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Adobe CC Connector for InDesign, Photoshop & Illustrator

Updated

PhotoShelter's Adobe InDesign CC Connector is compatible with InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator, and allows designers to import the files they need from your organization's Library and place them within a project in Adobe CC. When needed, users can switch between low and high-resolution images, re-link files, and upload or replace Library files with the Connector. 

The Adobe InDesign CC Connector is an add-on feature. Please contact your PhotoShelter Customer Success Manager or email our support team for more information.

 

Requirements

  • You need to be able to install new software on your computer. If you can’t, please contact your IT department. 
  • The CC Connector file can only be installed in InDesign. An active Adobe InDesign subscription is required. 
  • Only Admin or Editor accounts are able to log in and authenticate.
  • A license key is required. Please contact our support team to obtain a key.
  • Rosetta 2 is required to install the CC Connector plugin on Apple computers using the Apple silicon M1 chip*. See Adobe's requirements here. 
  • We strongly suggest to disable auto-updating for Adobe Indesign, especially around September of each year (around the time Adobe releases the next year's version). This will allow your CC Connector to work until we distribute the newest Connector made for the next year's version to your organization and will eliminate any down-time.

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Installation

Before installing the Connector, please ensure InDesign is updated to the latest, stable version. Installation of the plugin in Photoshop or Illustrator is not supported. 

  1. Close all Adobe applications
  2. Double-click the PhotoShelter CC Connector installer file and follow the on-screen instructions 
  3. After installation completes, open InDesign
  4. When prompted to activate the Connector using a license key, click YES to activate now
  5. When prompted, log in to your Admin or Editor account and select your Library
  6. To enable the Connector panel in InDesign, select Window > Extensions > PhotoShelter CC Connector.
  7. Users can log out, set preferences and switch between PhotoShelter accounts from the CC Connector flyout menu.

*To enable the CC Connector window in PhotoShop 2023 (v24.1.0) and above, launch PhotoShop using Rosetta:

  1. Navigate to Applications > Adobe PhotoShop 2023
  2. Right click on Adobe PhotoShop 2023.app and select Get Info > Open using Rosetta
  3. Enable the CC Connector panel by selecting Window > Extensions (legacy) 

NOTE: To activate your license later or re-activate with a new license key, select PhotoShelter > Activate in InDesign. 

 

Browsing & Searching

Collections and galleries in your Library will be represented by folders. In the CC Connector panel, users can sort content within folders by clicking the drop-down menu below the folder name. The sort order in the CC Connector should match what's chosen in the Library, but you can re-sort your content by filename, date uploaded, date added to gallery and date created. 

To browse content in your PhotoShelter Library:

  • Double-click a folder to navigate through its corresponding assets
  • Double-click a file to see a preview
  • Click the folder name at the top of the Connector panel to view the folder tree:

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To search for content in your PhotoShelter Library:

Users can search for assets in a Library using the Search icon. Search operators include file name, keyword, collection name or gallery name. 

  • Select the Search icon in the Connector panel
  • Type your search term and click Search
  • To place a file from Search results, click to preview the image and use the Place button at the top of the Connector panel

cconnector-search.png

The “File name/Keyword” search operating will only return the image files stored in your PhotoShelter account. If you have video, audio, or other files stored in PhotoShelter, they will not display in the search results.

 

Importing & Placing Files

After locating an asset in the Library or from search results, you can import and place the file into your InDesign project. Multiple files may be placed at once.

  • Select an asset in the Connector panel and use the Place button to place it into your project.
  • To select format-specific Import Options as you place a file, hold down Alt/Option and click the Place button

cconnector-importplace.png

To place multiple files

  1. For consecutive file select: click the first file, hold Shift, then click the last file. For non-consecutive select: click the first file, hold Control (Windows) or Command (Mac) and select your files.
  2. Click the Place button in the Connector panel. As each file is queued for placement, your cursor will display a preview of the first file followed by the number of total files queued. 
  3. You can then place the files in your document

cconnector-placemultiple.png

 

Placing non-image files in InDesign

Non-image files can be placed in your InDesign project using the Place button. The following non-image file formats are supported:

  • DOC, DOCX
  • XLS, XLSX 
  • TXT
  • RTF
  • CSV

The following non-image file formats are not supported:

  • DNG
  • Video and audio files
  • PPT, PPTX
  • ZIP
  • XML
  • Other miscellaneous file types

Uploading Edited Files to PhotoShelter

InDesign:

The CC Connector allows users to import an INDD file, edit the file, then re-upload it to a Library after saving it locally. This action does not replace the original file in the Library. 

  1. Using the Connector, select an INDD file from your Library
  2. After making edits to the file, click File > Save to save it locally
  3. In the Connector flyout menu, select Upload to PhotoShelter > Upload new file
  4. Select your INDD file and click Upload

Photoshop & Illustrator

In Photoshop and Illustrator, users can choose to Replace a file after saving it locally. Replacing an image will remove any existing IPTC metadata, custom metadata, and License Expiration Date metadata applied to the original image file in PhotoShelter. It will be replaced with any metadata embedded in the replacement image that you upload via the Connector.

  1. Using the Connector, select a PSD or AI file from your Library
  2. After making edits to the file, click File > Save to save it locally
  3. In the Connector flyout menu, select Upload to PhotoShelter > Upload new file
  4. When prompted, select Upload new file or Replace

Switching between Low-res and High-res Links

While working in InDesign, users can switch to the high resolution version of a PhotoShelter file before packaging for pre-press, or when more image detail is needed. To work quickly, users can revert links to low resolution.

