Uploading Files on the Mobile App
Once you've created your account on Permanent.org and created your first archive, you can upload the files that represent the person, group or family, or organization that your archive is about.
What should I upload?
It can feel overwhelming to choose which files to upload first, especially if you are just getting started with creating your archive. What's your most cherished digital file? Is it a digitized photograph of your grandmother? Is it a video of your son's first birthday party? Or is it a PDF of the first draft of your book? Start with that file! You can always go back and add more files as you continue to build your archive. Your Permanent archive can preserve whatever files you (or your family, community, or organization) decide are important.
We like to say at Permanent that if it's made of bits, we'll store it! You can upload any type of file into your Permanent Archive for preservation, and we support many different file types for viewing within your Permanent Archive. You can learn more about file types that we accept and support in this article.
Choose a Workspace
Your Permanent archive contains two options for workspaces where you can upload your files. Your Private Workspace is where you can upload files that you wish to keep privately in your archive. You can navigate to your Private Workspace by tapping the hamburger menu in the top left corner of your screen, then tapping Private Files.
Your Public workspace is where you can upload files that you wish to publish to your Public Archive. You can learn more about your Public Archive in this article. To navigate to your Public Workspace, tap the hamburger menu in the top left corner of your screen and then tap Public Files.
Uploading a file on iOS
To upload a file to your archive on your iOS device, tap the orange plus button in the bottom right corner of your screen, then choose Upload.
There are three ways to add a file in the iOS app:
- Taking a photo or video
- Choosing a photo from the Photo Library
- Browse your device's files
Take a Photo or Video
To take a photo or video and then upload it directly to your archive, tap Take Photo or Video. You will be taken to your device's camera application. If this is your first time using Permanent to capture a photo or video, you may need to allow Permanent access to the camera by clicking Accept.
From the camera application, you can switch between capturing a photo or video by swiping between the Photo and Video options above the capture button. You can also change the direction of your camera by tapping the circular arrows button at the bottom right of your screen. Tap the capture button in the bottom center of your screen to capture your photo or video.
Once you've captured your photo or video, you can confirm the photo or video by tapping Use Photo. You can also choose to retake the photo or video by tapping Retake.
Once you have confirmed your photo or video, it will begin uploading to your workspace.
Choose from your Photo Library
To select and add one or more photos or videos from your camera roll, tap Photo Library. A new window will appear with your most recent photos from your camera roll. If this is your first time selecting images and videos to upload to your Permanent Archive, you may need to allow access to your camera roll by tapping the confirmation button.
You can select images and videos from Resents by tapping Select at the top right corner of your screen, then tapping one or more images or videos within Recents. Selected photos and videos will have a blue check mark in the lower right corner of the thumbnail. You can swipe across rows and columns to select multiple files in a row quickly, or you can also select all by tapping Select All at the bottom of your screen.
If you wish to find images and videos from one of your albums instead of in Recents, you can tap Albums at the bottom of your screen. Choose the album you wish to open, and then tap it to navigate into it. You can use the Select button to select the images and videos you wish to upload.
Please note that you can only select from one album or your Recents album per upload session. If you have multiple files in different locations you wish to upload, start with one album or your Recents album, then start a new upload when you are done for the files in another album.
Once you have selected all of the photos and videos you wish to upload from Recents or from the album you are working in, tap the Upload button at the bottom right corner of your screen.
Browse your device's files
To upload a file from your iCloud Drive, tap Browse. Your iCloud Drive will open on top of your Permanent Archive.
Select the file you wish to upload to your workspace by tapping on it. You can also choose to upload a file from another location on your device by tapping the Browse button in the top left corner of your screen, then choosing from the options in the Browse screen.
Your upload will start once you've tapped on a file to select it.
Uploading a file on Android
To upload a file to your archive on your Android device, tap the orange plus button in the bottom right corner of your screen. There are three ways to add a file in the Android app:
- Upload a file from your device
- Take a photo
- Take a video
Upload a file from your device
To choose a file or multiple files from your device to upload to your workspace, tap the Upload button. You will be taken to your recent files on your device.
Tap the file you wish to upload, or tap and hold to upload multiple files. You can also navigate to other locations on your device from this screen. Once you have selected the files you wish to upload, tap Select in the top right corner. Your upload will begin.
Take a photo
You can take a photo directly in the Permanent app and automatically upload it to your workspace. To take a photo, tap Take Photo. You may need to allow access to the camera if you have not already done so. Once you have allowed access, your camera app will open on top of the Permanent app.
Once you have taken your photo, tap OK to approve the photo and begin the upload. If you wish to retake the photo, tap Retry.
Take a video
You can also take a video directly in the Permanent app and automatically upload it to your workspace. To take a video, tap Take Video. You may need to allow access to the camera if you have not already done so. Once you have allowed access, your camera app will open on top of the Permanent app.
To start the video, tap the record button at the bottom of the screen. You can pause the recording by tapping the pause button, and stop the recording by tapping the stop button. Once you have taken your video, tap OK to approve the video and begin the upload. If you wish to retake the video, tap Retry.
View upload progress and cancel
On both your Android and iOS devices, once you have taken or chosen your files to upload, they will be listed at the top of your workspace under the Uploads progress section during upload. If you change your mind, you can cancel the uploads by tapping Cancel on the right of the Uploads progress section.
Once they have successfully uploaded, the files will appear in the list of files in your workspace with an orange icon as the thumbnail to indicate that the files are processing. It may take a few minutes for the files to process before you are able to view the files in your archive.
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