Branded File Sharing Links: The Four Layers and How to Set Them Up
Four layers turn a generic link into one that looks like yours: logo and colours, your own domain, a readable name and emails from your domain. Here is what to set up first and how.
Branded file sharing links put your name on every step a client sees: the page they land on, the address in the browser, the link you paste into an email and the notification that tells them files are ready. Four layers do that work, and you can add them one at a time. This guide shows what each layer is, which to set up first and how to check the result before a client ever clicks.
Why a generic link weakens trust
A link from a general transfer service or a shared drive tells the client nothing about you. The address belongs to someone else, the page carries someone else's design and the email comes from a sender they may not recognise. For a client who just paid for a brand identity or a film edit, that is a thin way to receive the work.
It also looks like the messages people have learned to distrust. Unexpected emails with a link and a vague file name are exactly what phishing looks like, so a careful client may hesitate, ask you to resend it or never open it. A branded link answers the question "is this really from you?" before the client has to ask.
The four layers of branded file sharing links
Think of a branded link as four layers, from the page outward to the inbox:
Logo and colours on the page. Your logo, favicon and accent colour on the file transfer page.
Your own domain. The address reads files.yourstudio.com instead of someone else's website.
A readable, named link. The path says what the transfer is, such as /t/brand-assets, not a string of random characters.
Notification emails from your domain. The email that delivers the link comes from your address, not the tool's.
Each layer works on its own, but they reinforce each other. A logo on a page at a stranger's domain still looks borrowed, and a perfect domain with a default page feels unfinished.
What to brand first if time is short
Start with the page, then the domain. The page is what the client looks at, and a logo with your accent colour takes a few minutes. The domain takes a little longer because of DNS, but it changes the address people see, which is the part careful clients actually check.
Named links and branded emails come after that. They polish a result that already looks like yours.
In Tarkle, custom branding adds your logo, colours and favicon to every file transfer page, file request page and portal. You set it in Settings under Custom branding: upload a PNG or JPG for the Logo and Favicon, pick an Accent color, then click Save changes. Custom branding and a custom domain are both on the Free plan, so you can finish the first two layers before paying for anything.
Choosing a domain or subdomain
Use a subdomain of a domain you already own, such as files.yourstudio.com, share.yourstudio.com or delivery.yourstudio.com. A subdomain keeps your main website untouched, and it is easy to remember and easy to say on a call. Pick a name that describes the job, not the tool, so it still makes sense if you change tools later.
With Tarkle, your own domain serves every transfer, request and download link from that address. Open Settings, go to Domains, click Add domain, choose Workspace domain and type the subdomain. Tarkle shows the DNS records to add at your domain host: a TXT record that proves you own the domain and a CNAME record that points the subdomain to your pages. After you add them, click Refresh to check the status. Tarkle issues the security certificate for you.
Two limits to know about. The form accepts subdomains only, so yourstudio.com on its own is not accepted, and names containing "www" are rejected. Each workspace connects one workspace domain.
No domain yet? A tarkle.page link gives your workspace a short address in the form tarkle.page/your-workspace-url. It is a tidy stand-in, not a replacement for your own domain: it is served by Tarkle and always shows "Powered by Tarkle". In Settings under Domains it appears as Vanity URL.
Naming links so they read well in an email
A client skims the link before clicking it. Compare files.yourstudio.com/t/x7Kq92 with files.yourstudio.com/t/acme-brand-assets. The second one tells them what they are about to open and who it is for.
A few habits that work:
Name the project and the deliverable, not the date or your own internal code.
Keep it short. Three or four words is enough.
Use lowercase words separated by hyphens.
Give each round its own name, such as acme-logo-v2, so a client never opens last week's files by mistake.
In Tarkle, named transfer links replace the random ID. Open the menu on a transfer, choose Custom URL, type the name and click Update. The link is copied for you. Names use lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens, up to 64 characters, and the original link redirects to the new one. Named links are a paid-plan feature.
Branded notification emails
The email is often the first thing a client sees, before the page. When it comes from a tool's own address, the sender and footer point to the tool, not to you.
Tarkle can send notification emails from your own domain. It is set up with the same domain you added for your links: after you add the web records, the domain row asks for a few more DNS records (SPF, DKIM and a return-path record), and once those are verified, transfer and request emails go out from your domain with your logo in them. This is a paid-plan feature. On Free, emails still send from Tarkle's address.
Checklist before you send a link to a client
Open the link in a private browser window, as the client would see it.
Check it on a phone, because many clients will open it there.
Confirm the logo loads and the colour matches your brand.
Check the address: your domain, with a readable name.
Read the email subject and sender. Does it look like you wrote it?
Check that the files are the right version and the link is switched on.
Decide who should be able to open it, and for how long (see below).
When branding is not enough
A branded link helps the right person trust it. It does not decide who can open it. Anyone holding the link can still use it, so match the protection to the files.
Password: ask for a password before the page opens, and send the password by a different route than the link, such as a message or a call. In Tarkle, tick Password protected when you create the transfer. Password protection is available on the Free plan.
Expiry: set a link expiry date so unfinished work does not stay open forever. In Tarkle you choose an Expiration date in the new transfer dialog.
Email check: use Gated to ask for a name and email before the download.
Burn after read: use Burn after read to delete the file after the first download, which suits one-off handovers.
For contracts, unreleased campaigns or personal data, combine a password with an expiry date. For a public press kit, a branded link on its own is fine.
Next step
Brand the page and connect a subdomain first, then add named links and branded email as you need them. You can set up the first two layers on the Free plan: Start for free. For everything else Tarkle does with files, see the features.
