How To Backup Your Art (And Anything Else) With SpiderOak

Posted on August 28, 2011

In case you’ve never heard of it before, SpiderOak.com is cloud storage site which gives you 2GB of backup space. You use their app to select which folders/files you want to backup and the app does the rest. You can also share all/parts of your backup with your friends/clients. Here’s how I backup my artwork to SpiderOak:

First things first, you need to create a free account with SpiderOak. Once you’ve done that you’ll have access to their downloads page to get their app from. After you’ve installed their app don’t choose new user, choose ’1st Device’. Fill in the details the app asks for and, after you’ve done all that, the app will start and you’re ready to backup!

SpiderOak on first run, giving you quick backup options.

Initially the app gives you the quick option to backup all your Pictures, Movies etc. If, like me, you only want to back up certain things you need to click the ‘Advanced’ button at the top right of the app.

My files are selected and uploading.

Now simply tick the boxes beside the files/folders you want to backup, keep a close eye on the bar at the bottom of the window it tells you how much space your backup will take and how much space it will leave you on SpiderOak. Once all your files are chosen, click the SAVE button.

That’s it! You’re ready to begin uploading  your backup to the SpiderOak website. To see how much SpiderOak has uploaded, or if it’s working at all, you can click the STATUS tab.

By default the ‘frequency’ of backups is set to automatic. This means that it’ll upload changes shortly after they’re made. One good thing about SpiderOak is that it only uploads the changes. It doesn’t upload again a big file, only the parts that have changed making for shorter uploads.

It's probably best to set SpiderOak to load on startup.

I’d recommend changing the PREFERENCES (top right of the app) to have SpiderOak load on startup so that it’s always there and uploading your changes.

I have my paintings in one folder and my comic/cartoon art in another folder. What I did with my comic/cartoon folder was to click the SHARE tab, fill in some details and SpiderOak gave me a special URL that I can use to share that folder with anyone who has the URL.

One other good thing I just found out about SpiderOak is that if you create a new folder/files in a folder that’s included in your backup, SpiderOak will automatically upload that as part of your backup!

So, now rather than having to try and remember to backup my folder of artwork it’s all done for me automatically!