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Kassidy Sears
Kassidy Sears
Participant
November 21, 2022
Answered

Linking Images in Indesign

  • November 21, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 425 views

Which option is better for large amounts of files and documents? 

- Having one master image that dozen of documents are linked to 

- Packaging each InDesign project into a folder with its own image copy 

 

We are looking to re-organize our DAM and all use many of the same assets when creating so everything is shared. Currently, we can't move or rename anything without breaking links to all projects, and we want to be able to avoid it or at least make it less painful in the future. 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer John Mensinger

I'd say there should be a divide between "working" assets and "archived" projects. A single image that appears in multiple documents should be linked from a single source to ensure it's always the current revision of the image, but when a project is complete, it should be packaged with dedicated copies of all its assets and archived "offline," or separate from the "working" file directories.

3 replies

John Mensinger
Community Expert
John MensingerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
November 22, 2022

I'd say there should be a divide between "working" assets and "archived" projects. A single image that appears in multiple documents should be linked from a single source to ensure it's always the current revision of the image, but when a project is complete, it should be packaged with dedicated copies of all its assets and archived "offline," or separate from the "working" file directories.

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 22, 2022

    It really depends. My general recommendation is to link to individual folders for that project. It's a bit safer since if a graphic is edited for a single document without knowing it's linked to others, all of the others will be affected.

     

    This might be what you want and if it is, well, then that's the way to go.

    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Legend
    November 22, 2022

    I don't think it's a good idea to work with links pointing to a network location.

     

    1) It's not safe - server is down - or worse - and no one can do anything.

    2) It's slow - network connnection is few times slower than local HDD/SSD.

     

    You should always work locally and backup remotely.

     

    And I think you should prepare packages anyway - so if you need to give it away or change anything - you don't need to worry that some links were changed / deleted after the project ended.

     

    You should use your DAM as a initial source only - to copy from - not as a live storage for the links.

     

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 22, 2022

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with working on a properly configured network! Most large companies, in fact, require it. I used to hear this repeated over and over more 20 years ago, but beyond using a local save as a troubleshooting step, working locally is more risky than using a network.

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