Links broken between 2 computers

[richard james vic]

Three people  are working on documents (a magazine). Files are on each individual computer, not networked.

File paths are identical, but when moving files to a differnt machine many links are broken.

The directory structure is:

.../Month/ < contains indd and indb files

../Month/article/ < contians text (word format) and images for each article in seperate folders.

The .../path and drive letter are identical between machines. (All Windows machines)

This file strucure has to be maintained (I understand "Package" does not do this).

It is not obvious why the links are broken.

Is there a simple way of relinking  *all* files at once, not going through each article linking files.

Richard

[Derek Cross]

Bear in mind you are licensed to install the application on two computers but may only use them one at a time (it's not allowed to use two at the same time). 

[richard james vic]

All copies are licenced, not the issue

[Willi Adelberger]

You have tomove the whole directory to the other computer. Package would create working links, but make package once without cpying and relinking those files once.

[richard james vic]

We are copying the entire tree.

As I understand "Package" it destroys the dir structure which does not work.

Richard

[rob day]

As I understand "Package" it destroys the dir structure which does not work.

There shouldn’t be a problem with packaging— it moves all of the assets into the same enclosing folder, so their status will remain normal assuming they are normal before you make the package.

The sync’ing workflow eliminates the manual labor of packaging and moving files, if you don’t want to use Adobe’s syncing, you can do the same with a number of other file sharing services, e.g., Dropbox.

With a sync’d workflow you are not editing files stored in the cloud. InDesign requires that documents and their assets to be local, so all the Creative Cloud Files Folder does is facilitate the file transfers to the three collaborators and ensures that the files are up-to-date. There are backup copies stored in your cloud account, but you don’t edit the backups.

[richard james vic]

Thank you all for your sugegstions.

Package: does not do what we need to do. It destroys the dir structure and does not include multiple resourses (word docs, PDF's etc) not directly referenced that have to be transfered. It appears to be designed to send a complete job to a printshop. Thsi is not what we are doing.

Dropbox: this would be no different to what we are already doing. That is: zip required files into one zip files with full paths. Upload to FTP site, download and unzip, using the identical folder struecture.

Cloud: should not be necessary.

The entire dir structure and files are being uploaded..

What has not been explained is why ID is loosing file links when the dir structure is identical.

At the end of the day we need all files (not just linked files) on one machine for archiving.

Richard

[rob day]

When you Package, a copy of the InDesign document is saved into the package folder—that’s the file that links to the packaged contents. Is the packaged InDesign file the file you are checking for broken links?

When you move the packaged folder to a new computer the ID file inside of the folder will have normal links.

[richard james vic]

No, we are not currently  "Packaging" the files.

ID files and all other material is sent as zip files with the folder structure intact.

Are you saying that when you "unpackage" a set of files all the files that are dumped into one folder are restored to the correct folders and the links inside the ID files are unchaged?

This should be no different to what we are doing.

Richard

[rob day]

There would be no unpacking, just move the folder that is created when you Package to the other computer and open the .indd or .idml file that is in the package folder and the links will be normal. So here the InDesign file My Job is saved into the packed My Job Folder, and all of its linked assets are moved into the Links folder and updated.

If you are archiving a finished project this would be the way to go, but if you want to collaborate with remote users and make edits to the ID file and its assets, a sync’d  workflow is far better than attempting to move the project between the collaborators.

[Creamer Training]

I think it comes down to relative vs. absolute file references. 

According to this old article, ID only uses absolute links:

http://documentgeek.blogspot.com/2011/01/indesign-absolute-vs-relative-links.html#:~:text=That%20way....

I don't know if it's changed but it doesn't seem like it. I don't think having the same drive letters will save you here. (Do the computers have the same PC Name?)

Options include storing everything on a server or using a cloud-storage service (with local storage syncing). Theoretically, just keeping the links on the server should work even if one wants to use the ID file locally. Local storage, such as everyone using the same OneDrive account could work too. However, care has to be taken so only one person works on a file at a time and enough time is given to upload/download any changed file.

[richard james vic]

This is a summary and reply to all of you who have responded. Your comments have been helpful in finding the problem.

We are using absolute paths and as shown in the link info panel go back to the drive letter and should be the same on all users machines.

Since none of the options proposed (package, single server, all files in one folder etc.) will not work for us and no one could explain why the items were not found, I've done a bit more digging.

Files are being transferred using zip files with the full path included. The instructions to the users were to use the same directory structure by simply unzipping the files.

At sometime in the process one user made a typo in the path on their machine and simply moved the files to what they thought was the correct directory.

Whoops, this is the problem, one directory had a folder transposed but it's files were used in several locations thus appearing to be a more widespread problem. This solves the problem of relinking files. With the correct structure it's not a problem.

A few files also showed as "changed" when they should not have done so. I suspect this is a question of the time/date stamp on the files being changed. They may have been changed, possibly as a result of bringing the images into Lightroom, and when they came back from the other users they appeared to be out of sync.

Again, thank you all for your assistance.

Richard

[Creamer Training]

>>We are using absolute paths and as shown in the link info panel go back to the drive letter and should be the same on all users machines.

Questions:

Where on the C drive are the files stored (root directly, public folder, user directory*, etc.)

*Are all the usernames the same?

Is it possible the UNC path is causing a problem?

[richard james vic]

David, Everything is on D: (never put data on C:!). Full paths are shown in the Links info panel. The path is several levels deep.

Usenames are on individual coputers and are not the same (should not be the same). The machines are not networked.

UNC path, no.

Richard

[richard james vic]

That should read D : not the subst graphic...

[Creamer Training]

So basically, it was user error after all that...

[BobLevine]

PEBCAK

[richard james vic]

Well, I had to look that one up!

Yes, two minds...

Richard

[richard james vic]

Unfortunately, yes. Deeply buried. User said his paths were OK...

Richard

[Creamer Training]

"Trust but verify..." 😉 (icon intentional)

[rob day]

Hi @richard james vic , if all of the users have CC subscriptions you could consider using your CC account’s sync’ing capabilities to collaborate remotely. Save the magazine and its assets to your User>Creative Cloud Files folder and invite the others to collaborate. In that case you would never need to move or package the magazine. See this thread for details on cloud sync’ing.

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

[richard james vic]

We do not want to use teh cloud.

There should be no problem if the drive/paths/filenames are the same.

Richard

[Eugene Tyson]

If the links are broken you can set up InDesign to check for links

https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/indesign/using/graphics-links.html#:~:text=Find%20missing%20links,or%20mi....

And you can relink all images to a folder - select all the images in the links panel

And in the sub menu of the links panel select Relink to Folder

https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/indesign/using/graphics-links.html#:~:text=Relink%20to%20a%20different%20...

I've no idea why your links are broken - they shouldn't be.

But I'm not privy to your workflow and exact situation.

[Jumpenjax]

I agree, you need one folder that contain linked files in a spot that all thre users have Access too. So Rob Day's solution is the best way and less confusing.

[Jumpenjax]

Do you have a server that you all can access? If you do, you can store the folder on the server.