Indeisgn relink / icloud

[tbrooks210]

Hello, we are 2 coworkers who are both using all of our files from the icloud. We both work in the office and at home, so there are 4 computers connected to icloud.

An example of an issue: Coworker A is working on a large indesign file in office, catalog with 50+ pages with lots of images/linked files.  He then will go home and work on that same file the next day.  It will open with 40 to 50 missing links.  Obviously frustrating but goes thru and relinks.  Coworker A comes back into the office the next day to work on same file, open it and 40 to 50 missing links.  This is very frustrating as most of the projects are large like this and makes working from home very difficult.

Coworker B will open the same file at home and in the office and will only be missing maybe 5 files.

Is there any way to limit the amount of linked images or to have none at all.  Were just confused since all the files are in the icloud.  No files are in different places or are moved around.

Thank you!!

[rob day · Accepted solution]

Hi @tbrooks210 , InDesign links have to be saved on a local network. Look into a file sync’ing service like Dropbox, or the Creative Files Folder sync’ing that is included with your Adobe Cloud subscription. Here’s a thread with file sync’ing details:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/do-indesign-links-work-with-adobe-cloud-multiple...

[tbrooks210]

Ok thank you, this is very helpful and confusing LOL!!

[rob day]

It’s easy to test the workflow with your coworkers.

Make a new folder inside of your User>Creative Cloud Files folder and save an InDesign file and assets into the new folder—the folder and contents will automatically sync to your cloud account.

When files are sync’d they will have a green check mark—right-click the folder and choose View on Website, which will open the web view of the sync’d files. Click the + icon in the upper right corner and invite you coworkers to sync. Make sure you give them Edit permissions in the Invite dialog—when they accept the invitation the ID file and its assets will sync into their CCF folders. When anyone edits and saves the files, the saved file will automatically sync to the group’s computers.

[Conrad C]

Just some background…

Is there any way to limit the amount of linked images or to have none at all.

By @tbrooks210

If imported graphics were not linked, they would have to be embedded (included in the document itself). This has fallen out of favor for many reasons. One is that it makes it much more difficult and time-consuming to replace graphics with updated versions. (With linked graphics, you just replace the externally linked file.) Another is that embedding makes the document massive, if it has to store all graphics inside it instead of linking. Massive files are a lot worse for uploading/downloading and syncing changes.

In older page layout applications where you could easily embed images, it was also a lot easier to lose the document because making it more complex by storing images inside it increased the chance it would become corrupted, and then you lose not just the document but everything imported into it.

Were just confused since all the files are in the icloud.  No files are in different places or are moved around.

By @tbrooks210

Are all linked files in one folder, or spread out in different folders? If they are all in one folder, at least you can use Relink All in one step. It can also help to keep images in the same folder as the InDesign document; that makes it more likely InDesign will relink them on its own.

The problem with cloud services is that the linked file path is not necessarily the same for every user, and that can break links. For example, although the Mac Finder presents iCloud Drive as a top level folder, the real path (which you can see in the InDesign Links panel) is:

/[computer]/Users/[username]/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud Drive/com~apple~CloudDocs/[folder name/file name]

So the username changes, and macOS hides that user Library folder by default.

[rob day]

The problem with cloud services is that the linked file path is not necessarily the same for every user, and that can break links.

If the collaborators are using a sync’d cloud service, the links don’t get broken because the sync’d file paths are local to collaborator’s computers—that’s the advantage of sync’ing.

You do have to communicate to make sure no one works on the file at the same time. With Adobe’s sync folder you will get conflict copies if the file is worked on simultaneously.

[tbrooks210]

Ok thank you for explaining this.  Makes it easier to understand.  We are going to try to use the adobe cloud and see how that works. 

And no the files are all over the place LOL.  I think we are going to work towards getting them all in one main folder.

Thanks againn!