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Illustrator file does not appear correctly when imported to InDesign

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So I have sets of illustration in separated artboard (same layer) in Illustrator. But when I am importing it to InDesign, some parts of the illustration is missing. It occurs on some illustration, especially reused graphic asset from Freepik.

Funny enough, this isn't happening using the previous version of Indesign. Right now I am using the current latest 21.0 (not beta).

What I have done for the workaround;

saved into a new file, only the error artboard. not working.
saved the error artboard into EPS, works. But I wish everything works in native format.

Abhishek RaoCorrect answer

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for your continued patience and for sharing your observations, sample files, and workflows.

I wanted to share an update from the product team. They have tested this issue on Illustrator 30.7.0.102 and later (including the latest 30.8 builds) and were unable to reproduce the behavior.

If you're still experiencing the issue, could you please update to Illustrator 30.7.0.102 or later (or the latest available version), open the affected AI file, save it again, and then place or relink it in InDesign to test the workflow?

If the issue still persists, please share your exact Illustrator and InDesign versions, along with a screen recording of the complete workflow and the packaged Illustrator and InDesign files. If the files are confidential, feel free to send them to me via Direct Message using Google Drive, Dropbox, or another cloud-sharing service.

Thank you again for your continued support and patience. Your feedback will help us determine whether you're encountering the same issue or a different scenario.

Abhishek

Lavish_coder1549

Known Participant

I'm experiencing this issue consistently with multiple files. Specifically, when I place an illustrator file into an indesign document, the preview in indesign will display any linked images within the .AI file in the wrong place, or absent entirely. The workaround I’ve been using is to save the .AI file as a .PDF; placing the .PDF doesn’t result in the preview errors that I encounter with the .AI.

System Info: Mac Studio M1 Max, MacOS Tahoe 26.6.2, Indesign 21.5.1, Illustrator 30.7

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leo.r

Community Expert

Did you disable the Save in Background preference in Illustrator, then resave your Illustrator file?

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Lavish_coder1549

Known Participant

I tried this workaround, no luck.

It does look like the Indesign preview of the placed .AI file is displaying images where they were initially placed in the .AI file, and not updating when those images are moved around.

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M

MTPmedia

Inspiring

I am currently having this problem in the latest version of Illustrator (30.7) and InDesign (21.5.1).

Never encountered it before, but it’s very annoying. I’m having to export the .ai as a PDF and place it in InDesign as a workaround, which is far from ideal.

*EDIT*

For me, I had multiple redundant artboards within the file (it was an existing file that is re-used and updated annually for a recurring job). Deleting all but the current artboards I needed in InDesign has fixed the problem for no apparent reason. Nothing else has changed, I just deleted the redundant artboards and their content and resaved the file. To be clear, the version numbers of all files involved were already as stated above, so resaving the file has not changed the version number of that individual file.

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leo.r

Community Expert

Did you disable Save in Background preference in Illustrator and resave your files?

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M

MTPmedia

Inspiring

I didn’t disable background saving, but deleting some unnecessary artboards and resaving the file appears to have fixed the problem, even though I saved it many times in the last few days already. I guess that the artboards did nothing and the resaving as a new file somehow fixed it?

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guillaumel20823093

Participant

Still not working with Indesign 21.5.1 and Illustrator 30.7…
Is a fix coming ?
I disabled “Save in Background” preference and re-save my file.
We can’t work with bugs like that :’(

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Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @guillaumel20823093

I’m sorry to hear you’re still having trouble with this. Could you check whether this happens with specific files or with files in a specific folder?

Additionally, share a sample INDD and AI file, along with screenshots of the problem, so we can check it on our end.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

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guillaumel20823093

Participant

Hello,

Thank you for your response.

I tried changing the file location, whether on a server or on the computer's desktop, but the bug is still present.

I cannot send you the actual file, but I created an example by anonymizing it.

You can see that the import does not display correctly in InDesign.

The bug occurs on a MacBook Pro M4 running Tahoe 26.5.2.

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adobe_bug_sample.ai

adobe_bug_sample.indd

I

I hate Adobe

Participant

So you going to fix it or what?

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leo.r

Community Expert

Ddi you disable the Save in Background preference in Illustrator?

