Autofind Missing Links like in Indesign
When I'm relinking a missing image in Indesign, it automatically finds other missing links in the same folder that a relinked to. It would be life changing if Illustrator did the same. Currently you have to manually relink each missing link which can become very tedious.
This option exists in Beta 28.1 and higher and is still under development.
Please try it (you can install Beta from your CCD application) and see if it works like you expect. Your feedback on this will be crucial to shape a correct final experience for everybody. Comment back!
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Remy B commented
It is absurd that this still does not work on MacOS. On Windows this has been working fine for a decade now.... In Windows you can just select the first image and the rest will be automatically applied.
I have a file with over 100 links, the only way to automatically link this is if I remove my whole folder structure and move EVERY file to a Links folder. I work with Windows and MacOS and it is really absurd that I have to link every file manually when I go work in MacOS... HOW is this still not a thing after a whole decade??
This sucks a lot, there is literally a function in the beta that says Automatically link files within the folder. But that still does NOT work with subfolders, so there is literally no way to add organize files?? I am stuck on a links folder??
Please fix this utter ***sh*t... It is the most useless broken software ever...
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LRSmith commented
In addition, Please include the broken link name to appear to copy, paste the missing link name in the search field to quickly find the image and where it is located.
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PeZ commented
Seems close to how it should function. Testing on mac. Full release 28.1.
1. It only finds additional links when the file is opening. If the file is already open and you try and relink it does not UNLESS the folder is renamed to "Links".
2. Relinking file dialog should be more descriptive of what you're relinking. ID falls short here too, normally a file path/name gets truncated, but in the Illustrator dialog, no file name shows up at all.
3. Create an alert like InDesign has that says "Searched this relink directory, and found and relinked # missing links." -
Michael Walz commented
Amazing that in 2023, this feature is still missing. Working with links in Illustrator is a huge pain in general, but this would help a lot.
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Benjamin commented
This is incredibly important, as someone who spends a lot of time in illustrator this costs me minutes each day and adds up over time. It's such a pain point that it's caused me to serious look at other alternatives.
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Richardson Media commented
I am extremely disappointed and frustrated with the current state of Adobe Illustrator when it comes to dealing with "Missing links/files".
I would like to request a feature for Adobe Illustrator regarding the issue of "Missing links/files". Unlike other Adobe applications such as After Effects or Premiere Pro, Illustrator lacks the capability to automatically locate missing files based on their location.This can be frustrating and time-consuming, especially when dealing with numerous files while on a tight DEADLINES. Implementing a similar feature in Illustrator would greatly enhance productivity and alleviate the annoyance and frustration associated with manually searching for each individual file. I kindly request that Adobe consider implementing this feature to improve the user experience. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
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AJ Hansen commented
This is a critical feature for business productivity and Illustrator functionality.
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nicky commented
To put it simply, just enhance ID with Ai's vector drawing tools and eliminate Illustrator from your software. It makes holes everywhere anyway.
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Eddie Deighton commented
Agreed. The UI should be far more harmonised than it is. The Swatch palette is terrible, too. Why do we have to select Global to allow us to live edit colours in a project? ALL colours should be editable, the same way they work in ID.
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nicky commented
I believe that many of the common functions common between the two software should work the same way, preferably as they work in indesign. I understand that Illustrator is not software Of pagination but many functions also exist in it but they work better the way it handles them ID. Like the links, the image scaling percentage (in ID we know if it is al 50%, 100% or 550% and we can bring it back to 100%), as the eyedropper works better to transfer styles to fonts in ID, in Ai it works the other way around and worse.
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Jónas commented
What you can do is place all links into a folder named "links" in the same place as the Illustrator doc. Then open the Illustrator document and your links are all live.
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Dina Dembicki commented
Please, please, please, I hope this happens soon. As a workaround, when I have the same image placed many times in one AI file, I sort the links alphabetically and select all the images with the same name, and then update that one image everywhere, since the link dialog box defaults to the last place you linked from. It helps a little bit, but I would love it if links would re-link like they do in InDe.
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Thomas Widemann commented
How is this feature not included in 2023?
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Geraldo Duarte commented
The lack of this feature is disappointing and creates a big issue in productivity. Also, it leads to potential human failures during the extenuating process of relinking images one by one. Adobe is improving high-end features, but sleeping when should be doing the basic.
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Paul commented
Companies grow and are forced to expand storage all the time. Premiere and InDesign can automatically connect to missing files. Illustrator does not. Files can only be linked manually. With a library of several tens of thousands of files, packaging and transferring each file doubles or triples the amount of storage needed and requires an exponentially large amount of time. Illustrator should be able to link all files automatically, especially if the file structure is exactly the same. If the only problem is a change of the hard drive letter, the program should find the files automatically after selecting the parent folder.
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Virginia H commented
I really want to just highlight 1- of the same links and replace with another without doing it 10 times!
Please Adobe you really need to lift your game here, it's a basic request that you have already done it in indesign why not illustrator as well? -
Jackson Pritt commented
It's been SIX YEARS since this question was asked.
How has this feature not been implemented yet? -
fernando commented
<looks at watch>
So, this feature comes when?
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Richardson Media commented
Auto RELINK missing files just like the feature on After Effects, Once you locate the right path then it will automatically find the rest, SO IT WILL BE A TIME SAVER especially if you moved files and have BROKEN MISSING files of 150 images plus..
VERY FRUSTRATING TO LOCATE ONE BY ONE MISSING LINKS in ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Anonymous commented
Darleen, no it doesn't!
Ran a test to show how AI doesn't relink. See attached video.I try and avoid using Illustrator for this reason, but unfortunately it's the only Adobe vector based program that plays nice with After Effects and Animate.. if I could get away with using InDesign in conjunction with both of these, I'd do it in a heart beat.