Storage and integrations
This settings area covers two things: Storage, where you review your cloud usage, tune upload compression, set trash retention, and optionally connect a local folder, and Integrations, where you add your own API keys for stock media providers. They live as separate items in the settings sidebar, grouped on this page because both shape where your media comes from and where it lives.
Inside the Storage section, four horizontal sub-tabs organize everything: Usage, Performance, Retention, and Provider.
Quick overview
- Review your cloud storage usage on the Usage tab, broken down by images, video, and audio.
- Choose whether uploads are compressed automatically on the Performance tab.
- Set how long deleted items stay in trash on the Retention tab.
- Optionally connect a local folder on your own machine from the Provider tab, for extra storage outside your cloud pool.
- Add your own stock provider keys in the Integrations section so stock search uses your own account.
Storage
Cloud usage
Every plan includes a free cloud storage pool. The free tier baseline is 1 GB; paid plans raise it (see Storage and quotas). A usage meter shows how much of it you have used, split into a segmented bar by media kind (images, video, audio), each with its own color and byte total, plus a running count of media items.
| State | Usage | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| OK | Under 80% | The meter fills normally, no warning |
| Near the limit | 80% to 95% | A warning badge appears on the meter |
| Almost full | 95% and up | A banner appears across the top of every page in the workspace, not just here |
| Full | 100% and up | New uploads to cloud storage are paused |
A single upload is allowed to push your usage up to 105% of the limit rather than being rejected right at the boundary, so the file that puts you over stays cloud-hosted instead of failing partway through. Once usage is already at or over 100%, the next upload is blocked outright, unless a local folder is connected, in which case new uploads route there instead.
The bar counts only cloud-hosted media. Anything written to a connected local folder is a separate allowance and does not fill this pool.
Upload compression (Performance)
The Performance tab controls whether images are shrunk in your browser before they upload, so they take less space, transfer faster, and do not tax your machine. It applies to both workspace uploads and editor uploads, and it saves to your account (no Save button).
| Control | Options | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic compression | On (default) / Off | The master switch. Off leaves everything below untouched and greyed out. |
| Compression intensity | Light, Balanced, Maximum | Light is near-lossless and only shrinks large files; Balanced is the recommended size-to-quality trade-off; Maximum makes the smallest file and can be noticeable on close inspection. Each option lists its maximum dimension and quality. |
| Skip small files (advanced) | None, 100 KB, 200 KB, 500 KB | Images under the chosen size are already small and are left as-is, preserving their quality. |
| Output format (advanced) | Auto (WebP), Keep original | Auto converts to the most efficient format and preserves transparency; Keep original only resizes without changing the source format. |
The advanced controls live under a collapsible Advanced section and are disabled while automatic compression is off.
Compression happens on your machine, before upload
Images are shrunk in your own browser, so what leaves your device is already the smaller file. That saves both your cloud pool and your upload bandwidth, and it is why the setting applies equally to workspace and editor uploads.
Trash retention
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Never | Deleted items stay in trash indefinitely, automatic clearing is off |
| 7 days | Cleared 7 days after deletion |
| 14 days | Cleared 14 days after deletion |
| 30 days | Cleared 30 days after deletion (default) |
| 90 days | Cleared 90 days after deletion |
The retention period applies to both deleted designs and deleted media. Restore anything you still need before its retention period runs out, from Project details and trash.
Connect your own folder (bring your own storage)
On the Provider tab you can connect a folder on your own machine as an additional storage pool, separate from your cloud allowance. This uses the File System Access API, a browser capability available only in Chromium-based desktop browsers: Chrome, Edge, and Brave. It is not available in Firefox, Safari, or on mobile, the card explains this instead of offering a connect button.
Connection states
| State | What you see |
|---|---|
| Checking | A placeholder while the browser is asked whether a previously granted folder is still available |
| Unsupported | A message pointing you to a Chromium browser |
| Disconnected | A Connect button that opens the setup wizard |
| Needs permission | A badge and a Renew permission button, happens when the browser drops folder access, for example after a restart |
| Connected | A status panel: last sync time, file and error counts, folder structure, and management actions |
Setting it up
- Choose a folder. Pick a new one, or re-pick a folder you used before, an existing backup is detected automatically and updated in place rather than duplicated.
- Choose what syncs. Toggle media (optionally narrowed to specific kinds: images, video, audio) and full projects independently, optionally nest everything inside a subfolder so your chosen folder does not get cluttered, and pick a quota.
- Sync. A progress bar tracks files as they are written, the result reports how many synced, how many were skipped because they had not changed, and any errors.
| Quota | Notes |
|---|---|
| 5, 10, 25, 50, or 100 GB | Preset choices |
| Unlimited | No cap enforced by the app, only your disk's own free space limits it |
| Custom | Any whole number from 1 to 5000 GB |
The local quota is a separate allowance from your cloud pool. It adds capacity alongside your cloud storage rather than raising the cloud limit itself. Projects are written as real project files (plus a cover image), and media is written under its own folder, so a connected folder doubles as a plain-file backup you can open outside the app.
If the sync runs out of room
If your disk fills up, the sync stops and reports how many files it wrote before space ran out. If your chosen quota is reached instead, the sync stops and skips the rest without touching your disk further. Either way, files already written are kept.
Keeping it in sync
Once connected, you can re-sync on demand, edit the scope you chose during setup, or verify the folder against what is expected. A routing toggle controls new uploads going forward: off (the default) sends new media to the cloud pool first and only overflows to the local folder once the cloud pool is full, on sends new media straight to the local folder. Any sync operations attempted while offline or before permission was granted are queued and can be flushed once you reconnect.
