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rysl0118
rysl0118
Participant
June 16, 2017
Answered

Link is missing when reopen Ai file

  • June 16, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 2819 views

Hello,

I keep having a problem of losing a link to a PDF in a Ai file when I save and reopen it.

When reopened, all the PDF links are missing, and vector lines in PDFs are automatically embedded, exploded and grouped as fills. I have Illustrator CC 2017 but this problem happened a few times when I had CC 2015. JPEG and PNG files are fine. You can see below the process I go through. Is there a problem with the way I bring in PDFs or save Ai files?

1. Place PDF and PNG in a new Ai file. [Link], [Replace], and [Show Import Options] are checked before placing. Notice the links show up for both PDF and PNG after placing.

2. Save the Ai file. It's saved as Adobe Illustrator (*.Ai). All four options, including [Include Linked Files], are checked before saving.

3. Reopen the saved file. Notice the link for PDF is gone. PDF is embedded and the vector lines are exploded as fills.

4. Resave the file. The option, [Include Linked Files], is grayed out.

Does anyone know how to resolve this issue?

Thanks!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Mike_Gondek10189183

When you save a file and turn on include linked files, that will embed the file and break the link. This can be seen by the embed icon.

For commercial work with high resolution files, is not good practice to include the linked files as complex files will get slower on saves and files will get larger especially when you have multiple instances of the same image.

If what you desire is linked files, then select an image in the links palette, and then relink by clicking the chain icon and go to that image on your drive. Then save and make sure include linked files is NOT checked.

2 replies

rysl0118
rysl0118Author
Participant
June 16, 2017

I always thought [Include Linked Files] would keep the links, but it was the opposite. Thanks for the answer!

    Mike_Gondek10189183
    Community Expert
    Mike_Gondek10189183Community Expert
    Community Expert
    June 16, 2017

    Understandable the wording is misleading. To me they should change to " __ break links & embed images".

      Mike_Gondek10189183
      Community Expert
      Mike_Gondek10189183Community ExpertCorrect answer
      Community Expert
      June 16, 2017

      When you save a file and turn on include linked files, that will embed the file and break the link. This can be seen by the embed icon.

      For commercial work with high resolution files, is not good practice to include the linked files as complex files will get slower on saves and files will get larger especially when you have multiple instances of the same image.

      If what you desire is linked files, then select an image in the links palette, and then relink by clicking the chain icon and go to that image on your drive. Then save and make sure include linked files is NOT checked.

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