Package libraries & presets for distribution

The easiest and most reliable way to distribute your Floe sample libraries and presets is with Floe Packages.

Floe Packages are ZIP files that contain Floe sample libraries and/or presets. These are the files that users will download and use to install new libraries and presets into Floe.

Floe offers an easy-to-use GUI for installing these Packages. This installation process carefully considers the user’s existing libraries and presets, their versions, their installation preferences, even whether their installed libraries have been modified or not. The result is something that should ‘just work’ or at least provide clear instructions on what to do next.

As with Floe’s sample library format, openness is key. That’s why Floe Packages are just normal ZIP files with a specific structure. Anyone can create them and anyone can open them. Additionally, it gives the user the option to extract them manually rather than use Floe’s GUI if they wish.

Create Floe Packages using our command-line tool or any ZIP program.

Packager command-line tool

We recommend using our command-line tool to create Floe Packages. It ensures everything is set up correctly and adds a couple of nice-to-have features, particularly for users who want to install the package manually rather than with Floe’s GUI.

However, you can use any ZIP program to create Floe Packages. Just make sure they follow the structure described in the next section.

Download packager

Floe Packager Windows: Download Floe-Packager-v0.0.2-Windows.zip (1 MB)

Floe Packager macOS: Download Floe-Packager-v0.0.2-macOS.zip (1 MB)

Download the program, extract it, and run it from the command line.

Usage

Here’s the output of floe-packager --help:

Takes libraries and presets and turns them into a Floe package file (floe.zip).
You can specify multiple libraries and preset-folders. Additionally:
- Validates any Lua files.
- Ensures libraries have a License file.
- Generates an 'About' HTML file for each library.
- Embeds a checksum file into the package for better change detection if the package
  is installed manually.

Usage: floe-packager [ARGS]

Optional arguments:
  --library-folders <path>...     One or more library folders
  --presets-folders <path>...     One or more presets folders
  --output-package-folder <path>  Folder to write the created package to
  --package-name <name>           Package name - inferred from library name if not provided

Examples

These examples use bash syntax.

# Creates a Floe Package from the Slow library and the Slow Factory Presets.
# Slow and "Slow Factory Presets" are folders in the current directory.
./floe-packager --library-folders "Slow" \
                --preset-folders "Slow Factory Presets" \
                --output-folder .

# Creates a Floe Package containing multiple libraries and no presets
./floe-packager --library-folders "C:/Users/Sam/Floe-Dev/Strings" \
                                "C:/Users/Sam/Floe-Dev/Common-IRs" \
                --output-folder "C:/Users/Sam/Floe-Dev/Releases" \
                --package-name "FrozenPlain - Strings"

Packager structure

If you’re not using the packager tool, you need to know the structure of the Floe Package. It’s very simple.

Requirements of a floe package:

  • The filename must end with .floe.zip
  • The ZIP must contain a folder called Libraries and/or a folder called Presets. If present, these folders must contain the libraries and presets respectively.

Be careful that your ZIP program is not adding an extra folder when you create the ZIP file. There should not be a top-level folder in the ZIP file, just the Libraries and/or Presets folders.

Example: single library & factory presets

📦FrozenPlain - Arctic Strings.floe.zip/
├── 📁Libraries
│   └── 📁Arctic Strings
│       ├── 📄arctic-strings.floe.lua
│       ├── 📁Samples
│       │   ├── 📄strings_c4.flac
│       │   └── 📄strings_d4.flac
│       └── 📁Images
│           ├── 📄background.png
│           └── 📄icon.png
└── 📁Presets
    └── 📁Arctic Strings Factory
        ├── 📁Realistic
        │   ├── 📄Octaved.floe-preset
        │   └── 📄Soft.floe-preset
        └── 📁Synthetic
            ├── 📄Bright.floe-preset
            └── 📄Warm.floe-preset

Example: multiple libraries

📦Audioata - Synthwave Bundle.floe.zip/
├── 📁Libraries
│   ├── 📁Synthwave Bass
│   │   ├── 📄synthwave-bass.floe.lua
│   │   └── 📁Samples
│   │       ├── 📄bass_c1.flac
│   │       └── 📄bass_d1.flac
│   ├── 📁Synthwave Drums
│   │   ├── 📄synthwave-drums.floe.lua
│   │   └── 📁Samples
│   │       ├── 📄kick.flac
│   │       └── 📄snare.flac
│   └── 📁Synthwave Synths
│       ├── 📄synthwave-synths.floe.lua
│       └── 📁Samples/
│           ├── 📄synth_c4.flac
│           └── 📄synth_d4.flac
└── 📁Presets
    └── 📁Synthwave Factory
        ├── 📄Clean.floe-preset
        ├── 📄Dirty.floe-preset
        ├── 📄Big.floe-preset
        ├── 📄Small.floe-preset
        ├── 📄Bright.floe-preset
        └── 📄Warm.floe-preset