What's the best solution for sharing live files with vendors

[meganp46062426]

I have an indd file which lives in our AEM. It has assets linked from totally separate folders within the AEM. Before we got AEM we would package up the file and send a zipped folder to a vendor. Obviously that creates a duplicate file and assets which is not ideal. What's the best way to handle this with an AEM share link so we're not creating duplicates?

[FreedomMarketin]

This is a good question.  I can share approach on which we coach our clients--may or may not apply depending on how your INDD file is created and whether you have easy access to Asset Link v1.1 or Desktop App v1.

1) When you're creating the INDD links, you should use Asset Link v1.1 (earlier versions of Asset Link didn't do deep linking, so it wouldn't help your use case) or Desktop App v1.  (For various reasons, Desktop App v2 doesn't support this use case.) The point is that you want the INDD binary pointing at linked files on the DAM.

2) When you're ready to package the INDD file, you can check it out (if you're using Asset Link) or download it (if you're using Desktop App v1).  The point is you want to get a local copy of the file before you begin to package. You're 100% right that packaging on the DAM creates duplication and isn't best practice.  But the links you created in step 1 should point back to those various locations on the DAM and be able to pull assets back to your local package.

Hope this helps!

Beau

[kautuk_sahni · Accepted solution]

Copying the correct answer by "Beau"

This is a good question.  I can share approach on which we coach our clients--may or may not apply depending on how your INDD file is created and whether you have easy access to Asset Link v1.1 or Desktop App v1.

1) When you're creating the INDD links, you should use Asset Link v1.1 (earlier versions of Asset Link didn't do deep linking, so it wouldn't help your use case) or Desktop App v1.  (For various reasons, Desktop App v2 doesn't support this use case.) The point is that you want the INDD binary pointing at linked files on the DAM.

2) When you're ready to package the INDD file, you can check it out (if you're using Asset Link) or download it (if you're using Desktop App v1).  The point is you want to get a local copy of the file before you begin to package. You're 100% right that packaging on the DAM creates duplication and isn't best practice.  But the links you created in step 1 should point back to those various locations on the DAM and be able to pull assets back to your local package.

Hope this helps!

Beau