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Forum Discussion
Dropbox file sharing with InDesign causes broken file paths when shared
Device
MacBook M1 Pro
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
Sequoia 15.5
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
v229.4.5197
Syncing Status
Synced
Question or Issue
Does anyone have a good file-sharing system for InDesign?
Currently using Dropbox and working from home. I have a Dropbox folder which I share with colleagues. I work solely from this, so all content I use is structured within it. When they open my files, my colleagues in the office have broken links because Dropbox uses absolute paths and so the user name part of the path is different for each of us, resulting in the missing links. We don't want to package everything as not all work is complete and it is disruptive having to drop what you are doing to do this - we've even experienced issues with packages and missing links anyway. InDesign doesn't deal in relative paths. We are using MacBooks and Sequoia, apparently we can't move the folder outside of the User folder, although I'm checking this again with Dropbox.
It used to work well in Adobe Cloud but they discontinued the CC synced files ability.
We have a server and I have a VPN and access but this is slow with images and is not a good solution to work with.
Does anyone out there have a good solution for this? Anyone tried, One Drive or SharePoint with success? Please say you do!
Many thanks in advance.
13 Replies
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- Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi jobee2, thanks for messaging today.
In general, we do recommend using relative paths when needed in formulae and other documents, since Dropbox folders rarely exist in the same location on multiple devices. However, as you've noted, InDesign can't use relative paths, which rules out that option to resolve the issue you're experiencing.
Just for clarification, how are you sharing your folder with your colleagues? Is this via a shared folder to their Dropbox accounts, a shared link to the folder, or some other method?
This will help me to assist further!
Hi Jay,
The files are being shared because I have given the other licensed users access to the entire folder in which I work. Nourish Team Folder.
Many thanks, Jo
- Jay
Thanks for the info. It sounds like you're using a team folder to share files and you and the other users are on a Dropbox team.
As there isn't a suitable solution we can provide for your situation, I'll leave this thread open for other users to contribute their suggestions.
- Mark
Super User II
Unfortunately you will get the exact same issue with all cloud solutions because they all store the files locally and different depending upon setup. For example in folders that usually start something like \User\Mark\Dropbox where 'Mark' is the persons name.
- Rich
my colleagues in the office have broken links because Dropbox uses absolute paths and so the user name part of the path is different for each of us, resulting in the missing links.
Just to clarify, it's not Dropbox that uses absolute paths, it's whatever application you're using, and most applications use absolute paths when inserting links to external files.
Dropbox has no control over this and has nothing to do with the process. It's all in the application you're using.
Colleagues are losing links to images - I need a way to keep the file path consistent for all users so that when they open the files they don't need to relink all the content.
If I could place the Dropbox folder outside of my user folder on my Mac and my colleague did the same would that make the path consistent for all users? I have posted this on Adobe community and an InDesign Facebook group. Some users are saying they don't have this missing links issue. I wonder how they are getting round it.
Someone suggested having IT change the computer names to the same name.
Yeh, we need to move the Dropbox folders into User
- Mark
If I could place the Dropbox folder outside of my user folder on my Mac and my colleague did the same would that make the path consistent for all users?
Dropbox wouldnt work then, however, as Dropbox can only sync whatever is inside of \Dropbox I'm afraid
Couldn't it be User\Dropbox?
