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Dropbox Sync: Setup, Permissions, Auto-Import

How Spatiko's Dropbox integration works — the permissions it requests, where order folders live, auto-import mechanics, and original-quality downloads.

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Dropbox is the storage connection Spatiko is built around: every order gets a folder in your Dropbox, finished files flow in automatically, and your clients’ original-resolution downloads come straight from it. This page is the deep-dive on the integration itself — what Spatiko can and can’t touch in your Dropbox, how the folders work, and what auto-import actually does. For the day-to-day workflow view, see cloud storage sync.

Connecting Dropbox

Dropbox is a business-wide connection: an owner or admin (anyone with the integration-settings permission) connects it once from Settings → Integrations, and it covers the whole team. It uses the standard OAuth popup — you sign in to Dropbox, approve the access, and the popup closes itself. How the connect popup works and how connections stay live is covered in how connecting works.

The Dropbox settings panel once connected — who it's connected as and the storage folder Spatiko works inside.

Two things to know up front:

  • One storage connection per business. You can connect Dropbox or Google Drive, not both at once.
  • Connecting isn’t finished until you pick a storage folder. After the popup, Spatiko asks you to choose the folder where it will work (see below). Until you do, the integration stays in a pending state and can’t create folders or import anything.

Cloud storage requires a paid plan — see pricing for what’s included.

What Spatiko can see and do in your Dropbox

When you approve the connection, Dropbox shows you the exact permissions Spatiko requests. There are four:

  • Read files in your storage folder — used to import finished files from an order’s Delivery folder, and to serve original-quality downloads to your clients.
  • Create folders and add files — used to create the per-order folder scaffold, and to place files your team uploads through Spatiko into the right order folder.
  • Create shared links — used for the folder links your outside editors receive, and for a client’s original-quality download.
  • See your account name — your account name, email, and team info, used to show who’s connected and to match Dropbox’s change notifications to your business.
The permissions Dropbox asks you to approve, and what each is used for.

The connection is account-level rather than an isolated app folder — that’s what lets you point Spatiko at any folder you like, including a team space or team folder. In practice, though, Spatiko only ever reads and writes inside the storage folder you choose — anything outside it is never touched or shown to your team.

Spatiko only writes two kinds of things to your Dropbox: the order folders it creates, and files your team uploads through Spatiko — those go from the browser straight into the order’s Dropbox folder, so Dropbox stays the source of truth. It never deletes, moves, or modifies anything else, and it never touches files outside the storage folder.

Choosing the storage folder

Right after connecting (and any time later from the Dropbox settings), you pick the base folder where Spatiko works. If your Dropbox account is part of a team, you can choose your personal space, your team space, or a specific team folder — handy when the whole studio’s files live in a shared team folder.

Order folders are created directly inside this folder. You can change it later with Change folder; from that point new order folders are created in the new location. Files outside the storage folder are never visible in Spatiko.

The per-order folder scaffold

With Automatically create a folder when a new order is placed on (the default), every new order gets a folder named after the property address and client, containing:

  • 01-Raw — originals to be edited
  • 02-Delivery — finished files, ready to deliver

You can define extra subfolders to be created inside 01-Raw and 02-Delivery (say, Photos and Video) in the Dropbox settings, and they’ll be scaffolded on every new order.

The order folder structure editor — subfolders you add here are scaffolded inside 01-Raw and 02-Delivery on every new order.

You can also link a folder you already have to an order, and Spatiko recognizes hand-made or legacy folder names — any subfolder with “delivery” in its name counts as the delivery folder. Renaming an order folder in Dropbox is safe too: Spatiko tracks folders by ID, not just path, and heals the link on its own.

How auto-import works

Auto-import is the toggle Automatically import new files from each order’s Delivery folder in the Dropbox settings. It’s off until you enable it, and it needs the storage folder set first. Once it’s on:

  1. Dropbox notifies Spatiko whenever something changes in your account (a webhook — no polling from your side).
  2. Spatiko waits a short moment so a burst of uploads lands as one batch, then scans what changed since the last sync.
  3. Files sitting under an order folder’s Delivery folder are matched to that order and imported. Expect them on the order within about ten minutes — usually much faster.

An hourly sweep backs up the notifications, so a missed webhook doesn’t mean missed files.

The auto-import toggle, and the activity note an order gets once a batch of files lands.

