Pics.io is offering 3 storage options that can be used for storing your digital files. One of them is Amazon Simple Storage Service or Amazon S3 (available on all subscription plans).
Amazon S3 is a storage service that offers industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance.
If your team is using AWS for storing the content, you can connect it to Pics.io for further file management. As well as with Google Drive, Pics.io doesn't limit you on the file number and size. In case you need more space, you can always upgrade on the Amazon side.
How do integration and synchronization work?
As well as with Google Drive, Pics.io is using Amazon S3 for storing your digital files and doesn't charge for the storage. If you need more space, you can always upgrade your billing plan on the AWS side. There is a total synchronization between Pics.io and your S3 bucket. If you upload or update any content in your Pics.io library, the changes are automatically saved back to your Amazon S3 bucket.
In case you're using Pics.io UI to upload your assets, no extra actions are needed. However, if you need to manage files directly from the S3 bucket, it's necessary to synchronize the changes manually. Currently, autosync is not available for Amazon S3 users, so you need to perform a manual sync to see the updates in your Pics.io library. Learn how to make manual sync in Pics.io.
Unlike with Google Drive, thumbnails for all supported file formats are generated by the Pics.io system and are actually stored in your S3 bucket.
You may also refer to our simple instructions on how to use Amazon S3.
How to start using Amazon S3 as storage in Pics.io?
That’s easy. When registering at Pics.io you need to do the following steps:
select Amazon on the storage screen;
provide your S3 credentials (AWS access key ID and AWS secret access key);
NB! Please make sure that the provided credentials have the following essential permissions:
AmazonS3FullAccess — requires access and manage S3 storage
click on the ‘Connect’ button;
choose the existing bucket you want to connect to Pics.io or allow Pics.io to create a new one;
if you choose the existing bucket, wait till the data is synchronized to Pics.io;
click on the ‘Finish’ button.
Once done, you may proceed with uploading files to your Pics.io library directly.
How to configure the integration with Pics.io on the Amazon side?
For the integration between your Pics.io library and Amazon S3 to work smoothly and correctly, it's necessary to configure the corresponding permissions to the bucket. You may always refer to Amazon S3 documentation for more details. Besides, when creating a new bucket, we recommend choosing the region which is closest to your current location.
Additionally, ensure that changes within the bucket are allowed to happen - head to the bucket properties and disable the ‘Object lock‘ feature.
New bucket
When creating a new bucket on the third step ‘Set permissions’, make sure that the following checkboxes are enabled:
Locate 'Object Ownership' and check 'ACLs disabled (recommended)'
Before doing so you need to enable the checkbox at the top ‘I acknowledge that the current settings may result in this bucket and the objects within becoming public’.
If you decide to provide Pics.io with access to one specific bucket only, please make sure that all these S3: permissions required for Pics.io to operate with the bucket of your choice are granted:
s3:GetBucketCORS
s3:PutBucketCORS
s3:GetBucketAcl
s3:GetBucketLocation
s3:ListBucket
s3:PutObject
s3:GetObject
s3:DeleteObject
s3:GetObjectTagging
s3:PutObjectAcl
s3:PutObjectTagging
Remember that while sharing assets via a website customized with your company domain name as a web address, it's required to add this custom domain to the CORS configuration of your bucket.
I have issues with uploading files via the mobile app. What should I do?
If you faced any problems while uploading assets to your Pics.io library via mobile app, please make sure that the CORS settings in your S3 bucket are set up in the following way:
[
{
"AllowedHeaders": [
"*"
],
"AllowedMethods": [
"PUT",
"POST"
],
"AllowedOrigins": [
"https://pics.io",
"https://*.pics.io",
"https://picsio.local",
"capacitor://picsio.local"
],
"ExposeHeaders": [
"ETag"
]
},
{
"AllowedHeaders": [
"*"
],
"AllowedMethods": [
"GET"
],
"AllowedOrigins": [
"*"
],
"ExposeHeaders": []
}
]
These are the fields required:
After you have indicated these URLs, try to upload files again. If the issue still persists, please contact support@pics.io for further investigation.
Are there any limitations for Amazon S3 storage?
There are some restrictions on the Amazon S3 side that are to be applied to some features in Pics.io. Here is the list of these restrictions:
There is no automatic synchronization from your S3 bucket to Pics.io, only a manual one is available.
Assets with identical file names cannot be located in the same collection.
The full path to a file (e.g. ‘MyTeamLibrary/collection/subcollection/filename.jpg’) is limited to 1024 symbols.
File/collection name may contain all letters, numbers (0-9), symbols ( _ ( ) ! ? ' & , . * ' )
Max number of symbols in .docx, .doc, .pdf, .txt files is limited to 16 millions.
Some file formats are currently not supported.
NB! Most of the above-mentioned limitations will be eliminated in the next releases.
If you face the error with the 'Access control list (ACL) disabled for bucket' description, please follow these steps:
Open the bucket connected to your account and select 'properties'
Locate 'object ownership' and press 'edit'
Check 'ACLs enabled' and 'I acknowledge that ACLs will be restored'
For more information, you are welcome to check out the screenshots below.
How can I change the current storage option?
We strongly recommend choosing the storage workspace before starting to work with the Pics.io DAM platform. So that you won’t have to migrate from one storage to another. In case you decide to change your current storage type (migrate from Google Drive to Amazon S3 or vice versa), please contact us at support@pics.io and we will be happy to help.
Alternatively, you are welcome to try our own Pics.io cloud storage platform based on Amazon S3 storage.
Does Pics.io support the S3 lifecycle policies?
Unfortunately, Pics.io does not manage storage classes and lifecycle policies. This means that as long as the object is in the bucket, it will be available. There may be problems with downloading assets that have been moved to 'Cold Storage' (Glacier and Deep Glacier) since there is no immediate access to them. Also, if the object was in 'Cold Storage' at the time of synchronization with Pics.io, then some operations that require immediate access to assets may end with an error.
Besides, Pics.io doesn't support connecting multiple buckets at the same time.