Sharing and downloads
Single asset download
How single file download works for clients.
Enabling downloads for a portal
Downloads are off by default. To allow clients to download files, go to Portal settings → Downloads and toggle Allow downloads on. This applies to the entire portal.
When downloads are enabled, a download button appears on each asset card in the portal. Clients see it on hover in grid view, and as a persistent icon in list view. If downloads are disabled, no download button appears anywhere and clients can only view assets in-portal.
How the download works
When a client clicks the download button on an asset card, boveDAM generates a signed URL pointing directly to that file. The URL is valid for five minutes from the moment it is created.
The file begins downloading immediately in the client's browser. The signed URL cannot be shared — if someone else tries to use the same URL after the five-minute window, it will have expired and the download will not work. This ensures that links cannot be forwarded to people outside your portal.
For example: a client on a logo package portal clicks the download button on an SVG file. boveDAM generates a signed URL for that specific SVG. The client's browser downloads the original file — exactly as it was uploaded, at full resolution, with no re-encoding or format conversion.
Format selection for multi-format assets
If a single asset has been uploaded in more than one format — for example, a logo available as both SVG and PNG — a format picker appears when the client clicks download. The client selects the format they need and the corresponding file is downloaded.
This is useful when you store both a vector master and a raster export of the same asset. Clients can choose the format appropriate for their use — the SVG for a web developer, the PNG for a social media manager — without you needing to maintain separate sections for each format.
Disabling downloads for specific sections
If you need to allow downloads in some parts of a portal but not others, you can override the portal-level download setting at the section level. Open Section settings and toggle downloads off for that section.
Assets in that section will show no download button. Clients can still preview them inline. This is useful when a portal contains both released assets (downloadable) and reference material or work-in-progress files (view-only).
For bulk downloads — letting clients download an entire section at once — see ZIP downloads.