The fine print, exactly as the sync behaves:

  • Only new files import. The sync starts counting from the moment you enable it — files already sitting in Delivery folders aren’t retro-imported. Use Import on the order to bring those in.
  • Only Delivery folders are watched. Files dropped elsewhere — in 01-Raw, in the order folder root, or in a folder not linked to an open order — are simply skipped. Nothing breaks; import them manually if they were meant for the order.
  • Supported types: photos as JPEG or PNG up to 100 MB; videos in common formats (MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV, and more) up to 5 GB. Other file types (RAWs, PDFs, PSDs) are ignored by the import but are fine to keep in the folder — and if a client needs one of them, you can add it as a deliverable (see below).
  • No duplicates. Each Dropbox file imports once. If an editor overwrites a file with a new version, Spatiko notices the newer timestamp and re-imports it in place — same spot in the gallery, updated image.
  • Photos and floor plans sort themselves. Imported images are automatically classified into the order’s Photos and Floor Plans sections; videos land in Videos.
  • Open orders only. Archived orders and orders in a final status aren’t watched.

Each import is noted on the order’s activity, so you can see what came in and when.

What import does — and why it matters at delivery

Importing a file creates a media item on the order, and Spatiko optimizes it for delivery automatically — no manual exporting on your side. Every photo is available to your client in an MLS-ready high-resolution version for MLS upload and print, and a web-optimized version so galleries and property websites load fast. “MLS” is a size and quality label only: Spatiko doesn’t connect or upload to any MLS or listing service.

Connected cloud storage adds the third option — true full-resolution originals. When a client picks original quality in their gallery, Spatiko serves the files straight from the order’s 02-Delivery folder and they download in one click, from inside the Spatiko gallery. They never touch, see, or need a Dropbox account. The flip side: original-quality downloads depend on the connection staying active, so keep it connected for as long as clients might re-download.

Handing over PDFs, brochures, and CAD files

Not everything a client needs is a photo or a video. On the order, the Virtual Tours & Links section has an Upload file action: pick a PDF flyer, a brochure, a CAD export, and Spatiko puts it in the order’s Delivery folder and lists it on the gallery as a downloadable deliverable, alongside the media.

Two things to expect: photos and videos are rejected here on purpose — they belong in the Photos and Videos sections — and this action needs Dropbox specifically, so it doesn’t appear on Google Drive orders.

One connection for the whole team

Because Dropbox is connected once for the business, your teammates and outside editors never need their own Dropbox accounts or paid seats — the team works through Spatiko, and editors get a share link to the raw files. See cloud storage sync for how this plays out day to day.

Dropbox vs Google Drive

Google Drive can fill the same role, with one big difference: there’s no automatic watcher — Drive imports are something you trigger manually from the order. Drive also uses a narrower Google permission that only reaches files and folders Spatiko itself creates. If you’re choosing between the two, the automatic import is the reason to pick Dropbox. Details in cloud storage sync.

Disconnecting and troubleshooting

  • If the connection expires — say you revoked Spatiko’s access from your Dropbox account settings — the integration is marked Expired and whoever connected it gets an email with a reconnect link. While it’s expired, nothing syncs: no folder creation, no auto-import, and clients can’t download original quality.
  • If your plan drops below cloud storage, the connection is paused, not deleted — it picks back up automatically when you upgrade again.
Dropbox in the integrations table — normal Connected state, and the muted state a plan downgrade leaves it in until you upgrade again.
  • Disconnecting removes the integration and revokes Spatiko’s access on Dropbox’s side. Your files are untouched — everything Spatiko created stays in your Dropbox.
  • After reconnecting, files added to Delivery folders during the gap may not import automatically. Run Import on the affected orders to pick them up.

For how connections are stored and kept live, see how connecting works. If files aren’t appearing on an order, check in this order: is the file in the order’s 02-Delivery folder, is it a supported type and size, is auto-import enabled, and is the integration showing as connected in Settings → Integrations. If you’d rather skip Dropbox for a one-off shoot, you can always upload directly.

Go deeper

Frequently asked questions

Does turning on auto-import bring in files that are already in my Delivery folders?

No — the sync starts counting from the moment you enable it, so anything already sitting in a Delivery folder isn't retro-imported. Use the Import action on the order to pull those in.

What can Spatiko actually see in my Dropbox?

Only the storage folder you pick. Spatiko asks Dropbox for four permissions — reading file contents, creating folders and writing files, creating shared links, and reading your account name, email, and team info — and every file operation is checked to be inside that storage folder. Anything outside it is rejected and never shown to your team.

Can I connect Dropbox and Google Drive at the same time?

No. It's one storage connection per business, so you pick either Dropbox or Google Drive. The practical difference is that Dropbox imports new delivery files automatically, while Google Drive imports are something you trigger from the order.

What happens to my files if I disconnect Dropbox?

Your files are untouched — everything Spatiko created stays in your Dropbox. New folder creation, auto-import, and original-quality client downloads stop while it's disconnected, and after reconnecting you may need to run Import on orders that received files during the gap.