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BrianFirth3373658
Participating Frequently
February 11, 2026
Answered

Problems with placed images in Illustrator 2026

This is getting ridiculous. It has gotten worse with every update. From version 30.1 it has constantly corrupted the save preview with any placed images. Even placing photoshop files does not work. The placed image will either be completely out of place or just will not show up in the preview unless you embed the image. Place the .AI file in Indesign? Nope, the image isn't there. You have to manually embed it every time which, besides being an annoying extra step, it just bloats the file size. I am also getting “there is not enough memory” errors when placing small photoshop files. 

I have reset the Illustrator preferences and that did not help. 

Please stop adding all kinds of useless features and get this program stabilized and reliable again. 

    Anubhav M
    Anubhav MCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    June 18, 2026

    Hello everyone,

    The product team has fixed this with the latest release of Illustrator. Kindly update Illustrator using the Creative Cloud Desktop app (https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/apps/manage-apps/creative-cloud-apps/update-creative-cloud-apps-automatically.html) and let us know how it goes.

     

    Anubhav

    Note: Marking correct for visibility.

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    Mi3k3
    Mi3k3
    Participant
    February 16, 2026

    I’m having the same problem here. Placed images in Illustrator show nicely in Illustrator but do not show in the finder preview and when I place the illustrator file in Photoshop. I’ve attached three screenshots: 1 Preview in Illustrator, 2 Preview in finder and 3 Preview in Photoshop. All the same file and non of the linked images in the Illustrator file are missing. As you can see the branch behind the pomegranate has suddenly disappeared. It happens at random which is super frustrating 😖. Sometimes it helps to resave the image with a new name but not always. Please fix this as it makes Illustrator unreliable and slows my workflow drastically as I have to double check if everything is there.

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      Mi3k3
      Mi3k3
      Participant
      February 16, 2026

      For those who encounter the same problem. It looks like I’ve got a quick fix for this problem (albeit not optimal as you still have to check every illustration): in Illustrator select the linked image that doesn’t show in the preview and in the links panel click once on the ‘update link’ button. Nothing changes visually but when you save the file the image magically reappears in the preview and in photoshop.

      For those wondering if the placed image was missing to begin with: no it was not. 

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        Mi3k3
        Mi3k3
        Participant
        February 16, 2026

        Another thing I just noticed. The colour profile of the missing placed images in Illustrator were Adobe RGB instead of the Illustrator sRGB profile. I changed the profile of the placed images to sRGB and they appeared again in the previews. Hopefully now for good as they kept disappearing after clicking on the ‘update link’ button. 

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          Christophe27368429rhrm
          Participant
          February 16, 2026

          Hi,
          Our entire studio is having the same issue on Illustrator 2026. Linked images may disappear on the PDF part that is saved in the .ai file.
          The preview and the .ai file are showing two different things. The problem is that our workflow use the PDF file for ripping and therefore we have lots of issues with it !

          Hope I can record it next time.

          It could be as easy as, opening file, link an image, save and close. The ‘preview’ pdf is wrong so you open the .AI and the .AI is correct ...

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            pogarg
            Adobe Employee
            pogarg
            Adobe Employee
            February 16, 2026

            Hi BrianFirth3373658 ,

            We appreciate you bringing this to our attention. It would be very helpful if you could share the following details to support our analysis:

            • A screen recording of the issue

            • A detailed step-by-step description of the workflow you followed when the issue occurred

            Thank you for your cooperation. We look forward to your response . 

            Sincerely,
            Illustrator Engineering Team

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            BrianFirth3373658Author
            Participating Frequently
            February 16, 2026

            I have already provided the details. If you aren’t aware of this ongoing issue already then Adobe is beyond redemption as a reliable software company. 

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