Illustrator Help Needed

**Odin** · 05-31-2007, 04:09 PM

Illustrator isn't my forte, so here goes.

I am looking at an issue where a client installed a clean version of CS3 on a new mac (intel based).

when they try to open up the illustrator files (which they claim contain embedded files) the file says that it can't find the linked picture and wants to search for them.

1. This means that the pics were never embedded, yes?

2. Is there any way to restore the link without going to each and every picture and finding which one is the correct one?

**Odin** · 05-31-2007, 05:03 PM

bumping bumpers to bump land.

**bio-smear** · 05-31-2007, 05:08 PM

I wish I could help, dear friend. I use Illustrator a lot but I never link out to bitmaps, so I never have this problem.

**Odin** · 05-31-2007, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by bio-smear

I wish I could help, dear friend. I use Illustrator a lot but I never link out to bitmaps, so I never have this problem.

Links are to TIF's... which changes nothing.... i know.... but for the love of Jaramillo Guiterrez....

**The Jackamo** · 05-31-2007, 05:50 PM

I think you're going to have to bite the bullet and restore the links manually.

I worked in a marketing dept a few years back that did the same thing in their illustrator files, so when I'd go in to work on older files, it'd give me the same "would you like the search for this file?" flak you're getting (happens a lot in quark, too, but that's because quark sucks in general). I remember not finding any other way to do it.

So yeah, it's a shitty proposition, but that all I got.

**Odin** · 05-31-2007, 06:31 PM

I checked the files again on the old machine. All the pics are linked not embedded as claimed. They are going to have fun with that one.

**INDY GS** · 05-31-2007, 10:25 PM

Embedding the files in Illy will bloat the file size to ridiculous sizes. linking to them will keep the file size manageable.

How many images do they have linked in one document? It shouldn't be that many, unless they are trying to use Illy as a page layout program, which in that case they should be using InDesign which has the link manager panel, that pretty much automates the linking issue.

**Odin** · 06-01-2007, 08:08 AM

Originally Posted by INDY GS

Embedding the files in Illy will bloat the file size to ridiculous sizes. linking to them will keep the file size manageable.

How many images do they have linked in one document? It shouldn't be that many, unless they are trying to use Illy as a page layout program, which in that case they should be using InDesign which has the link manager panel, that pretty much automates the linking issue.

It can be anywhere from 8 to 16 to 32 images linked.

Even just being able to type all this has convinced me what they are going to need to do.

**Benny Profane** · 06-03-2007, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by INDY GS

Embedding the files in Illy will bloat the file size to ridiculous sizes. linking to them will keep the file size manageable.

How many images do they have linked in one document? It shouldn't be that many, unless they are trying to use Illy as a page layout program, which in that case they should be using InDesign which has the link manager panel, that pretty much automates the linking issue.

Werd on this. I'm stiil amazed that people use Illustrator to make layouts, but old habits die hard.