To enable the Links window in the Connector:

  1. In InDesign, click Window > Links
  2. Choose Panel Options from the Links window flyout menu
  3. Next to PhotoShelter, check Show Column and Show in Link Info > OK

Screen_Shot_2022-03-14_at_3.30.16_PM.png

In the PhotoShelter column, low resolution links are indicated using the staircase icon, and high resolution links are indicated with the semi-circle icon.

ccconnector-links.png

To switch between low and high resolution links:

  1. In the Links window, double-click the resolution icon to switch between low and high resolution versions of your files
  2. To revert all files to a different resolution, hold Option/Alt key and double-click any file

NOTE: Reverting between file resolutions can take several minutes and is dependent on your internet and computer speed as well as the number of linked files in your document.

 

Re-linking Files in InDesign

After re-opening an InDesign file, you may need to update the links for any PhotoShelter files you previously imported into your project. This is indicated with the following prompt:

Screen_Shot_2022-03-10_at_5.02.45_PM.png

To re-link your files, click the flyout menu on the Links window and select Update All Link States:

updatelinkstates.png

 

Uninstalling the CC Connector

Mac (OSX)

You might need to uninstall if you tried to install the CC Connector into an unsupported version of Adobe Creative Cloud. The CC Connector is only supported on the most recent version of Adobe Creative Cloud.

It is not required to follow these uninstall procedures when installing an updated version of the CC Connector. The Mac installer will replace the previous installation for you. 

Windows 

You might need to uninstall if you tried to install the CC Connector into an unsupported version of the Adobe Creative Cloud. The CC Connector is only supported on the most recent version of Adobe Creative Cloud.
 
If there is a new version of the CC Connector that you'd like to upgrade to, you'll need to uninstall your current Connector version first. The Windows installer does not automatically remove previous versions of the Connector.

Mac (OSX)

  1. Close all Adobe applications
  2. Open a Finder window
  3. Choose Go to Folder from the Go menu at the top of your screen
  4. Enter /Library/Application Support/Adobe/CEP/extensions/
  5. Click Go
  6. Delete the PhotoShelterCCConnector folder
  7. Choose Go to Folder from the Go menu at the top of your screen
  8. Enter /Applications/Adobe InDesign CC 2022/Plug-Ins/
  9. Click Go
  10. Delete the SiliconConnectorPhotoShelter folder 

Windows

You can use the Windows Control Panel to uninstall the CC Connector like you would any other application.

If you need to uninstall manually, delete the following folders:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\CEP\extensions\PhotoShelterCCConnector
​C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CC 2022\Plug-Ins\SiliconConnectorPhotoShelter

 

Troubleshooting & FAQ

I’ve installed the Connector, but I can’t open or place PhotoShelter files with it
You likely need to update your applications to the latest version of Creative Cloud.

  1. Open the Adobe Creative Cloud application
  2. Update InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator to their latest versions
  3. After the updates have finished, uninstall the CC Connector
  4. Reinstall the CC Connector
  5. Retry opening or placing PhotoShelter files

I'm seeing an "Unable to activate with the license key provided" error

This error will show if either:

  1. You've entered the license key incorrectly. You may need to manually type the license key to be sure there are no extra invisible characters picked up when using copy/paste.
  2. There isn't access to the licensing server for the plugin. This could be because of a firewall. Make sure https://licensing.siliconpublishing.com is whitelisted. It uses the standard https port, 443.
  3. You use a proxy, and the Connector hasn't auto-detected its settings. To configure your proxy, edit the SCxxx.properties file for your Connector. (i.e. SC.properties or SCLibris.properties, etc.) This file can be found at:

Mac: /Users/username/Library/Preferences/SiliconConnector/SCxxx.properties

Windows: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\SiliconConnector\SCxxx.properties

When activating the CC Connector with my license key, I receive the following error: "Error 7-0; Unable to connect to the activation server."

Your IT team may need to whitelist the activation endpoints due to a firewall or proxy setting on your network. Those endpoints are:

After whitelisting the endpoints, re-open InDesign and activate the Connector with your license key.

My files are “Temporarily Unavailable”
Your session has expired and you need to log in again:

  1. Choose Log Out from the Connector flyout menu
  2. After the confirmation, open the flyout menu again and choose Log In
  3. Enter your PhotoShelter email and password

My PhotoShelter files are “Not Authorized” or “Inaccessible” in the InDesign Links window
If you’ve just re-opened an InDesign file you were working on earlier, your PhotoShelter files may be listed as “Not Authorized” in the Links window. To update the links, select Update All Link States from the Link window flyout menu.

I’ve installed the Connector and logged in, but I can’t see any of my PhotoShelter files
You don’t have PhotoShelter Admin or Editor access to that account. 

I'm unable to open or place DNG files using the CC Connector

Support for DNG files is not offered at this time.

I’ve installed the Connector, but I'm having an issue that's not covered above

If you find a bug or are having a reproducible problem, you may need to send a debugging log file to the PhotoShelter Technical Support team. To get a log file:

  1. Open the Connector in the Adobe application you're experiencing the problem in
  2. Open the Connector flyout menu and click Preferences
  3. Turn on the Write to log file option, then close the Preferences panel
  4. Work through the steps that lead to the problem
  5. Retrieve the log file (e.g. Libris_log.txt) from the Connector files folder (e.g. Libris_connector_files) in your computer's Documents folder, and send it to PhotoShelter Technical Support with a description of the issue you're experiencing
  6. Return to the Preferences panel and turn off the Write to Log File option

If you need to create a log for another problem, click the Clear Log File button in the Preferences panel, then repeat the logging process above.

Note: please do not leave the Write to Log File option turned on after you've sent the log file to Technical Support. The logging process writes a lot of debugging information to disk, and Connector performance will suffer if it's left on.

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