What is a Share Link?
Share Links are a quick and highly customisable way to securely share content from your library both inside and outside your organization. Canto will generate one of the following types of Share Links for you.
Selective Share Links
- This type is generated when you share individual assets, or when you share content from within another Share Link, Portal, or Workspace.
- Selective Share Links ignore restrictions placed on folders, albums or individual assets, making them accessible even to users who would normally not see them in your library.
-
The content in a Selective Share Link is presented as if it is a single album, and users can adjust the sorting method and gallery view.
Structured Share Links
- This type is generated whenever you share a folder or album.
- Structured Share Links honor restrictions placed on folders, albums or individual assets. As Share Links treat all viewers as anonymous users, restricted content will not be visible.
- Structured Share Links also maintain the folder structure of their content, which visitors can navigate using the folder tree, search bar, and filter menu.
Create a new Share Link
|
Please note: Using share links is tied to the "Share using Link" privilege. If you are unable to use Share Links, please contact your administrator for a review of the privileges assigned to your current user role. |
Share Links created this way will always be Selective Share Links.
For a single asset, hover your cursor over the asset's thumbnail in the gallery, then click the -icon ①. For multiple assets, hover your cursor over the asset's thumbnail, but click the
-icon instead ②.
Repeat this for all other assets you want to share, then click the -icon above the gallery ③.
You can also find the -icon on an the Preview and Information pages.
On the "Share" overlay, select the Share Link option.
Next, click the "New Link" button.
Share Links created this way will always be Structured Share Links.
For a single folder or album, select the item you want to share in the folder tree on the left, then click the -icon at the bottom of the folder tree ①.
Alternatively, select the item's parent folder – this may be Main Library itself – in the folder tree on the left to display its contents in the gallery.
Hover your cursor over your target item's thumbnail, then click the -icon ②.
For multiple folders or albums, hover your cursor over the item's thumbnail, but click the -icon instead ③.
Repeat this for all other assets you want to share, then click the -icon above the gallery ④.
You can also find the -icon on a folder or album's Information page.
On the "Share" overlay, select the Share Link option.
Next, click the "New Link" button.
Share Links created this way will always be Selective Share Links.
Click your profile icon – by default this will be the symbol – to open the "Profile & Settings" menu, then select "Settings".
On the Settings page, select the "Links & Connections" tab, followed by "Share Links" from the menu on the left.
Click on "New Share Link" in the top right to open the "Create New Share Link" overlay.
Share Link settings
The overlay will have the following customization options available.
| Name |
This is a required field. The name will not be visible to visitors of the Share Link, but is used internally to differentiate Share Links from one another. |
| Expiration Date |
This is a required field. Share Links can be set to expire at a certain date, after which they will be inaccessible. You may either select a date from the calendar, or check the box next to "Never" to keep the Share Link available indefinitely. |
| Enable Download Original * | Selecting this option enables visitors to download exact, full resolution copies of the shared assets. |
| Enable Crop & Resize & Compress * | Selecting this option enables visitors to reformat shared assets before they are downloaded. |
| Enable Presets * | Selecting this option makes any download presets on your tenant available on the Share Link. |
| Notify Me when Link is Accessed | Selecting this option will send an email notification to the creator of the Share Link when it is acessed. |
| Enable Password | Selecting this option will require any visitor to enter a password before they can access the Share Link. You may either enter a password of your choice, or use the password that is generated for you. You can click the |
| Display Shared by Information |
This option is only available on Selective Share Links. Selecting this option will display the username and email address of the user who initially created the Share Link. |
| Apply Watermark |
This option is only available when content is shared from the Main Library. Selecting this option will automatically apply one of your tenant's watermarks to all assets in the Share Link. |
| Enable Sharing Options |
This option is only available on Structured Share Links. Selecting this option enables visitors to further share assets from the Share Link using either email sharing or another Share Link. |
|
Please note: The options "Enable Download Original", "Enable Crop & Resize & Compress" and "Enable Presets" are available only to users with the "Download Content" privilege. If a user without this privilege adds content to a new or existing Share Link, the option to download content from the Share Link will automatically be disabled. To restore download functionality, a user with the "Download Content" privilege must edit the Share Link – either via the tenant Settings page or by adding content – and reactivate at least one of the "Enable Download Original", "Enable Crop & Resize & Compress", or "Enable Presets" options. |
Once you are satisfied with the options, click "Create Link".
