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Question

Sharing indesign files

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
December 17, 2024
4 replies
1127 views

I design a magazine and I need to share files with someone. She wants me to package everything but other than fonts if I give her the files with the linked assests won't they stay linked when she opens the file.

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Robert at ID-Tasker

Legend

@emily_0606

If it's the same platform - Windows or Mac - and you have an FTP server - then you can just keep everything synchronised.

Or, as @BobLevine suggested - use some sharing service - it will keep everything in sync automatically - as long as you won't work on the same INDD file at the same time.

Embedding is never a good option - it makes INDD file bigger and slower and much easier to get corrupted.

BobLevine

Community Expert

Why not use a shared Dropbox or OneDrive folder? Unless you're really turning over files you'll never need again, it's way more efficient.

As for embed vs link debate, I'm in the "it depends" camp. If you have gigabytes of assets, embedding is a recipe for disaster. A few small ones? Go right ahead and embed them.

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emily_0606Author

Participant

I have an FTP site I use so that is not the issue. It is whether I can just send her the InDesign files and the assets and not package them and she can just relink the assets. She considers that too much trouble.

BobLevine

Community Expert

Well, for what it's worth, I agree with her. This is not at all a smart way to work.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

The act of Packaging creates an overall folder within which it creates a Links folder with the assets and then updates and saves a copy of the INDD file beside it that links to the files located in that folder. As long as you don't move or rename the Links folder, when you open the INDD file, it should already know where the links are. Even if you do, it's not a diffcult task to point to the new location.

As a person who works in prepress, DO NOT EVER EMBED your images. It makes the INDD file unnnecssarily large and if you don't have the separate assets for your shared person to be able to work on, you are only making their life difficult.

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Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

As a person who works in prepress, DO NOT EVER EMBED your images. It makes the INDD file unnnecssarily large and if you don't have the separate assets for your shared person to be able to work on, you are only making their life difficult.

By @Brad @ Roaring Mouse

I understand your point, @Brad @ Roaring Mouse, but I think the concerns about embedding images can sometimes be overstated. While embedding does increase the file size, it's not fundamentally different from the overall size of a packaged folder containing the same images, it’s just stored in one place rather than split between the INDD file and a Links folder.

If someone needs to edit the assets, they can easily unembed the images, make their changes, and re-embed them. In my experience, this workflow doesn’t create difficulties; rather, it solves a lot of problems, especially when links to files stored on desktops, servers, or external drives get broken.

For years now, embedding images has worked flawlessly for me and others I collaborate with. We’ve found it eliminates the hassle of missing links and ensures that everything stays intact, especially when files are shared or moved across different systems. It’s just another viable option, depending on the workflow.

That said, I’d love to hear more about why you’re so strongly against embedding. Could you share specific examples of situations where embedding has caused problems? It’d be great to understand the potential pitfalls I might not have encountered yet.

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Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Yeh, use File>Package and then zip the folder and the links should be linked to the relative Links folder rather than a specific file path.

That's generally how it works.

If it's not working - they can use the link panel to relink to the folder anyway.

Another option - and everyone says not to - but I disagree - is you can embed the images in the InDesign file and when they get the InDesign file all files are embedded so there's no need for a links folder.

I operate a workflow for the past 5 or so years that embeds many links in files and never had a single issue with it. So maybe the advice of others come from a good place or a workflow issue from many moons ago.

But I've certainly not encountered any problems with it.

You have options.

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emily_0606Author

Participant

How do you embed photos and ads?

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Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

If it's a link you can embed them - it's in the Links Panel submenu you can select the option.

I have created a script and put it in my startup folder that when saving a document it Embeds all the links.

I can share it if you like.

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