---
title: "Artifacts | Customer's Canvas Hub"
canonical: "https://customerscanvas.com/docs/hub/printer-guide/pipelines/concepts/artifacts/"
---

# Artifacts

> Learn about temporary and final artifacts and how to define them in tasks.

Artifacts are files that represent the result of pipeline execution. These files can be print-ready PDFs, designs, images, text files with descriptions, and more.

Artifacts can be _temporary_ or _final_. Temporary artifacts are used to transfer data from one task to another and are removed after the pipeline is completed. The final artifacts are associated with the project and are only removed with it.

## Defining artifacts

To define artifacts for a task, use the `inputArtifacts` and `outputArtifacts` arrays.

When a task requires input data, you can provide it as follows:

```json
{
    "description": "Prepare preview file",
    "name": "render preview",
    "type": "render-preview",
    "inputArtifacts": [
        "design"
    ],
    ...
}
```

In this example, we define a `design` file in `inputArtifacts` to get its preview.

When a task produces data, specify it in the `outputArtifacts`. The following example retrieves resources from a project and makes them available for other tasks in the pipeline.

```json
{
    "description": "Extract resource from project",
    "name": "getting resources",
    "type": "extract-project-resource",
    "outputArtifacts": [
        "resource*"
    ],
    ...
}
```

## Finalizing

Every pipeline must conclude with a `finalize` task. Within this task, define a `finalArtifacts` parameter with names of artifacts we want to make final. Any artifacts not included in this array will be removed after pipeline completion.

```json
{
    "description": "Finalize",
    "name": "finalizing",
    "type": "finalize",
    "finalArtifacts": [
        "result"
    ]
}
```