Participant

Answered

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

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
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.

sckincaidCorrect answer

Participating Frequently

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.

P

PC5C7A

Participant

I had this issue with InDesign Ver 182.1 x64 with winows 10. My only option was to resave the offending .png file in fireworks using "Save As = Flattened PNG" format. This allowed Indesign to open without issue after I relinked the file.

To determine the offending files was difficult as the InD gives no idication which files were the problem. To solve this I moved my linked files to a new folder and executed a manual re-link on each file. The >PNG that were OK relinked fine. Those that were "Cannot place this file, Invalind PNG..." were now easy to identify and I resaved as PNG Flattened

I hoep this helps Win users

M

MakoArts

Participant

Giles, you ROCK! That worked like a champ! It kept saying bad or missing PNG file and there weren't any - I converted them all the jpegs when this stuff started happening! Allowing full disk access did the trick - thank you! I have been working on this mess for nearly a whole day and was ready to give up.

gilesg93274171

Participating Frequently

Your very welcome.

So frustrating and nothing has been done to fix this although so many are
losing time and money.

Adobe MAX this week perhaps they should address this issue!

Good luck G
--
*Best regards*

*Giles*

(PII removed by moderator)

M

MakoArts

Participant

Thanks again for reaching out! This is just a 22-page newsletter for a
watercolor society, but it still has to GO! Most of the time I swear by
InDesign, and the rest of the time I swear AT it!

Be well -

robin
--
*--*
*Robin Lee Makowski, **NWS, FWS, NMWS, WFWS*
MakoArts
Artist | Watercolors
Illustrator, Author, Instructor
rlmartist.com

C

Copeland Casati

Participant

I hope this helps someone, I tried everything- finally found that by adjusting my preflight profile settings I could eliminate the error. So just uncheck everything then add in your preflight requirements one by one, you'll see what's erroring everything out when you check it.

L

Laubender

Community Expert

Hi all with InDesign 17.3.0 on Windows who see the error:

"Cannot Place File. Invalid PNG file"

This error could be explained if the PNGs were saved with Fireworks.

For details see the following discussion:

The "Cannot Place File. Invalid PNG file" bug is BACK in the LATEST RELEASE OF INDESIGN 17.0!!!!!
defaultf946bguz7i0o, Oct 28, 2021

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/the-quot-cannot-place-file-invalid-png-file-quot-bug-is-back-in-the-latest-release-of-indesign-17-0/td-p/12480349

Could also be that Fireworks is not the only cause for the issue.

The same PNGs that will not place with InDesign 17.3.0 can be placed with InDesign 16.4.2. without an error.

Some sample PNG files for testing can be found in this post by Pat @Weekender21432059 :

The "Cannot Place File. Invalid PNG file" bug is BACK in the LATEST RELEASE OF INDESIGN 17.0!!!!!
TidbitsofSoCo, Jul 12, 2022
https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/the-quot-cannot-place-file-invalid-png-file-quot-bug-is-back-in-the-latest-release-of-indesign-17-0/m-p/13064370#M483860

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Professional )

W

Weekender21432059

Participating Frequently

Having the same issue.

OS - Windows 10 Pro

Seems to activate once I select "High Quality" in "Display Performance"

InDesign Version that works without issue 16.4.2 x64

InDesign Version that throws "Cannot place this file. Invalid PNG file." error is 17.3 x64

Seems the issue (bug) was introduced when moving to version 17 - is there a fix?

At this time I continue to use the older more stable 16.4.2 x64 but would like to take advantage of new features and other bug fixed.

gilesg93274171

Participating Frequently

Sorry I have very limited knowledge about Windows. My solution was Mac-based.

W

Weekender21432059

Participating Frequently

Giles, posting this for "others" who posted about about the same issue on Windows - Thanks!!

Tag as "WINDOWS".

Here is a link to a video of what I an seeing between v16 vs v17.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Oy4yUUGRONntSsBmeRRmomJGMVxUjw6p/view?usp=sharing

fionar50111072

Participant

Thank you so much to gilesg3274171 - this solution worked for me too.

gilesg93274171

Participating Frequently

Great happy to help! I never thought I'd be a tech guru! Probably about time that the nice people at Adobe sorted this out and released an update!

D

Dorothy24802122k518

Participant

Thank you, this is very helpful and worked. I found the same issue was with all PNG, AI, and PDF linked files, which never caused problems before. The JPGs and PSDs needed relinked individually, even with the 'Search for Missing Links in This Folder' checked. Is that also a known issue?

R

Ravenna24377174utwy

Inspiring

I read more about the problem that I have myself here. All images are not visible, see screenshot. Also from older indesign files I've ever made. Anyone already found a solution?

Geоrge

Legend

PNG is an old evil for InDesign. Time to time InDesign don't like some PNG, this is long years history with it. Re-save as psd and re-link can help.

Remember, never say you can't do something in InDesign, it's always just a question of finding the right workaround to get the job done. © David Blatner