Package and sharing

Thank you for taking time to respond, it is amazing to have so many people around.

Will check all the suggestions and let you know how this evolves.

Have a great day everyone!

Cheers!

I woud place PDF/X-4 files instead of open INDD files into your master file. I am against embedding as it causes often damage.

Iwould put the 300 files into an InDesign book file fpor the purpose of pacaging. The bok files can eaxily be packaged from the book manu. Take care that every file starts with page 1 to not shuffle left and right pages.

I suspect the InDesign files that are linked into an InDesign file - these files have links that are not being packaged - is that what you're saying. 

That's a highly complex inception level structure - so the linked InDesign files are not being packaged and saving the linked images. 

One way to ensure they do package is to Embed all the images in all InDesign files. 

You will get massive InDesign files. 

I know some people here are totally against embedding images in InDesign files, but I do it all the time - it makes for a large InDesign file, but same as the packaged zip file anyway. 

There's a discussion here https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/embedding-images-in-many-files/td-p/10579791
Low and behold some against it some for it - and some scripts you could try.

I'd only try this on some sample documents to ensure it's working ok. 

But I think it would work in your siutation even if it's not the supercool popular method. 

Anyway - just an idea. Up to you if you want to go that road.

If people need to make edits they could unembed the image, make the change, and then reembed the image. 

I have a script that automatically embeds images when I hit File>Save - I can share it if you it helps - you could share with your client/collaborators to work the same way. 

So to put in a nutshell.

You'd have to open 300 indesign files - emebed all the images. 

Then open  your document with the 300 linked InDesign files

Then update the link for all 300 files

Then check all pages to make sure nothing went wonky.

Then when making an edit you open the main indesign file

Unembed the InDesign file that you're editing

Update the link in the indesing file by unemedding make the change etc. (or replace the emebedded link) 

Then reembded the image 

Then save the file (the embed can happe at save with A script I have)

Then back to to the main document 

Then update the InDesign file link

Then embed and save the file. 

Sounds like a lot of work.

But better than links going missing. 

I remember a long time ago working on a magazine and the folders were like Bike 1 Bike 2 Bike 3 etc. In each folder was Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 etc. 

Then when the file went through the RIP every bike on every page had Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 from Bike 1 folder. 

What I'm getting at - if you package all links into a folder and some links have the same name - it could cause unintended images in the wrong place. 

Well that's my idea. 

InDesign uses absolute file paths for linked images, so when you move your package to a different computer the file paths will be invalid. You have two options: (1) use the same folder structure on the destination computer, or (2) use a script to relink the images in the placed InDesign files. There are various scripts around,  you can find them on the web.

I like to use @Peter Kahrel 's packaging script.  It will be able to package all three hundred INDDs for you as a batch operation. I can't even begin to estimate how much time that one script has saved me, over the years. 

https://creativepro.com/files/kahrel/indesign/batch_convert.html