Known Participant

Answered

Illustrator file does not appear correctly when imported to InDesign

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
November 3, 2025
15 replies
3072 views

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.

Correct answer Abhishek Rao

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

<Marking the response as correct for better visibility on the thread>

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)

Graphite6190

Inspiring

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

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

Abhishek Rao

Correct answer

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

<Marking the response as correct for better visibility on the thread>

J

jefc302

Participating Frequently

I just checked the latest AI (v30.3) and the preview is still not correct after placing/linking after an update/save of the AI file in Indesign. I turned off Save in background preference in AI and is working again. The AI file only has vector graphics no images.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @jefc302,

Sorry to hear that you’re still running into this, and thanks for testing and sharing the update.

To help investigate further, could you please share the affected Illustrator file after packaging it via File > Package so I can test it on my end and take this forward with the team? It would also really help if you could share a short screen recording showing the workflow, first opening the file in Adobe Illustrator to confirm how it looks there, and then placing it in Adobe InDesign and highlighting where the issue appears.

If the file is confidential, you can share it via DM using any public cloud transfer service.

Looking forward to your update so I can dig deeper into this.

Abhishek

J

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.

leo.r

Community Expert

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

J

jefc302

Participating Frequently

Yes, this seems to work 🤞

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thank you for continuing to share your observations on this issue. I’ve raised this internally with the InDesign product team so they can review the behavior further, and I’ll update the thread as soon as I have more information from them.

In the meantime, to help us investigate this more accurately, could you please share a sample Illustrator file where the issue occurs after packaging it via File > Package in Illustrator? This ensures that all linked assets and resources used in the file are included for testing.

If the file is confidential, you’re welcome to share it with me via DM here on the community. You can upload the packaged folder using any public cloud sharing service such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar and send the link privately.

Looking forward to your update so we can review this with the team.

Abhishek

hatshatahsththstst

Known Participant

Currently and still having this issue - using 30.2.1 on each. Working in 1 layer doesn’t work, but embedding the image fixes the problem. Seems to happen (to me) only with linked images.

leo.r

Community Expert

Did you disable the ‘Save in Background’ preference in Illustrator?

hatshatahsththstst

Known Participant

I did, this fixed it after forcing a save-as /overrwite on the file.

R

richardl28109603

Participant

I’m still having this issue, missing linked images and vectors once placed into InDesign. I’m updated fully to the latest Beta version without any success. Adobe need to sort this out ASAP!

leo.r

Community Expert

I’m updated fully to the latest Beta version without any success.

Beta? Are using beta versions of both Illustrator and InDesign? And do you experience this issue with the released (stable) versions? Also, have you tried the suggestions mentioned in this thread?

vlovegrove

Participant

Same here. My illustrator files look different when placed into indesign. Very different, stuff has moved and it is a real pain.

vlovegrove

Participant

to solve my recent one, I’ve deleted layers, recreated them and grouped and put everything in clipping masks, then it was solved. A massive faff

leo.r

Community Expert

Just to make sure, is your Illustrator updated to its latest version?

If you do experience the problem with the latest update, then there are two other potential solutions mentioned in this thread:

-Disable Save in Background preference in Illustrator

or

-Revert to Illustrator 2025

TomHolmes_G&I

Inspiring

I’ve been having issues like this for a couple of months now. I work on vector images in Illustrator, and place them in InDesign image boxes. If I go back to Illustrator and make an amendment, then refresh the linked file in InDesign, occasionally things will be incorrect, like it made the preview at a random point mid change, rather than when I hit save in Illustrator.

For example, here I made a black logo in Illustrator, then updated it to an off white colour in Illustrator. Indesign now shows half the lettering in black and half in the new colour. (Screenshots show file in Illustrator (all off-white as it should be), the file preview in Mac Finder and the file as it appears placed in InDesign (shown on textured background).

I’ve had similar issues with items appearing in the wrong place or missing too.

Kevin330664232toh

Participant

This “new” functionality is odd. There were certainly a few hoops to jump through to get this “normal” again.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for sharing your files and observations. The product team is actively working on this, and the latest updates are being posted on the UserVoice report for this issue. Please keep an eye on the thread here for progress and fixes as they roll out: https://adobe.ly/3WXLj3A

If you notice any new behavior, feel free to share it, so we can work on it.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

T

Tanya2000

Participant

Hi Abhishek, I find that if I delete any empty layers in Illustrator, the linked Illustrator file tends to appear in InDesign correctly. Also, I've had a couple of Template layers cause the links not appearing correctly. Might be worth looking into to solve the above issue.

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