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Trial and purchaseComplete the File safety tutorial
See where your data lives, how to back it up and how to move it to a new laptop, then confirm each point.
Before you start
- You have confirmed the data note.
Steps
Read step 1, Where your data lives, and click Show in File Explorer if you want to see the folder. Then click Next.
It shows YOUR ROOT FOLDER and what is INSIDE IT: Projects, one folder for each project with its data, drafts and attachments; Backups, copies you make with Create Backup; and Global Idea Vault, ideas you keep across projects. It ends: Everything you create is inside this one folder. Remember this location. The bottom reads Step 1 of 4 · mandatory.
Read step 2, Back up the root folder to Google Drive, and click Next.
Install Google Drive for desktop, or your preferred cloud or external disk tool. Choose the root folder as a folder to sync, or copy it into your Drive folder. Check in the Drive website that your projects appear. Repeat after every working session, or turn on automatic sync. A note says: Close OpenFrame (or Create Backup) before copying so files are complete. An external drive works as well as Google Drive. Back returns to step 1.
Read step 3, Moving to a new laptop, and click Next.
Copy the whole root folder to a USB disk or Google Drive. Install OpenFrame Studio on the new laptop from the Microsoft Store, signed in with the same Microsoft account. Copy the folder to the new laptop. In OpenFrame, choose Open Project and pick the project inside the folder. A note adds that linked external files, for example a reference photo on another drive, must be copied too, and that OpenFrame lists missing ones after opening.
On step 4, Final check, tick the three boxes.
The three statements are: I know where my root folder is. I will back it up to Google Drive or an external disk regularly. I know I must copy the folder myself when I change laptops. Finish is greyed out until all three are ticked.
With all three boxes ticked, click Finish.
The progress at the top shows each step done: 1 Where it lives, 2 Back up, 3 New laptop and 4 Check.
Read the welcome, then click OK.
The title is Welcome to the OpenFrame Studio family. It says: Thank you for backing independent filmmaking. Be a part of our community. It lists Instagram, YouTube, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, Discord and Threads, all as @openframestudio. OK, or the x, closes it.
What you get
You have finished the tutorial and you are back in your project, with the full version.
Watch out for
- The four steps are required. You cannot skip them. Go through them in order. Back returns to the step before.
- Back up your root folder regularly. A copy on the same computer does not protect you.