Adobe Illustrator Could Not Find The Linked File [Solved]

13 Responses to Adobe Illustrator Could Not Find The Linked File [Solved]

1. Brian says:

   March 14, 2012 at 11:46 am

   In the world of cloud storage (ie. Dropbox), Illustrator is fundamental flawed: It links to images using absolute paths, rather than relative paths (like Indesign). This creates a nightmare if you work on multiple computers like I do. Each time you open a file, you have to waste an incredible amount of time relinking EVERY image, ONE by ONE. Finally, I discovered Will’s script and I can now open Illustrator files without flinching. One click
2. Brett says:

   March 14, 2012 at 10:09 pm

   Yeah this is exactly what I had been look for, this script is easy to use and has made my life easier- thanks.
3. Martin says:

   March 19, 2012 at 6:25 pm

   I need a tool similar this, but for Windows. Please let me know.
   Since we change the Server, the directoryname is different. Y need a tool to change only the root for example \\server01\folder01\imag.jpg to \\servernew\folder20\imag.jpg.
   The settings for example:
   Old Directory : \\server01\folder01
   New Directory:\\servernew\folder20
4. Will says:

   March 20, 2012 at 11:24 am

   Hi Martin,
   I will let you know if a Windows version becomes available. I had originally tried writing one for Windows before I wrote the one for Mac but it seemed almost impossible the way it is set up. I will keep you (or anyone else who comments here on wanting a Windows version) updated if I make any progress.
   Best,
   Will
5. Nicolas Antille says:

   March 20, 2012 at 11:33 am

   The following comment is an e-mail thread between Nicolas and I, posted with his consent, and my replies in line.

   Hi Will,

   Thanks for your email, I was quite busy last week so I took me some time to answer. You’ll find my feedback below.

   I had no trouble downloading the script and I’m just starting to use it. At first I thought it was a script to be put within the Illustrator presets. But I soon realized something was wrong when going to File > Script so I came back to your page to see how to use it properly.

   I tried running it without any AI file open and it gave me instructions as to how I should use the app. However, when I opened a file and selected a folder that didn’t have the linked files, the script didn’t show any warning.

   Will: Hmm, I could add in a warning that tells you if it can’t find any linked files in the Illustrator document. That is a great idea!

   The best part is when you select the right folder, the script works and it’s such a pleasure to see it do what you’d painfully do one click at a time !

   Another time-saving feature is the default three levels up from where the AI file is. The linked files aren’t usually too far from that.

   Will: Yes, I don’t know if that’s the way everyone works, but I thought three levels up was about right for most. I’m impressed that you noticed that! :)

   There are two things I’m going to test soon. The first is, whenever I want to transfer the “fixed” AI file to another computer, will I have to run your script again ? If the links in Illustrator are absolute, then it’s very likely that I’ll have to do so.

   Will: I think this is a problem actually with the way Illustrator saves files. Before I wrote this script I tried to duplicate the file structure that my graphic designer was using on her hard drive, but Illustrator still didn’t seem to want to automatically link the files. It saves them very definitively as absolute paths, and also it seems to be somewhat specific to the system you’re on. While it might be possible that if you have the same file structure on two machines and share Illustrator files without having to relink them each time, it seemed to me that it was flaky at best and so writing this application seemed like a better solution for me :)

   The second thing is, what happens when I use the CollectForOutput script to package a project in a similar fashion as InDesign does (without the fonts) ? Do I then need to close, open and run the script again ?

   Will: I guess I don’t use this thing very often – when you run CollectForOutput does it lose the linked files? Basically once you open an AI file and relink the files, and then save the AI file, it should then remember the updated paths. I’m sorry if I’m not answering this question very well, I’m not that familiar with this (can you tell I’m not a graphic designer by trade?)

   One thing that could be improved: rather than running the script from the Finder or Spotlight, I’d prefer to have this available within Illustrator with a shortcut or if it is meant to be an application, that it’d remain open in a window with a “relink” button or something.

   Will: This is another great suggestion and would make a lot of sense! I will add it to the to-do list for the next version.

   Could you tell me what you’re planning to add to the new version of this utility ?

   Will: So far there have been two versions of this application, the first worked well and the second fixed a few issues with network drives and filenames with special characters. The next version should be even faster (sometimes if you have a lot of resources it can take a while to search them all – some clients have used this with 100+ linked resources), and will also have an option to output a list of the linked / missing resources. I will check and see if I could integrate it from the Illustrator file menu – that is a great thought, and if I can’t then I will make an option to keep the program open and have it remember your settings so that you can easily re-link the resources again. I also would like to get the future version into the App store and set it up so that it could auto-update.

   Best,
   Nicolas
6. Mike says:

   June 29, 2012 at 7:00 am

   Just what I was looking for…

   One quick question: Does anybody know if Illustrator CS6 uses relative paths?
7. W says:

   July 1, 2012 at 5:23 pm

   Hi Mike – if you’re asking if this problem persists in CS6, the answer is unfortunately “yes”
8. Mike says:

   July 2, 2012 at 6:57 am

   Thanks w!
9. CC says:

   July 27, 2012 at 12:44 pm

   Will this work on a smb share where the directory structure has changed? We converted a xserver to a windows server and changed the directory structure. Files are still being accessed from a Mac 10.5 and 10.6 using smb instead of afp.
10. W says:

    July 30, 2012 at 11:17 am

    @CC – It should work although if your SMB connection is slow it may take a little while to run. It seems that it will in fact run with both SMB & AFP, but performance is of course based on your hardware and connection speed. For some it works quite fast. You can always try it and if it doesn’t work there is of course the satisfaction guarantee.
11. ben runciman says:

    November 27, 2012 at 5:07 pm

    Thanks for a great app! you saved me so much time!!
12. Steve Zimmer says:

    March 10, 2013 at 4:34 pm

    GREAT APP!!! Thanks Will!
13. Ian R says:

    April 24, 2013 at 8:44 am

    I tested it on a CS6 file and it worked great. Thanks for solving this issue!