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timothyl85839792
Participant
February 19, 2019
Answered

InDesign won't recognize PNG files, can't "Place"

  • February 19, 2019
  • 13 replies
  • 24548 views

I created a document about a month ago, a catalog, and placed PNG image files into image boxes for the layout. I opened the file back up today to do some edits and all the sudden InDesign tells me I have broken links. I investigate further to find that the images are located where they are supposed. I tried to "re-place" the png files into the boxes but InDesign doesn't recognize it and won't allow me to place it.

For reference, I also tried to open in PS but it doesn't recognize it either, so I'm sure it's a file issue.

Has anyone run across this and can you advise?

      Correct answer sckincaid

      This just happened to me for the first itme and I have been using InD and photoshop for decades. I corrupted the files moves folders and so had to start with orginal images and start allover. After that it works and now I can see and place BW pings and psd files. Wow. 

      13 replies

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      Willi Adelberger
      Community Expert
      Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 22, 2019

      Why did you choose PNG? If it comes from Photoshop, use PSD instead, if it comes from Illustrator, use AI or PDF instead. I don't see any advantage to use PNG and there are some other reasons I would avoid PNGs in InDesign.

        C
        clarer4061577
        Participating Frequently
        April 27, 2022

        I created a simple, basic, quick document to give a colleague some instructions via Teams. I quickly screenshot some pages from a larger file and placed them into the indesign doc. The screenshots saved as PNG. In the 10 years I have used indesign I've never had an issue with creating these "quick and simple" docs (when the client needs instructions quickly but has minimal time/ budget) it's only today that I have encountered these issues

         

        gilesg93274171
        gilesg93274171
        Participating Frequently
        April 28, 2022

        I have had exactly the same issue. Multiple InDesign files I am now opening are not accepting png files which I have used without issue before. I spent an hour with an Adobe support rep yesterday giving her access to my laptop. She kept saying the file was corrupt, but this is every file I open. The only way I've got around this is saving every file as a jpeg or tif and re-importing into the indesign file. Great fun and use of time on an 88 page overview.

         

        What I do know is that this has all happened since upgraded my system software to Mac OS Monterey 12.3.1 a week or so ago.

          Bill Silbert
          Community Expert
          Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          February 19, 2019

          Do all of the PNG files have the .png file suffix at the end of their names?

          T
          timothyl85839792Author
          Participant
          February 19, 2019

          Yes, I found a workaround but it's not ideal:

          1) Open the .jpeg file

          2) Make the adjustments and save as a .png file in folder location

          3) Save the file again as a copy .png file in that same folder location

          It will then recognize the copy version, but if I do it in any other order it doesn't work........

          Srishti Bali
          Community Manager
          Srishti BaliCommunity Manager
          Community Manager
          February 21, 2019

          Hi Timothy,

          Sorry to hear about this issue. Is it happening with all the files or some specific PNGs? Would you mind sharing a sample file, so that we can test it at our end?

          Regards,

          Srishti

          BobLevine
          Community Expert
          BobLevineCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          February 19, 2019

          Sounds like those files are corrupt. Without a lot more info, it’s impossible to tell.

          What version of InDesign? What operating system and where are those PNG files stored?

          T
          timothyl85839792Author
          Participant
          February 19, 2019

          They are just placed in a folder on my desktop for now. Some images it picks up fine, others not. I'm on InDesign CC 14.0.1 on MacOS.

          I just created new images in that same folder, it's immediately doing the same thing with some of those images but some are fine. A lot of these images I get need to be cropped or other adjustments, so I'll make those adjustments in PS and then resave the files, then place them in InDesign. It works fine the first time but when you reopen InDesign it says there is a broken link.....

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