Persistent Error in Adobe InDesign: ‘There Was an Error Updating the Artifact

[Chris Tammar]

When I go to update a review link in InDesign, I keep getting this error message "there was an error updating the artifact". After that, the link does not work for most people. I am signed in to Adobe. Everything is up-to-date.... But this issue still persists. Can Adobe please fix this issue? It's emarassing when I go to send the review link to my leaders and they just get an error message when they try opening it.

<Title renamed by moderator>

[NOcreationsBE]

I would like to add that I had some other issues with the comments in this file. Maybe it is related. I created a separate post about it: https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/online-review-comments-get-filtered-to-resolved-...

[CeciliaSande]

Hi there! I am experiencing the same issue since I started using the "Share" feature a few weeks ago, this is the first time I do a search to see if this is a known problem. I was wondering if Adobe found any solution for it? I am also using the latest InDesign version, file is saved, no unmapped comments, tried restarting sofware, computer, etc, but problem remains. Many thanks!

[Desig4People]

I have the same problem, a big mess with customers!

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @Desig4People & @CeciliaSande, 

I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing the issue. Could you please check if your file has any unmapped comments? Could you please share a recording showing the issue for better investigation? If possible, please also share the Packaged InDesign file with me via a private message so we can escalate it to the product team for investigation. 

As the issue is intermittent, it may work on the next or subsequent tries. However, we would need files and recordings to investigate the issue.

Thanks,

Harshika

[Chris Tammar]

@HARSHIKA_VERMA I have already done this with other Adobe Employees if you read through this entire thread. I have provided files for them and everything.

[tom_cog]

Yup. Welcome to Adobe "support" - every time I seek help for this defective feature, I end up starting from scratch over and over as I get passed around from one "support" tech to the next that doesn't have the ability/knowledge to actually address the issue. It's unbelievable to me that a company of Adobe's size (and stature...for however long they can keep it) offers some abysmal service to paying customers.

Maybe take some of that $20B they were going to spend to ruin Figma and divert it to their own crappy products and services.

[Leon1982-2]

Please fix this already! For how much we all pay on a monthly basis, it's ridiculous that this continues to be a well documented issue that doesn't get resolved in new releases.

[Chris Tammar]

@Leon1982-2 After countless attempts to get Adobe to fix this, I'm realizing they don't want to fix it. They just don't care enough. As an alternative solution, I reccomend you look into Ziflow or PageProof. It pretty much does the same thing, but better. Both are very affordable! cc: @HARSHIKA_VERMA 

[FranHarrington]

Same exact issue here. My solution has been to save as a new file and that seems to usually work, but I'd rather not have to do that.

[Amberg Art]

Hallo
Ich arbeite oft mit der Review-Funktion in InDesign und erhalte immer wieder mal diese Fehlermeldung wenn ich den Inhalt aktualisiere. Die Änderungen sind dann doch online sichtbar. Aber die Meldung kommt dann bei jeder Aktualisierung wieder.  Die Auskunft der Fehlermeldung ist irgendwie dürftig...

Weiss jemand mehr als ich?

Grüsse - Oliver

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Please check this thread:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/i-keep-getting-this-error-message-quot-there-was...

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi Oliver,

We are sorry for the trouble. The product team has tried multiple files and affected files shared by users. The issue is not reproducible for us even after multiple tries. It seems like an intermittent issue; it may work on the next or subsequent tries. Would you all mind trying "update content" once more to check if it works?

Could you please record a video of the issue? Please check if you've unmapped comments. 

We wanted to know if you all see the unmapped comments. That can provide us with some leads for further investigation. Having more screen recordings from all of you who are facing the same issue can help us confirm if unmapped comments are a common scenario.

Additionally, please share the asset web link if it still exists.

Please share the above the details and we will be happy to take it further with the product team.

Thanks,

Harshika

[Good Venture]

Hi Olivier, 

I think Adobe should really stop asking users to waste their time recording videos for problems It clearly is not able or interested in resolving. 

If Adobe is interested in resolving this issue, I suggest asking your army of underpaid technicians from the countries where you outsource cheap labour. How does that sound? I think you have the numbers to fix this problem. 

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hi @Good Venture & Amberg Art,

We understand your frustration. However, we need to investigate the issue as there are multiple reasons for it. To find the root cause of the issue, the product team needs to investigate the customer's machine.

Would you mind sharing your phone number and Adobe ID and the best time to connect with you so we can set up some time with you for a remote session and the product team can investigate the issue on your machine for details?

We really appreciate your co-operation.

Thanks,

Harshika

[NOcreationsBE]

@HARSHIKA_VERMA, there is nothing interesting to see in a video, but to make you stop asking, I made one this time. I can assure you that there was no unmapped comment in the document at that time.

