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I've just been searching around the net for version control that has some support for graphic/Photoshop files. We're currently using BitBucket which is free and unlimited when it comes to file size but doesn't have any design review tools.

Here's what I've found. Does anyone else have any recommendations?

Pixelapse – Free/Beta, works well. Now has layer comp support.
pixelapse.com

Shipment – Private Beta (waiting for an invite)
blog.shipmentapp.com/articles/all_new_shipment_beta

LayerVault (out of business) – Windows/Mac, has layer comp support
layervault.com/support

PixelNovel – SVN Version control for Photoshop
pixelnovel.com

CAD only?! But looks really good.
sunglass.io/features.html

FileTrek – Very enterprise. No price or demo.
filetrek.com/solution/

Kaleidoscopeapp – GIT with image compare
kaleidoscopeapp.com/

Apps that copy files with an incremented version
alternativeto.net/software/autover/
alternativeto.net/software/filehamster/

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    You say "Alternative to Version Cue" in your headline but then "We're currently using BitBucket" - did you try Version Cue?
    – e100
    Commented Dec 4, 2012 at 17:14
  • This related question may be useful - one of the answers outlines Pixelapse: graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/7712/…
    – e100
    Commented Dec 4, 2012 at 17:17
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    I've added all the applications I've come across to alternativeto.net - alternativeto.net/software/layervault (see the alternatives to layervault)
    – moefinley
    Commented Oct 1, 2013 at 17:21

8 Answers 8

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Version Cue, in my experience, is garbage. I have two systems for two different teams going right now.

SVN via Cornerstone
I've been running a large volume of creative work through SVN via Cornerstone for Mac for over a year now. It's a very slick and easy to use app that makes VC seem easy. It doesn't provide visual previews of the files like I believe PixelNovel does but our detailed change notes have been more than adequate. Cornerstone has been a very robust solution for the localized team I work in.

Git via SourceTree
I also just began coordinating a remote team via Bitbucket.org using SourceTree. Git has a little steeper learning curve at first but it's working well for us. We're essentially following the same principles as the SVN set-up, ie detailed change logs.

The differences
Git operates under the model that each user downloads the whole repository (history and all) to their machine. To keep this manageable, it's best to have a separate repository for each project. It's nice to have a repository that's easy to archive and retire when the project is over.

SVN, on the other hand, allows the user to checkout the latest version of a directory within a repository. If you want to roll back to a previous version you must connect to the server. This is a good system for a centralized repository that contains all the projects under way. I prefer it for a high volume environment where many simultaneous and often interconnected projects are underway.

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  • +1 for Git. We're using GitHub for design that sits alongside code. Working brilliantly.
    – Marc Edwards
    Commented Dec 4, 2012 at 23:41
  • I use SVN + Cornerstone as well. For everything from webprojects to .indd and .psd files. I have no idea how it works since some IT guys set it up. But I was up and running in no time. Especially for exchange with dev's it's a blessing.
    – KSPR
    Commented Aug 12, 2013 at 12:26
  • I would suggest mercurial instead of git as it has a possible hybrid system where not all large files need to be put in the system. As for visual changenotes that shouldnt be too hard to implement.
    – joojaa
    Commented May 14, 2014 at 7:02
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I think this does what you want plus much more. They just made it free a couple of months back.

http://www.southpawtech.com/tactic/

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  • Thanks for this. Looks really interesting. I'm going to give it a try and see if it's the solution.
    – moefinley
    Commented Dec 12, 2012 at 11:24
  • Just had a quick 30min look at this. It is really good and if your whole team, most importantly your project manager was using it then it would be ideal. But unfortunately our team already has task management tools. Tactic forces you to use their task management tools which makes versioning assets too complicated.
    – moefinley
    Commented Dec 12, 2012 at 12:57
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You may want to take a look at the Evolphin Zoom product. They specialize in versioning for graphics and have CS plugins.

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Alternative for Version Cue is any Digital Asset Management system that can provide an Adobe Drive integration. Adobe Drive provides basically the following features:

  • A mounted drive of your file repository
  • Ability to browse your versioning system's repository via Bridge, Mac Finder or Windows Explorer.
  • Ability to automatically Check-out files from within Adobe Creative Suite as soon as you make changes to the file.
  • Ability to check-in files from the File menu of Creative Suite.
  • Ability to see who has a file checked-out or if you have the latest file or not.
  • Ability to see previews of files in Bridge as well as metadata.

Adobe has its own Digital Asset Management system that was formerly built by Day Software and now called CQ5 and it does have the Adobe Drive integration. However, it is an enterprise level system and provides many other features and therefore, it is pretty expensive (probably need $100K to start with it).

The cheaper alternatives are out there with different levels of Adobe Drive integration. One that is pretty good is Elvis DAM. You can see the Adobe Drive integration in this video.

Some of these products also have additional features for review and approval workflows allowing users to share files and provide comments and feedback.

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    Or just forget about locking yourself into another Adobe service, like Drive. Adobe's history runs short on positive customer service stories. Stick with an open source version control system and live a happy life.
    – plainclothes
    Commented Aug 11, 2013 at 7:13
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So far I can see this is a bit outdated topic, but we ran into issue of version control for design. Since we're developing digital assets management solution (I'm one of the makers) we decided to add this functionality right into our product. Right now it allows to control versions of design files, comment over them and put visual marks over the designs. The product is integrated with Slack chat, so it delivers notifications about the comments/new versions/new files instantly. Here is page that explains about version corneal for design - https://pics.io/design

I will be happy to get comments about the feature right here or in PM.

Cheers!

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  • Hello Yevgeniy, welcome to GD.SE. If you are affiliated with the product you offer as a solution here, please clearly state that affiliation in both your answer and your profile. Otherwise, your posts may receive downvotes or be deleted because people see it as spam. I'd like to remind you that we are not a forum and do not have a PM function. Please give the help center a read for more info on this site. Thanks!
    – Vincent
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 11:54
  • Hi Vincent, actually I clearly stated that I'm one of the service makers in the comment, as well for just a case updated the profile after your comment. Thanks for the tip!
    – Yevgeniy Shpika
    Commented Jun 2, 2015 at 12:56
  • Thanks for the clarification! This community tends to crack down hard on anything that remotely resembles spam, so that's why I was a bit blunt. Tread carefully but do have fun! :)
    – Vincent
    Commented Jun 2, 2015 at 13:08
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Git isn't just for non-binary files. A simple, local (i.e., not necessarily web-based)* GUI frontend for Git (SourceTree seems good) can handle binary files very well, and Git can even do version control on EXIF metadata, among many other things. Git repositories do not have to reside on a central, web-based server; this is the power of Git: it's a decentralized version control system (DVCS).
*(Git does allow "pushing to remotes" if you want to push your local changes to a web-based service.)

Learn Git here,* or read the excellent introductory Pro Git book.
*(This uses the command-line version to teach you, but the same ideas apply to the GUI version.)

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I was looking around for alternatives myself ... and ran into this one:

http://sparkleshare.org/

... but I haven't tried it out yet.

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    Hello Mr.President, thanks for your contribution and welcome to GDSE! Could you elaborate a bit about the content of the page you link to? We'd like your answer to be of value for later visitors, even in the case the link breaks. Thanks and enjoy your stay!
    – Vincent
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 8:04
  • I really don't know anything more other than that it handles version control etc. ... I haven't tried it out yet, I really just saw it in passing, so sorry but nothing further to add.
    – Mr.President
    Commented Oct 11, 2013 at 8:58
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Here a video showing Auto File Versioning and comment process in Photoshop and InDesign : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5ledFWGW50

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  • Welcome to GD. Link only answers are frowned up and usually downvoted due because the links sometimes will go down so your answer would be useless. Do you mjnd posting some information about the video you're linking to.
    – user9447
    Commented Jul 18, 2014 at 4:32
  • File versioning is not the same thing as version control
    – joojaa
    Commented Jul 18, 2014 at 5:13
  • It's more version control than 'auto file versioning'. Nice to see Adobe finally working towards being competitive with the third party tools available. Still look basic and file focused instead of project focused and also slow - of course these are assumptions based on the video. Thanks for the post @Himanshu Singh
    – moefinley
    Commented Jul 19, 2014 at 11:14

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