• Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
    Dedicated community for Japanese speakers
  • 한국 커뮤니티
    Dedicated community for Korean speakers
Exit
1

Large file won't place as link in Illustrator – "Try Replacing this with another valid link"

New Here ,
Apr 20, 2020 Apr 20, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I am trying to place a linked file onto my Illustrator artboard and everytime that I try to place it I get the following pop up after it tries to place. I've dragged the file from my desktop onto the page and it allows me to embed the file, but when I try to "unembed" and link the file, I get the same message that "illustrator cannot read the file. Try to replacing this with another valid link"

 

I have resaved the file as a different color format in PSD to see if that would help, it didn't. I also tried restarting. Uninstalling illustrator and reinstalling it. 

 

Please let me know if you have any suggestions!

TOPICS
Bug , Import and export , Print and publish , Tools

Views

10.3K

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines

correct answers 2 Correct answers

New Here , Aug 01, 2022 Aug 01, 2022

So this worked for me, Open the Raster File in Ilustrator (.TIF in my case), copy paste into the other .AI doc. Then I went into Links and tried to re-link to the big .tif file and do it as a link instead of imbeded, and it worked so far. Adobe Illustrator 2021 PC, placed file is 773 mb CMYK tiff, No Alpha.

Votes

Translate

Translate
New Here , Oct 28, 2022 Oct 28, 2022

What fixed it is downgrading to version 25.0 – I finally placed a png file without any issues. I believe this shouldn't be a problem in version 27.0 and up, but I'm still on an older OS so this was the only option for me.

Votes

Translate

Translate
Adobe
LEGEND ,
Apr 21, 2020 Apr 21, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

And what are the actual specs of the file? Just from the info in the warning message it seems to me that you are simply breaking all limits in terms of dimensions. If that's indeed the case, this will never work and you have to slice up the image into separate segments.

 

Mylenium

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Sep 09, 2020 Sep 09, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Having the exact same error message and issue. Is there a file size limitation for placing images in Illustrator? Weird thing is I can save this image with LZW compression and it brings it down to 115mb, so it isn't absurdly large. It is large, but very confusing why it won't place. The physical size of the image 44" x 57" so certainly within the limitations of Illustrator's workspace. Any thoughts?

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Oct 26, 2020 Oct 26, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Have same issue dont matter if I split the image, illustrator keep saying the same error they are 56mb big dont know why never have this issue before with big doc

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Oct 26, 2020 Oct 26, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

could not open your screenshot.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Jan 14, 2021 Jan 14, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I also keep getting the same error, it doesn't matter what kind op jpg/jpeg file it is, it's almost like Illustrator isn't able to read jpg/jpeg files anymore since I updated to the 2020/2021 version...

So at the moment I'll just take a screenshot (png file) of the image and place it, then Illustrator does accept it. This isn't ideal of course and I'm hoping that Adobe will solve this problem soon!

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Jan 23, 2021 Jan 23, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I am having this same issue. It seems to be a 2021 Illustrator glitch/ issue. I cannot open PNG files that I made in Illustrator, it is absurd. I have tried the Full Disk access suggestion and quiting and re-opening. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Feb 22, 2021 Feb 22, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I make a LOT of murals that I lay out in Illustrator.  This has got to be a bug because, you can't "place" a very large .tiff file, but you can "open" it into Illustrator.  Then you can copy it into whatever you want to use it for.

Thats how I get around this weird bug.  Open, then copy and paste(embedded) into your document.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Mentor ,
Feb 23, 2021 Feb 23, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I've been getting this with converted PSB (Photoshop Big) files.

Whether I save out of PS as jpg or tif, Illy will not import, says invalid file format.

Solution has been to open converted file in Preview and do a new SaveAs. (I'm redrawing everything so the quality is not an issue. It's a pain though!)

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Mar 11, 2021 Mar 11, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

@Met1  What do you mean by "open converted file in Preview and do a new SaveAs"? What is the converted file and where do you get it from? Thank you.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Mentor ,
Mar 11, 2021 Mar 11, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

@SiDobe11 I was talking about my particular situation when I receive PSB files.

I open them in PS do as SaveAs to jpg (this is the converted file) but then Illy says it can't read the file.

