Inspiring

Question

Please bring the linked graphic finder function back

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
November 3, 2025
2 replies
586 views

As with many other things we have to deal with here lately, it is beyond-the-pale ridiculous that I have to link each linked graphic separately again. If I have a file with 40 links, that means I have to deal with the relink dialogue box 40 [cursing removed] TIMES. Crazy.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Did you try to check the "Apply to All" checkbox , click replace and select the image?

J

JodyRadzik37240164Author

Inspiring

Of course I did. It is completely ineffectual.

J

JodyRadzik37240164Author

Inspiring

The fact that this substantial and time-consuming disruption to my machine is necessary to get this software to work correctly confirms everything I've been saying about the decline in programming quality at Adobe. It's junk now. Unfortunately, it's junk with a monopoly in the printing business now.

When you report a bug in this forum, the community experts here all rally around Adobe and basically blame the user. I've seen it over and over again. I have a link opening issue with Adobe Illustrator 2026 that I brought to this forum. As usual, the "experts" said it was user error, that the problem was with my installation.

Some background: I was recently issued a brand-new 16" MacBook Pro, the Nov 24 edition. I performed a brand new, clean install of Creative Cloud and Adobe Illustrator. I saw that Illustrator now fails to find links when I'm opening a mechanical file with multiple imported graphics. I reported this here and was asked to make a screen recording. I posted that recording, and was then told the problem was a corrupt installation and that I had to use the Creative Cloud cleaner tool. So, I actually spent the two hours this morning following the instructions and using that tool to remove the previous installation. I reinstalled Creative Cloud and Illustrator after the cleaner tool procedure was performed.

Guess what? The bug is still there as shown in this video. The lesson here is that you cannot trust the advice from the "community experts." It seems like their mandate is to protect Adobe over and above helping the professional end users find solutions. They simply default to a standard "user error" stance, and in the end, I'm seeing my day-to-day workflow destroyed by new bugs whenever a new version of Illustrator is issued.

I know I'm basically peeing in the wind with this post because Adobe has a monopoly on professional graphic design tools for print production and I have no alternative application to use. I must continue to suffer with Adobe's abysmal quality control (see posts about the font substitution bug that disrupted print production all over the world) for as long as I'm employed in my profession now, and that sucks. It didn't used to suck to use Adobe Illustrator, but now, it does, and based on my experience over the past year, will continue to be nightmare product to use.

Screen_Recording_2025-11-06_at_10-03-40 AM.zip

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @jodyradzik17160276,

I completely understand how frustrating that must be, especially when you're dealing with multiple linked graphics. Could you please confirm which version of Illustrator and operating system you're using? Also, let me know if this happens with all your projects or just certain ones.

In the meantime, try opening the Links panel and using the 'Relink' option while keeping all linked files in the same folder. Illustrator should automatically detect and update the remaining links if they share the same relative path. If it still doesn't, please share a short screen recording of your workflow, so I can take a closer look.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

J

JodyRadzik37240164Author

Inspiring

I'm using the very latest version of Illustrator, Mac OS, and Macbook Pro. There is nothing newer. What you are telling me to do is to ignore the dialogue box that says your app cannot find my links when I open a file. That seems backwards to me. Why have that dialogue if it doesn't work? Why does there have to be so many workarounds to use Illustrator now? It's a battle to get this application to do what it used to do effortlessly. You don't have to answer. This application is a nightmare that does not quit.

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