[NOcreationsBE]

@HARSHIKA_VERMA, BTW: a few minutes before I also updated the document and did not get the error message. What i did in these few minutes was edit an internal link from the front page to another page in the document. FYI I can also add that a few minutes after the second update, my client reviewed the document again and deleted some text as comment. I immedeately deleted this text to and did a second update of the document and got the error message again. I recorded this update proces too, but the video looks axactly the same. Because of the deleted text, the comment became an unmapped comment. But keep in mind that that was AFTER I got the first error message when there were no unmapped comments. If you want to see the online document, you can take a look here, but it is still under review, so it may change soon (although probably not today): <Link Deleted by Moderator>

[Chris Tammar]

THANK YOU @NOcreationsBE for backing me up here. I don't understand why they keep ignoring us. It's hopeless at this point.

[NOcreationsBE]

@Chris Tammar, you're welcome 😉 I think Adobe is understaffed as there are many (very old) pressing issues left unresolved. Also, I strongly suspect that everything concerning AI gets priority these days: Recently I left quite an unimportant message in the community about an issue with Firefly and I got an upvote the second I hit the Post button and I received a reply from Adobe within 5 minutes. After that,  I kept getting upvotes and replies, there were so many I couldn't keep track. 😮 Absurd.

[Chris Tammar]

@NOcreationsBE That's a valid point. Everyone is understaffed. However, i posted this entire thread 7 months ago! Something's gotta give lol. In the meantime, while we wait an eternity, check these web-based apps out. https://www.ziflow.com/manage-feedback , https://pageproof.com/ , These are review softwares that accomplish the same thing. Functionality is much better than the native Adobe review feature. I highly recommend. We just signed a contract with Ziflow.

[NOcreationsBE]

@Chris Tammar, thank you for the tips about the review apps. Unfortunately, their prices are not within my budget. I know Ziflow has a free plan, but then review is only possible for 60 days and its happens too often that clients pause their order for a few months (usually also because they are understaffed), so 60 days is a bit too short. I will have to stick with Adobe right now. 😉
FYI: 7 months is nothing, heheh. There is a cry for help to create the option to split a table cell/row across pages on InDesign Uservoice which is there since april 2018 and has 890 votes and it is put in backlog. No idea why; people are still commenting they need it. If you don't believe me, you can view (and vote!) for it here: https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601021-adobe-indesign-feature-requests/suggestions/33854788-op.... There are also multiple post about this issue in this community. The only answer we get is that this is not possible in InDesign and it has to be done manually... 🙄

[tom_cog]

So, it looks like this thread is the same pointless unending runaround I get when I contact Adobe "support" for help with this exact issue. I just spent over an hour repeating the same problem to 5 different "support" techs, until each in turn announced that they were not the right person to address it and transferred me to the next. Until I got tired of the runaround and ended the chat.

It's not user error. It's Adobe - period. Your cloud services are *broken* and you don't seem to have the ability to fix them.

I have already reset the link to get around this problem multiple times, which means everyone that I've previously shared the URL with has now has a broken link, and anyone they've shared it with, etc.

This defeats the entire purpose of having a stable link where folks can go to see the latest version of a layout and make comments.

I'm so tired of Adobe fumbling like a bunch of children to figure out why their own products don't work, and attempting to blame the user.

The idea that *anyone* would trust all of their work files to Adobe's cloud services (i.e. storing all their original files in Adobe's cloud, without a local backup) is utter insanity, given Adobe's poor track record in this area.

So I'll ask again: does ANYONE at Adobe actually understand what is causing this problem and are they working on an actual fix that doesn't require users to run around logging in and out, uninstalling and reinstalling, deleting library files, etc. to try and compensate for Adobe's incompetence?

[Leon1982-2]

While this error is incredibly frustrating and I've reported it many times, it does seem to update the review link regardless of the error.

There's been some folks that described it potentially happening when there's an unmapped comment but I haven't successfuly confirmed that. It seems to be very random for myself.

Also, how hard would it be to allow us to copy text entered in reviews?

[NOcreationsBE]

@Leon1982-2ypu are right, the updates happen, regardless of the error. The only problem is that sometimes (or most of the time) it takes some time before others can see the updates. Refreshing the screen can help or just coming back later. Not ideal, if you have no time to lose, but it does mean you do not always need to create a new link. (In bold, so other readers, who think they do, will notice 😉)

Btw, I wonder why you are unable to copy text from reviews, because I don't have this problem.

[LLUSMAA Alumni Journal]

I am having the exact same error message. I've restarted InDesign and the message continues.

[Zane_E]

me too. All was fine until I tried to edit a reply I had made to my own comment. It wouldn't save the edit, so I cancelled it, and then I started getting the same 'There Was an Error Updating the Artifact' error. The only other thing I did at that time was insert a QR code and the hyperlink to the QR code (for desktop users to click on). nb. I deleted the reply I was trying to edit, but didn't help.