Place file from Dropbox into Indesign not working

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
May 20, 2022
2 replies
5347 views

I’m using Indesign 2022 17.2.1 on Mac OS Monterey 12.3.1. In the past I was able to place (command D) a Word document and/or image from Dropbox into Indesign. Now when I place (command D) a document or image from Dropbox a "import failed" error pops up. I reinstalled the Dropbox app, still doesn't work. I opened the file in Dropbox so it will download on my Mac then tried placing the file in Indesign, that worked. The problem is I work with alot of files from Dropbox and need the "place"(command D) to work.

Thank you

Correct answer the drop

Who told you that? There is nothing for Dropbox to fix. Smart sync is a terrific feature for most people but InDesign expects the file to be available and if it's not it will time out. You'll have the same problem with OneDrive or Google Drive.

Dropbox says it here:
https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/macos-12-monterey-support

Francois5FD7

Participant

Hi all. Where are we at with that one please? We can't have all files offline due to the local drive size. And you all know that InDesign got several links to multiple pictures, it'd be painful to make them available before being able to open the project. Is there a way to ask Dropbox to download automatically the needed linked files? And, when importing a picture to an InDesign project, the same way, dropbox will download it, instead of ending with an error message.
Do you have that issue too, please?

BobLevine

Community Expert

While I'm guessing at some point the engineers may be able to allow more time for a download before timing out, I'm also guessing that it is far from a priority. But this is quite dependent on how many links, how large they are and how fast the internet connection is.

In the meantime, buy bigger harddrives or make those files available locally before working on them.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

You might want to check your Dropbox Sync settings. If your files are set to online only, they might be only symbolic links and not actual files you are trying to place, and although "placing" one of these should activate its download to your local DropBox folder, it may not be as instant as InDesign expects. based on your Internet speed.

As far as this workflow, I don't recommend it, especially if many people have access to the same files and can change/delete them at will. It's safer to copy files over to your document's Links folder.

aaikeleAuthor

Inspiring

Thank you for the information. I found out this is a known issue with Dropbox. Dropbox is working on an update.

BobLevine

Community Expert

"That is irrelevant"

Sorry, Nope. That is exactly the issue. Dropbox has acknowledged it and now includes a warning when you attempt to place an Online-only file into InDesign in Monterey.

Fair enough, but we're not even sure if that's the problem here. InDesign has been timing out on Windows and Mac operating systems since the "cloud only" option has existed. Same thing happens with OneDrive.

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