Verify and repair
| Result | Meaning | Action available |
|---|---|---|
| Consistent | The file on disk matches what is expected | None needed |
| Missing | An expected file is not on disk | Repair, which re-syncs the missing files |
| Conflict | The file on disk has changed since the last sync | Keep the disk version, or overwrite it with the cloud version |
| Orphan | A file exists on disk that is not tracked | Clean up, which removes the orphaned files |
Verifying re-requests folder permission first, since the browser can revoke access at any time. Disconnecting removes the app's link to the folder, files already written to disk are left alone.
Other providers (not yet available)
Below the local-folder manager, the Provider tab also shows cards for cloud back-ends (a personal Drive space and a self-hosted S3-compatible bucket). These are labeled Coming soon and their Connect buttons are disabled, so a local folder is currently the only storage you can actually connect here. Do not plan around the cloud cards until they ship.
Integrations
In the separate Integrations section you add your own API keys for stock providers, each obtained for free from the provider directly. The keys are grouped into Photo and video, and Audio.
| Provider | Field | Get it from | Media |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsplash | Access Key | unsplash.com/developers | Photos |
| Pexels | API key | pexels.com/api | Photos and video |
| Pixabay | API key | pixabay.com/api/docs | Photos and video |
| Freesound | API Key | freesound.org/apiv2/apply | Sound effects |
| Jamendo | Client ID | devportal.jamendo.com | Music |
Keys are entered as masked fields and saved together with one Save button. You do not need all five, once any one is saved, stock search for that media kind in the media library uses your own account and quota instead of a shared one, from the Photo, Video, and Music tabs of the stock search.
How to use it
Connect a local storage folder and see how much of your quota it uses
- Open Settings, choose Storage, then the Provider tab. If the card says your browser is unsupported, reopen the workspace in Chrome, Edge, or Brave on desktop.
- Press Connect. In the wizard, choose New folder (or My previous folder to reuse and update an earlier backup), and pick a folder in the browser's picker.
- On the scope step, decide what to back up: media (optionally just some kinds), projects, whether to nest everything in a subfolder, and a quota (a preset like 25 GB, Unlimited, or a custom value up to 5000 GB). Press Start sync.
- Watch the progress bar. When it finishes, the panel shows the last sync time and file count, and a small usage bar reads bytes written against the quota you chose. That local usage is separate from your cloud pool.
Turn on upload compression to stretch your cloud space
- Open Settings, Storage, then the Performance tab.
- Make sure Automatic compression is on (it is by default). Pick an intensity: Balanced is a good default, Light if you want images almost untouched, Maximum to save the most.
- Optionally open Advanced to skip files under a size (so already-small images are left alone) or force Keep original format. The setting saves itself and applies to your next upload in both the workspace and the editor.
Change how long deleted items stay in trash
- Open Settings, Storage, then the Retention tab.
- Pick a window (7, 14, 30, or 90 days), or Never to keep trash forever. It saves on click and applies to both deleted designs and deleted media.
Use your own stock photo account
- Open Settings and choose Integrations.
- Paste a key into the provider you use (for example Unsplash's Access Key, or Pexels' API key for photos and video), then press Save.
- Open the media library's stock search from the Photo, Video, or Music tab. Results now draw on your own account and quota.
Common tasks
- Free up cloud space: Storage, Performance, set intensity to Maximum; and Storage, Retention, shorten the trash window.
- Back up projects to disk: Storage, Provider, connect a folder with Projects enabled in the scope.
- Route new uploads straight to disk: in the connected-folder panel, turn on Always write new media locally.
- Recover from a dropped folder permission: Storage, Provider, Renew permission.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What is happening and what to do |
|---|---|
| The Provider tab offers no Connect button | Your browser lacks the File System Access API. Use Chrome, Edge, or Brave on desktop; Firefox, Safari, and mobile are not supported. |
| The folder shows "Needs permission" | The browser dropped access, commonly after a restart. Press Renew permission to restore it without re-running the wizard. |
| Sync stopped partway | Either your disk filled up or you hit the quota you set. The result message says which, and files already written are kept. Free up space or raise the quota, then re-sync. |
| Verify reports conflicts | A file changed on disk since the last sync. Choose Keep disk version to trust the disk, or Replace with cloud to overwrite it from the cloud copy. |
| A cloud provider card will not connect | The Drive and S3 cards are "Coming soon" and disabled. Only the local folder connects today. |
| Stock search still uses shared limits | The key did not save, or you searched a media kind you have no key for. Re-check the key in Integrations and press Save. |
| Uploads are blocked at 100% | Your cloud pool is full. Connect a local folder (new uploads then route there), compress harder, or free up space. |
| A transparent image looked different after upload | The Auto format converts to WebP and preserves transparency. If you need the exact source format kept, set Output format to Keep original on the Performance tab. |
| New media landed on disk unexpectedly | Either your cloud pool overflowed to the local folder, or Always write new media locally is on in the connected-folder panel. Turn that toggle off to prefer the cloud pool again. |
Tips
A local folder does not replace trash retention
Connecting a local folder backs up media and projects to your disk, it does not change how long deleted items sit in trash. Both settings work independently.
Reconnect after a browser restart
Chromium browsers can drop folder access after a restart for security reasons. If your local folder shows "Needs permission," a single click on Renew permission restores it without re-running the whole setup wizard.