Links repeatedly break after being relinked, letters disappear at the end of the linked file names

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I am experiencing an issue where links repeatedly break and then letters disappear at the end of the linked file names. After relinking, saving, and then re-opening the Illustrator file, the links break/unlink again.

• When this happens, I'm then unable to see any artwork (it appears blank/white) unless I view in Outline mode. All of the artwork is still present. Also "View using GPU" becomes greyed out.
• I've tried copying and pasting artwork to a new blank template file (which I've used many times without issue before) but the issue is replicated.
• I tried restarting my computer, uninstalling and reinstalling Illustrator, and deleting preferences. None have helped.
• It seems to be related to linking images specifically because the vector artwork alone copies over fine. The issue occurs when I add linked images.

I've tried to attach the Illustrator file but it's not allowing me currently ("The attachment's deck-white_r-00.ai content type (application/postscript) does not match its file extension and has been removed." Even though it is an Illustrator file.) Thank you in advance if you're able to help!

[skip-ad]

I am experiencing an issue where links repeatedly break and then letters disappear at the end of the linked file names. After relinking, saving, and then re-opening the Illustrator file, the links break/unlink again.

• When this happens, I'm then unable to see any artwork (it appears blank/white) unless I view in Outline mode. All of the artwork is still present. Also "View using GPU" becomes greyed out.
• I've tried copying and pasting artwork to a new blank template file (which I've used many times without issue before) but the issue is replicated.
• I tried restarting my computer, uninstalling and reinstalling Illustrator, and deleting preferences. None have helped.
• It seems to be related to linking images specifically because the vector artwork alone copies over fine. The issue occurs when I add linked images.

I've tried to attach the Illustrator file but it's not allowing me currently ("The attachment's deck-white_r-00.ai content type (application/postscript) does not match its file extension and has been removed." Even though it is an Illustrator file.) Thank you in advance if you're able to help!

[Anubhav M]

Hello @skip-ad,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Could you confirm the version of the OS/Illustrator installed, and if this happens with specific files or files stored in a particular folder location (internal/external/network drive or a cloud-synced folder like Google Drive/Dropbox/etc.), so we can better assist you?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

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I am using a Apple Macbook Pro 14in M3 Max with MacOS Sequoia Version 15.6.1. I have Adobe Illustrator Version 30.0 installed.

The files are stored locally/internally on the Macbook's hard drive.

I just tested the image linking theory on a blank web Illustrator document with an image file from a different local folder. The issue persists:

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @skip-ad,

Thanks for sharing the details and for testing this further. I followed the same workflow on my end but wasn’t able to reproduce the behavior. The linked images remained intact after saving and reopening, and the artwork continued to display normally.

To help narrow this down, could you try packaging the document using File > Package(only available when the file is stored locally on the drive), open the packaged file from that location, and check if the issue still persists? Also, please let me know if this happens with all image formats or only specific ones, and whether any of the linked filenames include special characters or very long names. If possible, a short screen recording showing to relink, save, and reopen sequence and affected sample file(via DM, if confidential) would be really helpful, so I can compare it directly with my setup and take this further with the team.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

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I updated to Illustrator 30.1 so testing on my end might not be the most accurate to reproduce the issue. I noticed upon executing your first request that links are now being maintained after relinking, closing, and reopening. Still though, the file is not displaying the artwork and Animated Zoom/GPU are not available.

The issue is happening with all linked image formats from what I experienced (JPG, PNG, PDF etc.).

I'm short on time but will DM you the packaged file. I did not relink every single image included but did relink 4 seperate images. If there's any links that maintain linking, the issue isn't reproduced on your end.

I'm cautiously optimistic for now that the issue is not being reproduced in Illustrator 30.1 but would still like to resolve this in case it occurs again on my end or if others experience the same issue.