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defaultwrhcfdlwt1y7
Participant
November 28, 2024
Question

Can't import large format images within latest Illustrator versions

  • November 28, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 1515 views

Hi all. I'm hoping someone here can solve an issue I've been having for the last year or so.

 

I'm building final hi-res production files for a large food truck currently, but this same issue has been bothering me for many other jobs lately. Let's just say it's a 20ft x 10ft wall and the final print res will be 150dpi. I can create my images in PS no problem and I can save them as either TIF or PSB or even JPEG (file size is not a problem) but when I try to place them into the Illustrator template/dieline all I see is what looks like an empty container. There's a bounding box and I can click and drag it around, but there's no image, not even in the links panel. I read in another forum somewhere from over a year ago that this was a known issue and they suggested embedding the image. That does indeed make it show up properly, but not an ideal solution.

 

I've attached a few screenshots to show the problem. The first is what I'm seeing after placing the image. The second is just some of the link info. You'll see it's only about 150mb, so file size is not an issue. It does however say it's placed at 12%, which is also incorrect. It should be 100%. That's another issue.

 

I'm currently working in Illustrator 29.1 (2025) on an M3 Macbook Pro. I do not have this issue with Illustrator 27.9.1 (2023). Any thoughts?

1 reply

Anubhav M
Community Manager
Anubhav MCommunity Manager
Community Manager
November 28, 2024

Hello @defaultwrhcfdlwt1y7,

Thanks for sharing the details. I tried replicating this behavior on my end but could not. Would you mind sharing a sample PSD/AI file along with a screen recording of your entire workflow and the problem, so I can check it with the team?

Also, try running Illustrator under a different administrator account (macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Anubhav

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defaultwrhcfdlwt1y7Author
Participant
November 28, 2024

Thanks for the quick response. I can't share files right now but I can tell you I spent some more time testing the size limits to find where it breaks. You can easily try this on your end:

• Open a new AI file with artboard about 240" x 240" (size isn't that important really)

• Create 2 PSD files - one at 23000px x 23000px and another at 24000px x 24000px

• Place each one separately into that AI file and see what happens

You'll probably find that the 23000 works and the 24000 does not, and give sthe empty frame look.

D
defaultwrhcfdlwt1y7Author
Participant
November 28, 2024

By the way, it seems like the limit is related to the max amount of overall pixels somehow. I initially tried using a rectangular shape, similar to my actual artwork, and noticed that I could go well beyond the 24000px as a width, but the height was much less, like 15000px. So I moved to a square to easily size upwards slowly until I hit the limit.

 

I hope this all makes sense.

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