My solution is to open the jpg (the converted file) and do a SaveAs out of Preview to jpg (the converted converted file). For some reason Illy - that's ADOBE Illustrator - can open this but not the jpg saved directly out of PS- that's ADOBE Photoshop... I don't like PSB it just encourages bad bloated design and poor file etiquette.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Mar 10, 2021 Mar 10, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I'm having this issue as well since the last update, it doen't have anything to do with file size as the file i'm trying to place is only 35kb & the other is only 94kb. Screenshot (4).png

 

So frustraing as I have customers that need this job completed. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Mar 11, 2021 Mar 11, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

So it appears this is still an issue. I'm surprised they haven't addressed this yet. Luckily for me, I haven't encountered it again, but man, what a pain. You can't just use an embedded image by opening it in illustrator and copying and pasting, it will make your .ai file enormous. 

 

I hope Adobe gets this one figured out. Is there a way to tag them in here somehow so they start becoming aware of the issue, or my guess is they are, but they just have bigger fish to fry.

 

 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 11, 2021 Mar 11, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

You can report it here:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Aug 01, 2022 Aug 01, 2022

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

So this worked for me, Open the Raster File in Ilustrator (.TIF in my case), copy paste into the other .AI doc. Then I went into Links and tried to re-link to the big .tif file and do it as a link instead of imbeded, and it worked so far. Adobe Illustrator 2021 PC, placed file is 773 mb CMYK tiff, No Alpha.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Aug 01, 2022 Aug 01, 2022

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Check that, it the ReLink posted above didn't work, I think it has something to do with the Large Canvas thing as when I got Solution #2 to work, it said "A scaled artwork will be shown after importing as it is created on a large-sized canvas. To view the artwork in original dimensions, choose Preferences > General > Honor scale on PDF import. Do you want to enable this preference now". Solution #2, I ended up Opening the large .tif in Illustrator and saving it out as a .PDF on it's own with just the large .TIF file in it, then import it into my Illustrator Comp, both CMYK and RGB .TIFS saved out as .pdfs worked on re-import.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Apr 19, 2021 Apr 19, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

This is a work around to the problem.  There is definitely a bug in the import feature of Illustrator, but you can "OPEN" the .tif, or .jpg or whatever, just like you were opening any other file.  When the file is opened into Illustrator, you may copy and paste it into the document you like.

Inconvenient, I know, but whatchagonnado until they fix this annoying bug?

 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Aug 23, 2021 Aug 23, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I'm not sure why you have to do this, but when working with .psb files, when you go to save the .jpeg from Photoshop and you get the options window that comes up. Click on the Baseline Optimized option. Then it will work when you go to place the image Illustrator. 

 

Screen Shot 2021-08-23 at 5.27.25 PM.png

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Nov 22, 2021 Nov 22, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

@default13sm4hfilm5m That worked!! Thank you so much!

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Dec 28, 2021 Dec 28, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

None of the options shared here for me worked. I got the file as small as ~13MB, and the error persisted. I also tried both RGB/CMYK, Baseline Optimized, Baseline Standard Low (0), and with/without ICC Profiles to no avail.

 

Ultimately, due to time constraints and no other option, I rebuilt the entire file in InDesign and published from there. Hope this solution helps anyone in a pinch, until Adobe resolves this issue.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Mar 24, 2022 Mar 24, 2022

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Nothing worked for me either until I converted to RGB and that did the trick. Too bad this prints in CMYK. Infuriating!

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Oct 28, 2022 Oct 28, 2022

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Mine already is in RGB. 567KB file (PNG).

 

And nothing has worked so far. Has this been fixed for you? I'm still running 2021 version and first time facing this issue.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Oct 28, 2022 Oct 28, 2022

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

What fixed it is downgrading to version 25.0 – I finally placed a png file without any issues. I believe this shouldn't be a problem in version 27.0 and up, but I'm still on an older OS so this was the only option for me.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Nov 30, 2022 Nov 30, 2022

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I have this problem only with PNG files. If I create a new jpeg version of the file, the place problem dissapear.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Jan 19, 2024 Jan 19, 2024

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I am having this issue in AI 28.1... although I didn't have it a few months ago. When I drag in large billboard-size images onto an artboard (or go File, place) all I get is an empty box. If I open the raster file in AI then I can copy/paste into my layout. However, I often put a gradient mask over the image to fade it into the background and when I try to do that on these large images, only a tiny sliver of the image shows up w/ the gradient, no matter what size mask box I draw. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines