Scenario

I host my images on a file-sharing service, but I want direct links to the files so they can be imported into Linnworks. How can I do this?


Solutions

NB! The methods given here for Dropbox and Google Drive are not guaranteed to work as they are workarounds to provide direct public links to files stored on a 3rd party service


Dropbox

Right-clicking a file in a Dropbox folder will give the option Copy Dropbox Link. This will not link directly to the file, but it can be changed to link directly, which can then be used in an import.


 In order to get a direct link, replace www.dropbox.com  with dl.dropboxusercontent.com. 


For example, https://www.dropbox.com/s/72vf8e2f0qx6vw8/Milan4.jpg?dl=0 would become   https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/72vf8e2f0qx6vw8/Milan4.jpg?dl=0.


Google Drive

A similar process can be done with Google Drive, but the sharing settings have to be set correctly for the process to work.

  • Right-click a file in a Google Drive folder and click Google Drive > Share...
  • A new window will open, click Get shareable link.
  • Set the sharing settings to On - Anyone with the link. Depending on your organisation, this may not be the default setting. Click the current sharing option:
    • If the correct option isn't in the drop-down list, click More.
    • Select On - Anyone with the link and click Save.
  • Copy the link and click Done.


The link will look similar to this:

     https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxWiuidTcg6jcEhoUW0xVTRJMGs/view?usp=sharing. 

The highlighted text is the file id. Paste this ID at the end of the following URL: 

    https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=

For example:

    https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0BxWiuidTcg6jZjdYa3BfNEhHc1k


Linking to Files on a Private FTP Server

If your files are on a private FTP server, Linnworks can access them when supplying login credentials as part of the Image URL. Please add your credentials and image location in the following format:

    ftp://username:password@example.com/path/image.jpg


NB! If your username or password contains one of the following characters, please replace them with the following codes to ensure the characters are not associated with the URL of the file:


Character
replace with
:
%3A
@
%40
/
%2F
\
%5C