Image Automation

[James_Jones]

I am having a bit of an issue because right now I have an automation that takes that takes the URL from the image as a formula and when the automation is run, puts the image url in the attachments field of another table. Right now this works great, however, I know that Airtable has an update to the attachment field coming soon that will make those links expire every 3 hours. Is there a way to have an automation take an image and put it in an attachment field other than with the link method I am currently using, so it will not impact me after Airtables Attachment update comes out? Thanks in advance for your help!

[ScottWorld]

Is your link turning into an actual file in an attachment field? If you’re visually seeing an attachment in an attachment field, then you don’t need to worry about the link expiring because the link has already turned into an attachment.

[James_Jones]

Hi Scott,

Thank you for your response. Yes, the link is turning into an attachment and I am glad that my data will not be deleted, however, if I want to continue the automation after the update, the link will not turn into an attachment, correct? Is there a way to use an Airtable Automation to copy an image other than using the link? Or is there a place where I can host the image somewhere else where it will not expire? Would that work?

Thanks!

[ScottWorld]

IF you’re pulling the URL from a formula field, then you will have problems, as discussed in the support article below. But if you just pull the URL from the original attachment field itself, then you will be fine:

support.airtable.com

Changes to Airtable Attachments | Airtable Support

In an effort to increase attachment security, on November 8th, 2022 Airtable will be incorporating expiring links functionality. That...

[James_Jones]

Ok, thank you so much! So would I be ok with this:

This is the formula that I am using right now to get the attachment and then I am using an Airtable Automation to paste the result in the attachment field.:
RIGHT(LEFT({Page}, LEN({Page}) - 1), LEN(LEFT({Page}, LEN({Page}) - 1)) - SEARCH(“https://”, {Page}) + 1)

[kuovonne]

It sounds like you are using a formula field to get the url of an attachment, and then using that url to attach the file to a record in a different table of the same base.

In a few weeks, the url in the formula field will be invalid. You will not be able to use that url to create an attachment in a different table.

Is there a reason why you need to make a new attachment using the url? Could you use a lookup field instead? Could the automation copy the attachment field value directly without going through a url?

[ScottWorld]

@James_Jones No, that will no longer work in November.

[James_Jones]

Hello,
I looked into this, but I am mainly using the URL, so I have a separate table that just stores the images and nothing else. Then I just have the link copied. Is there another workaround that you know of that would work for this? Thanks!

[ScottWorld · Accepted solution]

Why don’t you store the images and then use linked records & lookup fields?

I cover this EXACT SCENARIO in my free Airtable training course – linking to records and looking up images from another table:

LinkedIn

Learning Airtable Online Class | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com

Learn the basics of Airtable, a spreadsheet-database platform, including how to create tables, use different types of fields, leverage views, work with records, link tables, and more.