Using files through third-party apps — Is there a better way?

[PEG_Brian]

Our company does most of our work through Adobe InDesign. Since our products use a lot of art resources, fonts, and other files (many of which are large) we store them in Dropbox and link to them through InDesign. Currently, because I'm on MacOS, I have to make all files available offline if I want to use them through InDesign — essentially downloading them to my personal hard drive, which is gradually chewing up my hard drive space. My colleagues are all on PC (we work from home but as a team) so they don't have this same problem, it just works smoothly for them with no need to pull files onto their personal computers just to use them.  

It appears Dropbox is testing some new File Provider function to solve this problem. For some reason I'm ineligible for File Provider (not sure why; my computer meets or exceeds all the requirements). Until then, is there some other way to access files like my coworkers do, *without* filling up my hard drive? It seems like there should be *something* I can do. This lack of compatibility is baffling.

[Megan]

Hi @PEG_Brian, thanks for posting today! 

Essentially the workaround would be exactly what you're already doing, which is to download the files locally, and make them available offline. 

As for the File Provider feature, this is something we're rolling out gradually. When you’re eligible, you’ll receive a notification from the Dropbox icon in your menu bar.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in early access to the experience, here’s how you can join our beta:

If you are on a Basic, Plus, Professional, or Family plan: Turn on early releases and keep an eye out for a notification to opt-in.
If you have a Standard, Advanced, Enterprise, or Education account: Contact your Account Team or Customer Support for more information.

I hope this helps!