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.

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[Chris Tammar]

@Rishabh_Tiwari They originally opened with Chrome. Which did not work. But they just refreshed the link, and it now works. So i think what is happening, is that there's some sort of lag or delay with the file updating, creating an error message. It must be some sort of Adobe server issue. Other's have noticed this too.... The link won't work right away, but when they try again, it works.

[Rishabh_Tiwari]

Can you share a video of the issue if it happens again? On my end, when I tested, it opened on the first attempt. Since this is an intermittent issue, we'll need to isolate the root cause of the issue.

Thanks

Rishabh

[Chris Tammar]

@Rishabh_Tiwari Here are some screen recordings....

https://www.loom.com/share/ed17ca8df72045338a3add818ebb88e1

https://www.loom.com/share/80cbe702a7b245969da826d6c86aaf00?sid=9ad39a02-31d3-472a-9c85-3dee532ddd4f

and here's the file we tested all of this with....  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UpQEPIedbLWyvobKnKN7BXIQZ8wu0u8p/view?usp=sharing

[Chris Tammar]

@Rishabh_Tiwari Were you able to watch the screen recordings? Here they are again below. As you noticed, im getting a lot of upvotes. So i'm confident it's not just me experiencing this issue. Like i said before... this seems to be sporadic. Sometimes the link works if the person tries opening it later in the day. but it typcally will not work for someone shortly after I have updated the file and clicked "Update Content" in the Review tab.

https://www.loom.com/share/ed17ca8df72045338a3add818ebb88e1

https://www.loom.com/share/80cbe702a7b245969da826d6c86aaf00?sid=9ad39a02-31d3-472a-9c85-3dee532ddd4f

and here's the file we tested all of this with....  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UpQEPIedbLWyvobKnKN7BXIQZ8wu0u8p/view?usp=sharing

thanks!

[NOcreationsBE · Accepted solution]

I would like to add that my clients usually do not experience any problems opening the file with the link (even if I get the error message), but sometimes they do. Refreshing the page does do the trick in most cases if that happens. Now usually they are 'slow' in reacting on my update messages, so it is possible that they only experience problems opening the file when they react right away. I will keep an eye on that now, to be sure. So I support the idea of a lag/delay in the update process.

[Chris Tammar]

@NOcreationsBE Agreed. Typically after a long period of time, the link will work. But if someone tries to open within the first 30 minutes of updating the review link, they get an error message. Would you be able to share via screenshot or screen recordings your issue with @Rishabh_Tiwari  The more help from others I get from this, the more proof I have that it's not just me ecountering this isssue. thanks!

@Rishabh_Tiwari As you can see, im not the only one having this problem. Hoping you eslacate this on your team. Thank you!

[Good Venture]

Why is Adobe repeatedly asking its customers to troubleshoot what is clearly an Adobe problem with loads of nonsensical requests? 

[Chris Tammar]

@Good Venture Right? Please upvote this entire post at the very top. The more upvotes it gets, the more likely Adobe will look into this. Thanks!

[Yavuz3746382076u4]

Since 2020 a lot of people are having this trouble.. it still continues. I usually get this error on my works. what we should do? any suggestions??? and also one of my file stopped showing previous reviews and I cannot see the previous published content. when I update it it shows nothing. 

[Chris Tammar]

Thanks for replying @Yavuz3746382076u4 . It seems like a lot of people are having this issue and we just need to keep hounding Adobe until they actually fix the bug. Please upvote this thread too! @Anshul_Saini 

[NOcreationsBE]

I have been experiencing the same problem for a while. Using InDesign 19.1 at the moment (but have been experiencing this with an earlier version too) on Windows 11. Experiencing this with multiple files (if not all), but not all the time. Every once in a while I do not get the error message (with the same file that does give that error message).

[Chris Tammar]

@NOcreationsBE Same! it has a mind of it's own. Sometimes it works.... sometimes it doesn't. It's gotta be some Adobe server issues.

[NOcreationsBE]

Yes, I think so too. Updated to InDesign 19.2 by now, but still getting the error message. 🙄

[Good Venture]

Hi, 

Is anyone else having the same issue with Adobe review in InDesign? 

I never had problems with the older version, but with new updates, this error just keeps coming up again and again, causing a massive disruption to the workflow. 

[leo.r]

There's another thread on this issue although I'm not sure there's a solution there:

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

[Good Venture]

Thanks, I can see the problem is an ongoing issue that Adobe isn't able to fix. 

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi All,

Thanks for your patience. 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?

Also, the screen recording shared above by @Chris Tammar shows some unmapped comments. That shouldn't have happened. It seems an erroneous scenario led to unmapped comments, which can be one of the reasons for the update failure.

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. Thanks!

Best,

Anshul Saini

[Good Venture]

Hi @Anshul_Saini 

I have unmapped comments on pretty much every document. That is another problem Adobe has NEVER managed to fix. I suggest you fix the unmapped comment issue first, share a screen record here, and let us know if that fixes the bug!

In the meantime, you can give us a discount on the Adobe subscription. 

Thank you,

Filippo 

[Chris Tammar]

@Anshul_Saini I agree with @Good Venture . Unmapped comments appear on most documents for me. I always thought that was a weird feature, but just assumed it was a normal part of the review feature....

[Good Venture]

Not a feature at all

 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/share-for-review-unmapped-comments/m-p/14312782#...

[Chris Tammar]

@Good Venture Whatever you want to call it. Sorry. im probably not using the right terminology. But im aware of the unmaped comments that @Anshul_Saini is referring to.

[Chris Tammar]

@Anshul_Saini @Rishabh_Tiwari Any updates here? I tried testing again and people STILL cannot open links right away. How can we fix this?

[Beldon Wolson]

I have experienced this error many times since 2020 and you might even find old posts of mine on the user feedback forums. Adobe employee if you ever read this I have two pieces of information:

1. The error usually happens when the program failed to connext

with the server. Background processes will get stuck, for me at 11% today. I left it trying to update for 30 minuets. I then tried to cancel and had to force quit. This led to an error exiting and when I re-opened it there a file may be damaged error.  My bad, I get it.. anyway the file opened no problem but still couldn't update.. I used the share interface to generate a new link. No comments is better than errors as the comment rounf was done. Posted no problem, everything was fine. I think this error happens if the program is unable connect to the server that builds and hosts the review files. That's where I would check.

2. The unmapped comment thing would be easy to fix. Developers and designers are different animals. For me, sometimes I take a layout and put it on the paste board so I have a copy while I rework something. If I do this the comments travel off screen. This is fast, we need to work fast and crazy sometimes. Allow us to remap comments! Select an unmapped comment pin, drag or some other interface and apply it to the we copy of the layer or a different layer entirely. We know what the comment is for but sometimes a new text box or something else is where our mind goes first. Since pins are tied to the closest bounding box it seems like this could be a win for everyone.

[NOcreationsBE]

@Beldon Wolson, good idea to have the option of remapping comments, but what do you mean exactly when you say "Select an unmapped comment pin"? In my experience, unmapped comments have no pin or anything else that connects the comment to a position in the file.

[NOcreationsBE]

@Anshul_Saini, yesterday I tried several times to update content and this time I did not get the error 'updating the artefact'. Instead, InDesign just crashed. I tried multiple times and then I gave up and deleted the recovery file. After that I had to create a new review link. To my surprise, I saw a day later that the previous link showed the updated file as well. The update did work apparently. I sent the crash reports from InDesign, so hopefully someone picks this up and can find out what's happening.