How to share files with freelance editors without giving full Drive access

You can share files with freelance editors without exposing your full workspace Drive by combining three controls in kloudboard: use the guest role, limit card visibility to assigned work, and share only the folders each editor needs.

The important detail is that card access and Drive access are separate. Assigning a card controls whether a scoped guest can see that card. Enabling Drive, choosing Editor access and sharing a folder controls whether they can upload files directly to that folder.

Start with the guest role, not a full member role

Invite the freelance editor to the workspace as a guest. In kloudboard, guests have a restricted permission tier and do not count as paid seats. Owners and members count toward the potentially billable seat calculation.

Choose the role from the access the person needs, not from their job title. A long-term freelancer can still be a guest if they only need assigned deliverables and selected folders. A contractor who manages the entire production board may need broader permissions, but that should be a deliberate exception.

After the invitation is accepted, open workspace Settings, go to Members and select the editor. Review the saved permissions rather than assuming the default guest preset matches your workflow. Workspace presets and individual permissions can differ.

Limit card visibility with assignments

A guest without the view-all-cards permission sees only cards assigned to them. This visibility rule is enforced server-side; an unassigned card is not merely hidden from one screen.

For example, suppose your production board contains these cards:

Keep Maya on the guest tier without view-all, then assign her only the product-launch card. Check the board settings too, because boards can be restricted to a specific member list. Maya needs access to the relevant board as well as assignment to the card.

Avoid using card names as a security boundary. The assignment and permission settings determine access, not whether a title looks confidential. For a broader production setup, see the guide to building a video editing team workflow chart.

Enable uploads to one explicitly shared folder

The built-in Guest preset leaves the Drive page disabled. To let an editor upload directly into a selected folder, configure both the Drive permission and the folder share:

1. Open workspace Settings and select Members.
2. Choose the freelance editor.
3. Enable Drive.
4. Set Drive access to Editor.
5. Save the permission changes.
6. Open Drive and share the intended folder with that guest.

Both parts matter. Sharing a folder determines which files the guest can reach, but it does not upgrade their permission from Viewer to Editor. Likewise, enabling Drive Editor access does not mean every folder must be shared. Without See all files, a guest's Drive visibility is limited to folders shared with them.

A practical folder might be:

Client Aurora / YouTube / Episode 18 / Editor uploads

Share the Editor uploads folder rather than the client root. Keep contracts, campaign strategy, other editors' work and final delivery masters in separate, unshared folders.

Files attached to a card are stored in the workspace Drive. If Maya drags a draft onto her assigned card, that upload enters workspace storage too. Your producer can reorganize it in Drive without breaking the card link.

Understand the Viewer versus Editor tradeoff

Use Drive Viewer when a freelancer only needs to inspect or download reference material. Viewer access also permits comments, so it should not be described as strictly read-only. It does not permit file uploads.

Use Drive Editor when the freelancer must upload exports, project handoff files or other deliverables directly to a shared folder. Editor is the documented setting for folder uploads, subject to that folder being shared with the guest.

The narrowest useful setup is often Viewer access to a reference folder plus an assigned card for draft uploads. Choose Editor access when direct folder uploads make the handoff clearer or when the files do not belong to one card.

Test the boundary before sharing real client work

Do not stop after saving the settings. Verify the setup with harmless test content before placing confidential files in adjacent folders.

Create two test cards on the relevant board: assign one to the freelancer and leave the other unassigned. Then create one shared test folder and one unshared test folder. Ask the freelancer to report what they can see and what actions are available.

If an editor can see an unexpected card, inspect their individual permission toggles, assignments and board access. If they can see a folder but cannot upload, check the access level: folder sharing alone does not turn Viewer into Editor. If the Drive page is absent, confirm that Drive was enabled and the settings were saved.

Keep review attached to one versioned file

Once access works, use one card for each deliverable and keep revisions on the same file. Uploading a new version to that file preserves the earlier versions, and reviewers can switch between them.

Reviewers can leave timestamped comments and @mention teammates on videos and documents. A simple handoff can work like this:

1. The producer assigns the episode card to Maya.
2. Maya uploads the first draft to the card or shared upload folder.
3. The producer leaves timestamped comments on that file.
4. Maya uploads the revision as a new version of the same file.
5. The producer verifies the selected version before approving delivery.

This avoids a folder full of files named final, final-v2 and final-approved-new. The detailed guide to a creative approval workflow with file version history explains how to connect versions, card status and sign-off.

The finished setup should be easy to describe in one sentence: each freelance editor sees their assigned cards and explicitly shared folders, can upload only through the paths you configured, and reviews stay connected to versioned files. Run the access test again whenever you change the guest preset, individual permissions, board restrictions or folder structure.

Freelance editor access setup

Configure and verify limited card and folder access before sharing client files.