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richardl28109603

Inspiring

How is this STILL an issue! Adobe please sort it out ASAP!

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H

H Chinaski

Inspiring

I also have this issue. Version 30.3. Never used save in background. Random elements get the wrong z-index when files are placed in InDesign.

It usually works to open the .ai file again and change something, then change it back, and save. Then it looks as it should in InDesign.

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leo.r

Community Expert

First, update to Illustrator 30.4. Will it make a difference?

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H

H Chinaski

Inspiring

Will try, thanks.

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richardl28109603

Inspiring

I’m still having this issue on version 30.3 and 21.3. I’m having to export png’s from illustrator to place slowing my workflow so place get it fixed ASAP.

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Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @richardl28109603,

Sorry to hear that you’re still facing this issue. Just to confirm, are you opening the affected AI file in Illustrator 30.3, saving it again in that version, and then placing or relinking that newly saved file in InDesign before testing?

If you’re still seeing the issue after doing that, could you please share a short screen recording demonstrating the complete workflow, starting from opening the AI file in Illustrator through placing or relinking it in InDesign and showing the rendering issue?

If possible, please also share the packaged InDesign file so I can investigate this further and take it up with the product team. If the files are confidential, feel free to share them with me via DM using any cloud sharing platform like Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar services.

Looking forward to your update.
Abhishek

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richardl28109603

Inspiring

It’s still not fixed!

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Graphite6190

Inspiring

Hello, I also have this problem with Images that are within clipping masks in illustrator being moved when placed in Indesign. I am using Ilustrator 30.3 and Indesign 21.3

What I see in Illustrator (an image inside a clipping mask with a separate black outline shape)

What comes out in Indesign (clipped image is misaligned with black line)

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Graphite6190

Inspiring

Would be good to have this fixed, I have deadlines! Super, super inconvenient.

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Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Graphite6190,

Sorry to hear you’re still running into this, especially with deadlines coming up.

Just to confirm, are you testing this after opening the file in Illustrator 30.3, saving it again, and then placing that newly saved file in InDesign?

Since this is urgent, I’d recommend disabling the Save in Background option from Illustrator Preferences under File Handling, then saving the file again before placing it in InDesign to see if that helps.

Also, if possible, could you please share the affected file after packaging it via File > Package so I can test it further on my end? If the file is confidential, feel free to share it via DM using any public cloud sharing platform.

Please let me know how it goes.

Abhishek

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Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @jefc302 , @hatshatahsththstst , @brandonmiltgenSZ , @vlovegrove and everyone,

Thank you all for continuing to share your observations and confirming the behavior across different setups.

I checked this with the product team, and they’ve confirmed that this issue has been addressed in the latest Illustrator release (v30.3). Files created or saved using this version should no longer show these rendering anomalies when placed in InDesign. However, older Illustrator files may still show the issue until they are re-saved using the latest version.

Could you please try updating to Illustrator 30.3, then open your affected AI files, save them again, and place or relink them in InDesign to see if the issue is resolved?

For reference, this was also being tracked here:
https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/51032623-file-links-breaking

Please let me know how it goes after trying this, and I’ll be happy to assist further if needed.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

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xavierv29664739

Participant

Still not working… on 30.3 for Illustrator and 21.3 in InDesign.

This is frankly annoying; you guys sell us this program for professionals, but yet every single update seems to mess up with our workflow every time. I’ve got shit to do; I can’t spend 3 days doing nothing, waiting for this stupid bug to get fixed...

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jefc302

Participating Frequently

Still happening on AI 30.2.1 and ID 21.2 (March 26, 2026). People on Reddit have said they've gone to print not knowing the image placing issue. This boggled my mind for a week and couldn't figure this issue out...I got resolution with copying and pasting but wasn't aware this was the resolution only for it to come back on the same file. Copying an element then pasting it back into the same file works as a temporary fix but why is this even needed? WTF adobe! Adobe keeps giving reasons to hate it and this has been the case for a very very long time.

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leo.r

Community Expert

So did you try to disable the Save in Background preference in Illustrator?

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J

jefc302

Participating Frequently

Yes, this seems to work 🤞

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