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The Swivle Agent is a small application that needs to be installed on your local system to make it possible to automatically open files from Swivle into their application for editing. It also automatically updates any changes that you have made to the original file in Swivle.
For details about installing and configuring Swivle Agent, see Installing Swivle Agent.
To learn the basics of how you can edit your files that are stored in Swivle, see Editing files (the check-out and check-in concept).
A more basic and limited way of working with your files that does not require Swivle Agent is explained in The Classic Check-out / Check-in workflow.
Note: For working with InDesign files a dedicated plug-in is available which has been developed to perform specific InDesign tasks efficiently. For more information, see Installing Swivle for InDesign. |
Video: Introduction to the Swivle Agent
Our 2-minute video is a great introduction to the Swivle Agent!
An Overview
As a quick overview of what is described in this article, the following are the main actions for opening a file, editing it in some way, and saving it back to Swivle.
Within Swivle, locate the file that you want to edit.
Select it and in the menu bar click Check out.
The file is now opened in its native application.Edit the file in some way and save it.
Access the Checked-out files page in Swivle and select the file that you want to save back to Swivle.
Do one of the following:
Click Check in to update the original file with the edited file.
Click Replace to replace the original file with another file. This can be the same file but with a different name or file type, or a completely different file.
For full details about this process, see the rest of this article.
Making sure Swivle Agent is running and connected
Swivle shows a status icon next to the 'Checked-out files' button at the top of the screen. When a connection is made, lost or re-established, a notification is shown next to the icon.
Tip: If a connection is not automatically restored, click the icon to manually trigger a connection attempt.
Note: To check out InDesign files, the InDesign plug-in must also be installed. For more information, see Installing Swivle for InDesign.
Checking-out a file for editing
Select one or more files that you want to check out.
Do one of the following:
Click Check out in the menu bar or use the "E" keyboard shortcut.
Right-click a file and choose Check out from the context menu.
The file is checked-out and automatically opened in its default application.
Working with checked-out files
Files that have been checked out can be managed from the Checked-out files page. It can be accessed by clicking 'Checked-out files' at the top of the page.
Figure: The Checked-out Files page.
How files are displayed
The page makes a distinction between the following types of files:
Unedited files
Edited files
Related files
Each type is displayed in a different section on the page (see the figure above).
Unedited files
When a file has been checked-out, it will initially appear as an 'unedited file'. This indicates that no changes have been made to this original file.
Edited files
When the file is edited and saved using the original file type and file name, it appears as an 'edited file'.
Example: A file named flower.jpg is edited and saved as flower.jpg.
Related files
When a file is edited and saved using a different file type or file name, it is seen as a version that is related to the file that was originally checked out.
Example: A file named flower.jpg is edited and saved as flower.png.
These files appear in the 'Related files' panel on the right side of the page.
The number of related files is indicated in a badge at the top of the thumbnail. Selecting the thumbnail will also select the list of files that are related to the file in the Related files panel.
The part of the file name that is different is highlighted in blue.
For example: The image below shows a file named 'Front - Cabin Blend.jpg' that has been checked out and edited locally. The file has then been saved as 'Front - Cabin Blend sepia.jpg'. Therefore, the ' sepia' part is highlighted.
Check in versus replace
It is important to be aware of the slight differences that exist between the options 'Check in' and 'Replace':
Check in is only available for a file that is edited and saved using the original file type and file name (in other words: files that appear in the 'Edited files' section).
Example: A file named flower.jpg is edited and saved as flower.jpg.
Replace is available for all files and allows you to replace the originally checked-out file by a different file. This will typically be a different version of the same file but can potentially be a completely different file.
Checking-in the original file
Checking-in a file can be done when the edited file is saved using the original file name and file type.
Example: A file named flower.jpg is edited and saved as flower.jpg.
Do one of the following:
Anywhere in Swivle:
Select the file and from the menu bar, choose 'Check in'.
Right-click the file and from the context menu, choose 'Check in'.
On the Check-out files page:
On the thumbnail of the file, click the 'Check in' icon.
Select the file and from the menu bar, choose 'Check in'.
Right-click the file and from the context menu, choose 'Check in'.
In the toolbar, click 'Check in: Edited files' or 'Check in: All files'.
The following takes place:
The file is automatically checked in.
The file is unlocked: other users can now check-out the file.
The file is removed from the Checked-out files page.
The file that was downloaded onto your system is removed.
Tip: When Swivle Agent is running but Swivle shows that it is not connected, click the Swivle Agent icon in Swivle to try and re-establish the connection.
As long as there is no connection between Swivle and Swivle Agent, the Replace option needs to be used (see below).
Replacing the checked-out file by another file
It is very common to open a file and to save it under a different name or as a different file type, and then to use that file to replace the original file with.
Example: A file named flower.jpg is edited and saved as flower.png.
Step 1. Do one of the following:
Anywhere in Swivle:
Select a single file and from the menu bar, choose 'Replace'.
Right-click a single file and from the context menu, choose 'Replace'.
On the Check-out files page:
Select a single file and from the menu bar, choose 'Replace'.
Right-click a single file and from the context menu, choose 'Replace'.
In the Related files panel, hover the mouse pointer over the thumbnail and click the 'Replace' icon.
Step 2. Browse to the file that you want to replace the original file with and double-click it or select Open.
The following takes place:
The file is replaced.
The file is unlocked: other users can now check-out the file.
The file is removed from the Checked-out files page.
The file that was downloaded onto your system is removed.
If a related file still exists for the original file, then that related file is shown dimmed in the place where the original file was shown. It will show the text 'File is checked-in' in the thumbnail. If needed, it can still be used to replace the original file with. Remove it from the page by deleting the file from the Related files panel or by clicking 'Abort all' from the toolbar.
Saving an edited version as a new file
After opening a file and editing it, instead of using the edited file to replace the original file with, the edited file can also be saved to Swivle as a new file.
On the Checked out files page, select a file in the Edited files section.
Do one of the following:
From the menu bar, choose 'Save as new'.
Right-click the file and from the context menu, choose 'Save as new'.
The 'Save as new' window appears, showing the location in the Folder browser where the original file is stored.
3. Browse to the folder where you want to save the file and click Save.
The following takes place:
The new file is added to Swivle.
The original file is unlocked: other users can now check-out the file.
The original file is removed from the Checked-out files page.
The original file that was downloaded to your system is removed.
Canceling the check-out of a file
When a file has been checked-out but you decide that no work needs to be done on it, the check-out can be aborted by doing one of the following:
Anywhere in Swivle:
Select the file and from the menu bar, choose 'Abort check out'.
Right-click the file and from the context menu, choose 'Abort check out'.
On the Check-out files page:
On the thumbnail of the file, click the 'Abort check out' icon.
Select the file and from the menu bar, choose Abort check out'.
Right-click the file and from the context menu, choose 'Abort check out'.
In the toolbar, click 'Abort all'.
The following takes place:
The file is unlocked: other users can now check-out the file.
The file is removed from the Checked-out files page.
The file that was downloaded onto your system is removed.