Adobe Illustrator: When open a file I have just saved, some pixel layers disappear, but their bounding boxes are still there and still in the links panel without thumbnail.

Forum|Forum|17 days ago
August 17, 2026
4 replies
36 views

When I open an Adobe Illustrator file I have just saved and closed, some pixel layers disappear, but their bounding boxes are still there and still in the links panel without thumbnail.

What should be the reasons and how to fix this?

This happened with many different illustrator files and even with my friends.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

@differentpro4_0071 There used to be a problem in the past with disappearing images when drag and dropped, but that does not seem the case with your problem. It could be (sometimes temporary) solved by resetting the Preferences. Can you try that?

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

@differentpro4_0071 How do you get the images in Illustrator? File > Place, Drag & Drop?

Can you see the location in the Links panel?

D

differentpro4_0071Author

Participant

I create the design in Photoshop, then when finalizing the file before delivery, I save the images and pixel layers with the text in a temporary Photoshop file removing all the smart objects and effects > Open or Place in Illustrator > embed the layers “Convert Layers to Objects” > then continue the rest of elements > save the illustrator file > done.

Sometimes I reopen the Illustrator file and found out that many raster/pixel layers disappear and some stay at the same time… That’s the problem

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @differentpro4_0071

Just checking it to see if you’re still having trouble with this. If yes, kindly share a brief screen recording of your exact workflow and the problem, along with sample files and the versions of the OS/Illustrator installed, so we can check this with the team.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

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