCC

Blind-copy recipients see all standard recipients and the entire message, and receive all attachments. Standard recipients cannot see that the blind-copy recipients are included.

When blind-copy recipients download the attachments, Aspera on Cloud increments the download count in the package summary panel only for the sender and for the blind-copy recipient; standard recipients do not see the download counter increment for blind-copy downloads.

You have the option to send to BCC recipients only, without recipients in the To field.

Sending to Outside or External Users

Depending on the configuration for your workspace, you can send files and folders to the following outside users by entering their email address in the To field of the Send Files form. Depending on the settings configured by your administrator, there may be limits on the outside users to whom you can send. In Aspera on Cloud, 'outside users' or 'external users' are either of the following:

  • Aspera on Cloud users who are not members of your current workspace.
  • People without an Aspera on Cloud account.

When you send content to an outside user, Aspera on Cloud delivers an email notification to your recipient that allows them to access the package. Depending on the settings your administrator has configured for your workspace, the recipient may be required to create an Aspera on Cloud account and log in to access the package. Aspera on Cloud presents a portal that provides access to the package you sent. The recipient does not become a workspace member.

Note:

1) You can also give an outside user access to Aspera on Cloud content by using an Aspera on Cloud public link. A public link shares content rather than sending it in a digital package. For details and a procedure, see Sharing with a Public Link.

2) Aspera on Cloud prompts the outside user to download and install Aspera Connect. For more information, refer to Aspera Connect for Outside Users.

3) You may be unable to send a watermarked package to outside users. Your admin controls this setting.

Sending to a Shared Inbox

See also What is a Shared Inbox?.

To send to a shared inbox, you must either be a member of the shared inbox with Send permission, or you must have a submission link that allows you to send. See Inviting Others to Send Content for details.

If you address a shared inbox by name in the To field, all members of the shared inbox can browse and download the package contents, can forward the package, or save package contents to their own Files app. The administrator may have configured metadata fields to collect information about package contents; if so, the Send Files form presents those to you as a sender when you click Next.

If desired, you can configure an application setting that accelerates your sending to a shared inbox. To configure this setting, do the following:
  1. Click your user icon on the right side of the upper black banner; select Account settings.
  2. In the Applications settings panel, select the check box labeled Autofill the shared inbox name in the 'To' field when I send files from within a shared inbox.
To take advantage of this setting when you are sending files and folders to a shared inbox, do the following:
  1. In the Packages app, enter a shared inbox by clicking the inbox name in the left panel.
  2. Click Send files.
The shared inbox name is automatically entered into the To field, saving you the time of entering it manually.

Watermarking

Forensic watermarking is an anti-piracy solution to prevent and trace illegal content redistribution and security breaches.

The AoC administrator can enable watermarking for packages sent in a given workspace. Once watermarking is enabled in a workspace, the admin can make watermarking required or optional.
  • When required, Aspera on Cloud automatically applies a watermark to all packages sent from the workspace. Watermarking is transparent to the sender.
  • When optional, you can choose whether to apply watermarking to a given package. You can click a toggle on the Send files form to apply watermarking.
In either case, watermarking applies to every file in the package. The watermark allows an integrated watermarking service to identify files outside the expected workflow and determine which individual users are most likely responsible for the piracy.

Supported File Types and Profiles

Every file in a watermarked package must conform to the profiles supported by the watermarking service. Profiles comprise not only file types, but codecs, dimensions, and more; see the Irdeto watermarking service documentation for requirements. If you include unsupported files in a watermarked package, the package recipients will not be able to download any content in the package.

Special Characters Not Supported in File Names

Do not include files that have special characters in their names in a watermarked package.

Working with Watermarked Packages

A watermarked package shows this icon on the package row:

Keep these points in mind as you work with watermarked packages:
  • Recipients of watermarked packages must log in to retrieve the package. Traceability using forensic watermarking requires that users in the content workflow be authenticated. Therefore, package downloads from public links are not supported.
  • Recalled packages: You cannot recall a watermarked package.
  • Draft packages: If a transfer fails to start, AoC moves the package to the Drafts folder. You cannot change the watermarking setting for a package in the Drafts folder.
  • Forwarded packages: When you forward a watermarked package, you may be able to turn watermarking off (depending on admin settings). If you turn watermarking off, the recipients receive a package watermarked for you. If you leave watermarking on, the recipients receive a package watermarked for them. The additional pre-processing required to forward a watermarked package causes a delay in notifying recipients of the forwarded package.
  • Adding recipients to a package: When you add recipients to a watermarked package, the new recipients receive packages watermarked for them. Adding recipients generates an immediate notification to the new recipients.

Package Expiration Policy

Depending on the settings configured for your workspace, you can apply an expiration policy for this package or edit a policy already applied by the administrator. You can apply or edit one or both expiration policy types:

  • Time-based expiration: Setting this policy type causes Aspera on Cloud to delete package contents at a configured number of days after the package transfer completes. For example, if you configure this setting for 10 days, Aspera on Cloud deletes package contents 10 days after the package becomes available to the intended recipients.
  • Download-based expiration: Setting this policy type causes Aspera on Cloud to delete package contents after all recipients have downloaded the package (either the entire package or all the individual contents of the package in one operation), or after any one recipient has downloaded the package.
    For a shared inbox, the download-based policy can either delete or archive the package. Archiving moves the package from the shared inbox to the recipients' Archived tab. Archiving does not delete package content. The admin configures this setting.

If a policy already exists, you can further restrict the policy, but you cannot relax it. For example, if the admin-configured policy calls for expiration after 10 days, you can change the policy for this package to 5 days, but not to 12 days. Similarly, you can apply a download-based policy if one does not already exist, but you cannot remove it if it does exist.

When more than one policy is applied, the package expires or is archived based on the policy that applies sooner.

When a package expires according to the policy, the content is deleted from the transfer server and cannot be retrieved. You can view summary statistics for deleted packages by clicking the package row in your Deleted/Expired list.

When a packages is archived according to the policy, the package is moved from the shared inbox to the recipients' Archived list.

Note: Your administrator may also have configured a separate policy that applies expiration parameters to packages you have sent and recalled and that now exist in Draft status.

Notifications

You can notify specific people or groups regarding package events by configuring notifications directly on the Send Package form.

  • When the package is available: When your package is uploaded successfully to the relevant transfer server, Aspera on Cloud sends a notification to the individuals or groups you list in this field.
  • When the package is downloaded: When a recipient downloads all or part of your package, Aspera on Cloud sends a notification to the individuals or groups that you list in this field. The notification includes the name of the recipient who downloaded.

Individuals and groups you list for notifications do not receive package contents or any message you include; Aspera on Cloud simply sends an email notification that the upload or download has occurred.