Struggling to relink modified ICML links in my InDesign file

Hi All,

I've found a problem when working with InDesign and InCopy links. So for context, we create instruction manuals using InDesign, and often we have to translate them into several other languages. To streamline our workloads, we use InCopy for this.

I will explain the process of this and then go into depth as to what is causing an issue.

So we typeset the IM in English, and then we export each text frame as an ICML link.

Each IM tends to have around eight text frames, from the product title, main body copy, then to guarantee information. All of these text boxes require translations and we export them as ICML links and save them centrally.  The ICML links are then sent to our translation company, and they use InCopy to translate the ICML links initially in English into the target language. They do this by replacing the English entirely.

Once we receive the translated ICML links, we then create a duplicate InDesign file of the English IM in a new folder. In this new folder, we add the translated ICML links. Then we open the new InDesign file and normally, a warning box pops up, asking whether we want to update the eight modified links or not. This would then relink all of the existing English ICML links with the new translated links. This seems to works as it automatically picks up the ICML links in that folder. But really our understanding of why it works this way is limited (so this could be why we are having issues.)

However, there are times when this warning box does not pop up and only the warning about missing links appears. This means each text frame has to be manually relinked in each language. Usually ten languages, so this really does affect our work speed.

So my question is: does anyone have any idea why this feature works so sporadically. When it works, it works amazingly and there are no kinks. Yet, when doing the exact same steps for a different language, we struggle trying to work out why the ICML links are not being found automatically, despite being in the same folder.

I wonder if there is a setting that is applied when the translation company create the InCopy files. We do not use InCopy, we just benefit from it, so there isn't even a way to eliminate the problem step by step.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Charlotte