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Hosun
Hosun
Inspiring
January 10, 2020
Answered

error message

  • January 10, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 1592 views

Hi,

 

When I open an .indd file in File Explorer, I see an error message about missing links, but everyting looks OK.

 

When I open it in Id, I don't see the error message.

 

Is it just a bug? 

or

Am I making some mistake?

 

Hosun Kang

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Randy Hagan

I very rarely say this — and the folks at Adobe will either laugh and agree, or be outraged and banish me to the hinterlands — but I may just ignore it.

 

The way I suspect that this went down is that someone placed an Excel table, or graphic linked to an Excel table, into the InDesign document. InDesign offers some capability to link data entry to the original Excel file(s), and if it remains data, some capability to update the Excel file, save it in Excel, then be notified when opening the InDesign file that the Excel source file has been changed and offer to update the placed Excel data within the document.

 

That all works great if it's set up correctly. But it sometimes isn't, and can cause problems. Fortunately InDesign has the capability to convert table/data information into text, which eliminates the data link, and by extension, the link information to the InDesign document. Apply the table to text conversion, and it's no more linked to the InDesign document than any placed word processing file would be ... or at least should be ...

 

However, for some reason, there is some artifact of that link which still exists in your troubled file. So in your case, when you open the InDesign document file it says the link is missing but when you check the links panel there's nothing linked. The graphs may be a problem, with only low-resolution proxies appearing onscreen but potential issues if you try to print it at high-resolution. Or not. Importing Microsoft graphics can be kinda funky, and since your job folder includes an epub and PDF file, using this file for digital publishing may not ever be an issue. Except, of course, that opening alert box which can drive you nuts.

 

So I'd run a high-resolution proof if I needed that. If the job ran fine, when the alert appears I'd just blow it off. Or if I never need to print it and the digital end products work, it may never be an issue. If it becomes an issue, gaining access to the original Excel file(s) could clear up the discrepancies. Or failing that, rebuilding and replacing the graphics should get you past the issue.

 

Before I went crazy over this, I'd test my output to see if I could just ignore it. If that doesn't work, if I could, I'd get a copy of the source file(s) and see if relinking will fix the issue. Failing that, I'd rebuild-replace the questionable graphs and save this war story for graphic-weenie cocktail parties about that job which drove you absolutely mad. This story is a pretty good one.

 

Hope this works for you,

 

Randy

 

 

2 replies

Randy Hagan
Community Expert
Randy HaganCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
January 11, 2020

I very rarely say this — and the folks at Adobe will either laugh and agree, or be outraged and banish me to the hinterlands — but I may just ignore it.

 

The way I suspect that this went down is that someone placed an Excel table, or graphic linked to an Excel table, into the InDesign document. InDesign offers some capability to link data entry to the original Excel file(s), and if it remains data, some capability to update the Excel file, save it in Excel, then be notified when opening the InDesign file that the Excel source file has been changed and offer to update the placed Excel data within the document.

 

That all works great if it's set up correctly. But it sometimes isn't, and can cause problems. Fortunately InDesign has the capability to convert table/data information into text, which eliminates the data link, and by extension, the link information to the InDesign document. Apply the table to text conversion, and it's no more linked to the InDesign document than any placed word processing file would be ... or at least should be ...

 

However, for some reason, there is some artifact of that link which still exists in your troubled file. So in your case, when you open the InDesign document file it says the link is missing but when you check the links panel there's nothing linked. The graphs may be a problem, with only low-resolution proxies appearing onscreen but potential issues if you try to print it at high-resolution. Or not. Importing Microsoft graphics can be kinda funky, and since your job folder includes an epub and PDF file, using this file for digital publishing may not ever be an issue. Except, of course, that opening alert box which can drive you nuts.

 

So I'd run a high-resolution proof if I needed that. If the job ran fine, when the alert appears I'd just blow it off. Or if I never need to print it and the digital end products work, it may never be an issue. If it becomes an issue, gaining access to the original Excel file(s) could clear up the discrepancies. Or failing that, rebuilding and replacing the graphics should get you past the issue.

 

Before I went crazy over this, I'd test my output to see if I could just ignore it. If that doesn't work, if I could, I'd get a copy of the source file(s) and see if relinking will fix the issue. Failing that, I'd rebuild-replace the questionable graphs and save this war story for graphic-weenie cocktail parties about that job which drove you absolutely mad. This story is a pretty good one.

 

Hope this works for you,

 

Randy

 

 

    Hosun
    HosunAuthor
    Inspiring
    January 11, 2020

    Hi,

     

    Thank you very much for your information.

     

    #1

    Originally, I had a MS Word file with MS Excel-generated graphs in it.

    And I placed the Word file onto Id.

    So the graph has no link to the orginal data.

     

    #2

    Currently, I am trying to publish an eBook.

    I started with Kindle Direct Publishing.

    When I opened an EPUB file, those Excel-generated graphs did not appear in the Amazon system.

     

    Then I moved to Apple Books.

    I exported my Id file to a pdf with High Quality Print. Excel-generated graphs were OK.

    I exported my Id file to an EPUB and opended it with the Books app on iPhone. Exel-generated graphs were OK.

     

    After leading your reply, I just think the error message would not be an issue.

     

    Am I following your point?

     

    Hosun Kang

    Randy Hagan
    Community Expert
    Randy HaganCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 11, 2020

    I think you've got the gist of it. At least until someone puts me on blast for this ...

     

    Have a great weekend,

     

    Randy

      Randy Hagan
      Community Expert
      Randy HaganCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 11, 2020

      Your document may look fine, but any graphics which may have been placed in the document will likely be problematic if you output the InDesign file.

       

      Your error message doesn't indicate there's a problem per se with the file, but that there is no access to files used to compose the document. While it's technically possible to embed graphics into an InDesign file, the preferred workflow is to place them into the document and use InDesign's advanced linking features to reference the file in the document, then process that graphic file information directly when outputting the file. InDesign creates a low-resolution proxy as a placeholder which may look fine onscreen, but will print at poor/no resolution when you output the file

       

      If you go to the Window>Links menu command, it'll open the Links panel and let you know exactly what's missing from your document. Then you can go back to the source and get the missing placed files and relink them in your InDesign document.

       

      Hope this helps,

       

      Randy

        Hosun
        HosunAuthor
        Inspiring
        January 11, 2020

        Hi,

         

        Thank you very much for your information.

         

        Firstly, Preflight shows no errors.

        Secondly, I found out that the graphic images, which were generated by MS Excel, do not appear in Links Panel.

         

        I suspect that point.

         

        Currently, I have no idea about how to make those MS Excel-generated files appear in Links Panel.

         

        Can you give me some advice?

         

        Hosun Kang

         

         

         

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