You will now be shown the URL of your new Share Link, which will also automatically be copied to your clipbard. You can also click the URL to open the Share Link in a new browser tab. Once you are done, click "Close".
Manage Share Link content
Add content
Adding content to an existing Share Link works almost exactly as creating a new Share Link. First, follow the steps for individual assets or folders and albums in the section "Create a new Share Link".
When the "Share Link" overlay appears, choose "Existing Link" instead of "New Link."
You will see a list of existing Share Links. Depending on the privileges granted to your user role – please see the article "User privilege index" for more information – and the type of content you intend to share, only some of your Share Links will be available for selection.
|
Please note: Individual assets can only be added to Selective Share Links, while folders and albums can only be added to Structured Share Links. It is not possible to add content to a Share Link created from within a Portal or Workspace if the selected content is not part of that Portal or Workspace, or to Share Links that were created from within another Share Link. |
Find the Share Link you want to add your content to, then click the "Select" button on the right.
You may now make changes to the settings of the Share Link you selected, and copy the Share Link's URL by clicking the "Copy to clipboard" button in the top right.
Click "Add Files" to confirm the update and close the overlay.
Remove assets
|
Please note: The option to delete content from a Share Link is only available to users with the "Modify Share Link" or "Manage Share Links" privilege. Anonymous visitors are not able to remove content from a Share Link. |
Selective Share Links support the option to remove assets. Removing an asset from a Share Link does not affect the original asset in the Main Library.
First open the Share Link. If you do not have the URL of the Share Link at hand, follow the steps in the section "Manage existing Share Links" to retrieve it.
Hover your cursor over the asset you want to remove, then click the -icon in the top right. Repeat this step for any other assets you want to remove
Click the -icon in the top right.
On the confirmation dialog click "Apply" to update the Share Link.
Manage existing Share Links
|
Please note: The actions described in this section are only available to users with the "Manage Share Links" privilege. |
Share Links can be managed through the tenant Settings.
Click your profile icon – by default this will be the symbol – to open the "Profile & Settings" menu, then select "Settings".
On the Settings page, select the "Links & Connections" tab, followed by "Share Links" from the menu on the left.
You will see a list with detailed information about all your existing Share Links.
| Shared by | This column shows the name of the user who initially created the Share Link. |
| Name | This column shows the Share Link's name. |
| Share Date | This column shows the date the Share Link was initially created. |
| Access Date | This column shows the date the Share Link was last accessed. |
| # Files | This column shows how many assets are part of the Share Link. |
| Shared from | This column shows where the shared assets were originally located. A Share Link created from a Portal or Workspace will show the name of the Portal or Workspace it was created from. Share Links that were created from within another Share Links will show "Portal" with a random character sequence as the name. |
| Shared to | This column shows the URL of the Share Link. |
| Expires | This column shows if and when the Share Link will expire. |
Update a Share Link's settings
Find your Share Link in the list, then click the -icon on the
Use the "Share Links" overlay adjust the options to your liking, then confirm your changes by clicking the "Save" button.
Bulk edit expiration dates
Due to the variations in the available settings caused by a Share Links origin and type, the only item that can be adjusted for multiple Share Links at once is the expiration date.
Select the checkbox to the left of the Share Links you want to adjust, then click the -icon in the top right.
Enter the new date – or select "Never" – and click the "Save"- button.
Delete a Share Link
Find the Share Link you want to delete in the list, then click the -icon on the right.
On the confirmation dialog, click "Yes" to delete the Share Link.
Set Share Link defaults
Your tenant's Share Link settings enable you not only to select which options are pre-selected when creating a new Share Link, but also provide you access to two additional options.
| When sharing an album or folder in its entirety, assets in the Pending status will appear |
If this option is enabled, assets with a Pending status will be visible to visitors of a Share Link, even if these assets would normally be hidden from them in the Main Library due to their role. |
| Display Metadata |
This setting defines which, if any, asset metadata will be visible on a Share Link. Once this option is enabled as a default, you may still choose to disable it for individual Share Links. |
Click your profile icon – by default this will be the symbol – to open the "Profile & Settings" menu, then select "Settings".
On the Settings page, select the "Configuration Options" tab, followed by "Defaults" from the menu on the left.
Select the "Other Options" tab, and scroll through the page until you find the "Share Links" section.
Once you have adjusted the settings to your preference, click "Save" in the top right.
Video Tutorial: Add a password to a Share Link
The below video demonstrates how to apply a password to a Share Link. Please be aware, that Canto's interface has changed since this video was originally recorded.