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Broken links in InDesign files on macOS Monterey 12.3.1

Hi there,

I've been happily working with Indesign files in Dropbox for a year now where my files are all stored Online Only. It used to be the case that Dropbox would automatically relink all the supporting files that are stored on Dropbox.com Screenshot 2022-04-16 at 08.18.07.png and I would be able to edit the InDesign file. Recently, upon opening an InDesign file all the links to picture files etc are broken.

Added to that, when I try to relink the files through InDesign I get a message that reads: Import Failed! (see attachment). My Dropbox App says that the files I am trying to relink are all Zero Bytes. When I access my account at Dropbox.com the files are all good.

The only way I seems that I can relink my files is if I download them to my iMac.

I'm currently using Mac OS Monterey 12.3.1.

Any ideas?

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tobiasknecht

Hello all together

I have the same problem in InDesign with files that are only online and despair almost every day when I have to edit InDesign jobs where I have to locate the files in the Finder first and download them every time.

Now I have discovered a workaround:

Open a job in InDesign
Select all entries in "Links"
Right-click on the menu item "Edit With" > "Preview 11.0".
After all files have been opened in Preview, quit Preview.
Switch back to InDesign.
Continue working.

I hope this helps some of you.

All comments

Nancy

Hi @RobWilkins, hope it’s OK to jump in here.

If you try @tobiasknecht’s suggestion, and you still have trouble with this, I’d suggest reaching out to your Sales representative directly, so that they can check your Dropbox account, and help you update your Dropbox app.

RobWilkins

Thank you Nancy.

Beauriz

Hello,

I implemented Tobias Knecht's approach and adjusted the settings in the admin console. However, I did not uninstall Dropbox at first.

1. Dropbox got stuck while moving the data.

2. I uninstalled it manually and then reinstalled it.

3. My Dropbox client then suggested on its own to install the beta version, which I did. The moving and indexing process took about 12 hours, likely due to the amount of data.

4. It's now working, sort of. I don't have any issues with smaller documents. But as soon as there are multiple images in a document, the spinning beachball becomes my new best friend. It takes forever, and images with layers are sometimes displayed incorrectly.

Dropbox crashes at least once a day without any warning.

Genie123

same issue here - absolute nightmare trying to relink files even after they've been made available offline. Dropbox is also causing issues with Lightroom Classic that I have been trying unsuccessfully to resolve for over a month now. seriously rethinking whether i want to carry on using Dropbox, as i'm wasting far too much time troubleshooting what feels like a constant stream of problems.

Genie123

this workaround isn't working for me. I've made the relevant folders 'available offline', restarted the computer, still showing 50 broken links, and InDesign seems to want me to relink each one individually, which is obviously catastrophic for workflow.

in any case, we shouldn't have to be using a 'workaround' for this - Dropbox staff, any suggestions?

Jay

HI @Genie123, if you're still experiencing this issue, please try contacting the support team directly for them to assist further.

Beauriz

"For me, 'Dropbox for macOS on File Provider' worked for about 2 months. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked since the last update.

Support told me that you need to keep the number of files under 300,000 for 'Dropbox for macOS on File Provider' to kick in. After that, you can assign more folders to sync. I tried it. It doesn't work.

I uninstalled Dropbox and reinstalled it. During the installation, a window displayed that Dropbox can manage a maximum of 500,000 files on this computer. It's a new M3 MacBook. We pay for Dropbox for Business…

How is it going for you?

Zora0815

Hello, Beauriz have you found a solution in the meantime?
After updating from Big Sur to Ventura 13.6.7, downloading online data in Indesign no longer works for me and my PDFs contain gray images. Unfortunately, there is not enough disk space to download all the images that might be needed on the pages and make them available offline. Manually reloading the images is unfortunately very time-consuming.

Karl Shaw

Was this ever resolved?

CChesnutt

@Karl ShawNot based on how DropBox functions for me today. It's so painful and disruptive.

Hawkes77

We just swapped our company from OneDrive to Dropbox. OneDrive and InDesign links worked fine with online only etc. Dropbox does not. Annoying as I returned to Dropbox having used it 3-4 years ago and it used to be fine. SO ANNOYING.