The quick answer is no. UEI does not store any files on its servers for any longer than it needs to upload the image to Canvas, which is typically less than one second.
The Upload / Embed Image tool gives users the ability to crop and edit images in the Canvas RCE and save them to course content. But does Cidi Labs store that image, and how is that storage managed?
The quick answer is no. UEI does not store any files on its servers for any longer than it needs to upload the image to Canvas, which is typically only a second.
Here’s how the process works:
- The Upload/Embed Image (UEI) LTI tool is opened from the toolbar in the Canvas RCE.
- An image is selected in UEI, either from Canvas, the user’s local computer, or a library like Unsplash or Pexels.
- The image is loaded into UEI in the user’s browser.
- The image can then be resized, cropped, or otherwise manipulated in the application. All this magic is done in the user’s browser using Javascript.
- When the user is done they will choose to save the image to the Canvas course or save locally to their computer.
- If the user chooses to save locally the file is downloaded to the user’s computer and the process is complete.
- To save the image to the Canvas course, the following steps occur:
- The image file is uploaded to the UEI server
- The image is placed in a public folder temporarily (no more than a few seconds)
- The file is uploaded to the Canvas course by submitting the public URL through the Canvas API
- The file is then removed from the UEI server
- The URL to the newly uploaded image in the Canvas course Files is returned to the UEI application in the user’s browser
- The image URL is returned to the RCE and the edited image is now displayed in the RCE.